Garden innovations - growing from seed

Some of us have got used to buying plants, rather than seeds, but if you want to really control the growing process from start to finish, you can't beat germinating your own plants, and there are several reasons this is a good idea:

• You watch the plants from day one - so you know how they respond to heat and light, to chill breezes or watering.
• You know they haven't been 'brought on' in an overheated greenhouse with lights on all night to get them to flower early - lovely to look at but unlikely to survive in the real conditions of the average garden
• You get many more plants for your money!

Here's how to do it:

1. Level soil without compacting it. Conventional wisdom held that most seeds prefer to germinate in the dark, and seeds are often covered for that reason, though most will germinate in light or dark. Ideal is subdued indirect light, unless otherwise specified. If germinated in the dark, uncover with first germination, and expose to air - this means checking seeds daily.
2. Sow into already somewhat moist but not waterlogged soil, and where possible, water from below, by standing in tray of water for half an hour. Use plastic bags, or propagaters, to prevent moisture loss by evaporation, but if sowing in the light, ensure the sun does not bake the seedlings in this enclosed environment.
3. Too much moisture encourages damping off, an often lethal fungal infection, so uncover seedlings immediately with the first germination and if possible use a small fan to provide gentle air circulation directly to the seedlings, which prevents fungal problems, and also creates sturdier stems.
4. Soil warmth helps germination, so place seeds on a heating pad, or use temperature-adjustable soil heating cables. Note that moist soil is cooler than the air temperature so a soil thermometer is useful.

The latest seed technology is chlorophyll breakdown. This is a constant measure of physiological maturity of seeds and new technology has been developed which is capable of separating mature and less mature seeds on the basis of their chlorophyll fluorescence. Seed sellers are now used this system as chlorophyll molecules will show an immediate fluorescence depending on their level of maturity and those with the least chlorophyll and are the most ripe and mature. These most mature seeds provide the highest percentage of germination. There are drawbacks though, so far chlorophyll fluorescence has only been used successfully on for brassicas, tomatoes and peppers and doesn't work on onions or some other bulbular crops.

Garden innovation seedlings photograph by sylvar, used under a creative commons attribution licence