Just a quick recap from last week. Having sown the seed, water it in very carefully using a fine rose on the watering can so that you are depositing something approaching a gentle rain. Alternatively (and possibly safer by far) stand the tray in a shallow container of water, and let is soak the compost by a process known as capillarity. Spread seed very thinly if it very fine. This kind of seed is not covered, which is why soaking it is much safer than watering it with a can. Other seed such as lettuce and tomato and marigolds should be sown evenly and given a fine dusting of compost; you will end up with approximately 300 seedlings in a seed tray.
When you have comparatively large seeds to sow such as melon, you will want only a few plants and therefore you can safely sow them directly into seed compost using a single 3” pot, or a used toilet roll cylinder, which can be planted directly into the ground when you have prepared it. The cylinder will rot down in the ground very quickly. Very fine seed such as lobelia, begonia, orchids or the spores of ferns need very careful treatment when sowing. The very first thing to remember is that you have to prepare a very fine surface on which to sow them. Sowing fine seed on rough soil is equivalent to sowing them into the Grand Canyon. So a prerequisite is a fine surface. You will not need a seed tray or anything near as large, but a very small area. Fine seed usually comes in hundreds of thousands or even millions; not just hundreds. Small containers are used. Sowing is done inside, away from moving air, for the slightest breeze or shake of the hand will deposit thousands of seed or millions of fern spores unnecessarily. As with larger seeds, even distribution is desirable, though not always achievable.
Germination occurs quickly in Guyana’s climate, and seedlings can start sprouting up after only a few days. It has always been my practice to ‘prick out’ (transplant from the seed tray or pot into a large home) as soon as I can take hold of the first leaves (cotyledons), the idea being that the smaller seedlings are when they are transplanted, the quicker they become established. With tiny seedling it is often quite impossible to get hold of individual seedlings. They are generally lifted in tiny clumps and left to develop at a more leisurely pace. For the majority of seedlings they are pricked out into trays or pots, and plant into a John Innes type potting compost. Here I must explain about seed composts and potting composts. There are still many gardeners who use composts, the formulae of which are based on work carried out by the John Innes Horticultural Institute in the UK. Seed compost is based on loam, peat and sand, the ratio being 2:1:1 by volume. Potting compost is also based on loam, peat and sand, the ratio being 7:3:2 by volume. Inorganic fertilizer is added to each in different strengths. The seed compost once mixed must pass through an ⅛“ sieve. The potting compost passes through a ⅜″ sieve.
In Europe and North America a chronic shortage of loam for many years resulted in the development of loamless composts. In Guyana there is no shortage of loam, although gardeners are starting to use loamless composts such as Promix.
More of this later. For the time being take the greatest care and may your God go with you.
