Seed, Glorious Seed!
By Bob Chapman
Growing a plant from seed is a wonderful, old-fashioned way of achieving a strong sense of accomplishment, and gives you a heightened sense of pride in your garden. Tilling, raking, leveling and creating furrows in the soil for the seeds are one the most pleasurable experiences for a gardener.
Annual, biennial and perennial flower seeds are available in profusion on seed racks in stores and nurseries or can be purchased from the prolific number of seed catalogues that arrive in our mailboxes each year. Now the wonders of the world-wide web allow us to shop online, giving us even more choices for shopping for flower seeds.
Seed is the least expensive component of gardening, so it makes good sense to buy the best quality seed you can obtain.
Start With The Packet
The packet usually gives you a great deal of infor¬mation about how to grow the seed success¬fully. Whether you pur¬chase the seed packet from a retail store, online or a mail order catalog, the packet is the first place to look for guidance.
Always read the seed packet to check the "freshness date." This usually appears as "Packed for 2006" or words to that effect.
Older seed, that which might be left over from previous years, unless it has been carefully stored under optimum temperature and humidity con¬ditions, will not have as high a germination rate as fresher seed. It is best to start with fresh seed.
The seed packet will tell you the germination rate. The germination rate is usually given as a percentage such as "Germination: 86%." This means that for every 100 seeds sown and cared for, 86 of them will germinate. Germina¬tion rates are determined by the seed companies and are an aver¬age of germination tests they conduct. The seed that you purchase may actually have a slightly higher or lower germination rate, but will proba¬bly be very close to the rate given on the packet.
The Miracle of Seed
Seed is the botanical equivalent of an egg. It contains the very beginnings of a plant, along with enough "food" to get the seedling started. But a seed won't sprout and grow unless four things are provided: heat, air, water and light,
Heat
Just like an egg, seed needs warmth to germinate. An ideal germinating temperature is often given on the seed packet. If you are sowing seed directly into the ground, it won't sprout until the soil warms. Sow seeds into the garden after the last frost date in your area.
Air
Seeds, like plants, need air to breathe. The most com¬mon way that seeds and plants are kept from the air they need is a result of over-watering or a lack of drainage. This is why it is necessary to provide a loose growing medium that allows excess water to drain away. When you tilled and raked the soil preparatory to sowing you provided the loose growing medium needed. If a seed is surrounded by water it will drown from lack of oxygen. The same is true of tender young roots - they need air to develop, and too much water will kill them.
Water
Seed requires water for germination. Some seeds have a hard seed coat that water cannot permeate. This seed coat must be nicked or cut slightly. This process is called seed scarifica¬tion. An example of seed that requires scarification is geranium seed. When water is absorbed by the seed, the seed swells and that is the first physi¬cal sign that germination has begun.
It is very important not to let the medium (your soil) around the seed dry out.
After germination and when the seedling has used up the food stored in the seed, the water carries nutrients that plants need to survive.
Light
Once sprouted, all plants need sunlight to grow.
Tips on Seed Handling
Seeds come in an almost infinite range of sizes. Some are extremely small, the size of dust, such as begonia seeds that add up to about one million seeds per ounce. Others are quite large, such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and the jumbo seed of the coconut. Large seeds are easily handled when sowing, but small seeds can be difficult to see and control when sowing.
There are several ways to han¬dle small seed more easily and to keep them from falling in clumps or piles when sowing. One easy way to handle small seeds is to mix them in a jar or bowl with white table sugar. Most seeds are dark, so they contrast with the white sugar and are then easier to see. Mix the seeds into the sugar by stir¬ring or shaking. This will help distribute them more evenly throughout the sugar. You can then use a spoon to scoop out the mixture and shake it over the soil for more even sowing. The sugar won't hurt the seeds or seedlings, and it will dissolve into the soil when you water.
Also available are seed sowing implements that allow you to pour your seed into them (usually into a deep groove with a small open¬ing at one end) and have better control as you sow than if you were to simply shake them out of the packet.
A piece of paper folded in half can give you a deep groove to pour seeds into so you can see them, and then you gently shake them into the furrows by tapping the open end with your finger.