Tips for edible seed starting in winter

We don’t know what this summer holds for us, but seed starting indoors in July and August offers the best chance of a good harvest, especially if the days become very hot. In effect, germinating seed indoors means that plants are ready for harvest sooner than those sown outdoors in spring.

What to sow

What makes the most sense is to start with fruiting vegetables that have a long growing season like tomatoes, brinjals, peppers, butternut and some summer cabbage. Lettuce and garden peas are also candidates for early sowing indoors because they like a cooler growing season and quickly go over in very hot weather.

Wait until the middle of August to start with seedling trays of summer squash like zucchini, patty pans and cucumber as they are quick growers and quick to harvest but once the rainy season sets in they become susceptible to fungus disease.

Swiss chard and garden bush beans are stalwarts of the veggie garden and an early harvest will never go amiss, nor will a crop of summer herbs like basil, coriander, dill, chives, parsley and Mexican mint that will gladden any chef’s heart.

Root crops like beetroot and carrots are better sown directly into the soil and they will germinate in early September’s cooler soil.

Sowing and growing tips

When starting in seed trays, early sprouting tools should include an electric blanket, warm tray or heating pad on its lowest setting to provide the heat for germination. To create a moist, warm microclimate cover the trays with plastic. Remember to label each tray.

When the trays need watering, remove from heat, and let them drain thoroughly before returning them to the underneath heat source.

Harden the seedlings by moving them into the sun during the day and back into shelter at night until after the last frost (mid-September) when they can be planted out.

Using indoor propagators

A new range of indoor/outdoor planters takes a lot of the fuss out of growing edibles from seed.

Gusta Garden’s ‘Harry Herb’ planter can be used for germinating veggies and herbs from seed as well as cultivating microgreens using soil or a soilless planting mat.

The planter is designed for 5-litres of soil and its water reservoir has a 0.5litre water volume, with four water wicks to supply the right amount of water. A window in the reservoir makes it easy to monitor water levels.  A nursery lid with adjustable openings provides a warm microclimate.

What’s easy about this planter is that it can be kept in a warm sunny room during germination and then moved outdoors to a patio, deck or balcony for the plants to grow on.

The planter can also be used for succession sowing. Once seedlings are big enough to be planted out into pots or into the soil, another batch of seed can be sown. This ensures a continuous supply of edibles throughout summer.

Other planters in the Gusta Garden range include ‘Curt Cucumber’ which provides a trellis for climbing plants and a water tank, ‘Tom Tomato’ that also comes with a sturdy trellis and a large enough tank that only needs topping up once a week.

‘Paul Potato’ is a multi-level planter designed for growing potatoes on the patio but is also suitable for growing a mix of herbs, veggies and flowers. For more information, visit Gusta Garden Archives – Kirchhoffs

Article and images supplied by Alice Coetzee.

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