How to sow seeds.?
Seeds are very sensitive and should be handled very delicately. Based on type and condition of seeds, their sowing process differs. For example, for growing gourds such as Bottle-gourd, Ridge-gourd, Bitter-gourd, Snake-gourd, and watermelon should be soaked in water for 1 hour to minimize the germination process. All leafy vegetable seeds such as Amaranths, Sorrel, Palak, Spinach, coriander, etc. are recommended to sow directly on the bed or to the pot. These seeds won’t do well after transplantation which may cause damage to their tiny root system. If you are growing coriander, split coriander seed balls into two pieces while sowing for better germination. Seeds which are very tiny don’t require to cover them with soil. Just sprinkle them on soil and give water showers gentle and they do their job in few days.
Choose some area in partial shade with a mixture of Coco-peat, garden soil, Vermi-compost/leaf manure/Compost with soil in 2:2:2:1 ratio for sowing seeds. This is called beds. sow the seeds by ensuring some gap in between them. Cover the seeds with the same soil gently. Make sure no insects/ants are around this setup because they may eat/tamper the seeds which results in failure of germination. Ants, snails, centipede round worms are more frequent in every garden which will disturb seeds.
For best airing and root growth use seedling trays (tray prepared only for sowing seeds). Fill each seed in each pit of the tray by covering with 1 or 2-inch of coco-peat. Keep medium moist all the time and don’t let it dry and avoid overwatering. If the soil is dried, then the germination won’t occur. Overwatering will also cause seeds to rot.
Once the seeds are germinated then they are called as seedlings. The first set of leaves will be true to the shape of its broken seed. Once seedlings get a couple of new leaves, then they are called as true leaves. Once after seeing true leaves start exposing the seedlings to sunlight in early mornings and in late evening times but not to mid-day sunlight for next 5 days, later as usual we can expose them to sunlight based on the variety of plants.
Fill the soil in pots with a mixture of Coco-Peat, Vermi-compost/compost with soil and sand in 1:2:3 ratios. Carefully remove the seedlings from the beds or from the seedling trays and replant them into pots or to its desired location where it is intended to grow during evening times. Water them fully until you see them drained from bottom of the pot for the first time. From second time water them as per need. based on the variety and type of plants you can keep them in shade / partial shade / in full sun. In general plants require minimum of 5-7 hours of sunlight to get flowers and fruits. Avoid overwatering and keep an eye on plants growth regularly. If you want to go grow in an organic/Natural way, then use only natural/organic/Bio based pesticides to spray on plants for nutrition and for any pest control.
For all beginners who wants to start gardening at home. We suggest starting with Leafy Vegetables. Once after seeing them growing, it keeps you motivated and boosts your confidence to grow more and more based on your interests.
Happy Gardening!
Note: Information given in this website is purely based on our own experiences in home gardening and it’s not compulsory to follow. Planting and growing plants may differ based on climate, soil, water, and care. Please check with your local horticultural department for more information on growing Plants.
