Do not exclude light

When the sowing instructions on a packet of seeds says 'Do not exclude light', does that mean to just sprinkle the seeds on top of the compost? It seems to me that's the only way to not exclude light, or have I got it completely wrong?

 

No, but it always worries me that the seed will dry out before its germinated.

 

Think it means don't sow them in a dark cupboard?

 

I think Kyle's probably right, don't grow them in a cupboard etc. The packets usually state whether to cover the seeds with soil or not.

 

I lightly cover ("drizzle" so to speak) such seeds with vermiculite. Its fairly transparent, keeps the surface moisture up, and surface green-algae down (if germination times are long)

 

If you cover them with soil, in a cupboard or not, they'll be in the dark won't they?

My understanding is that this particular instruction means that the seed needs light to be able to germinate.

 

Still, there's a big difference with a seed being in a pot covered in soil and then put in a cupboard with a seed being put in a pot and covered and left in sunlight.

 

Clueless, can you tell us what seeds they are, that might help with advice. Unless you want to keep them secret of course.

 

Sure, but covering it with soil is not going to work if the seed needs light to germinate.

The instruction "needs light" or similar is usually described as being achieved by surface sowing.

But surface sowing means less surface area of the seed in good contact with the soil to facilitate uptake of moisture for germination, and thus the seed may dry out - and if that happens during germination, and it doesn't get re-moistened in short-order, it will probably die.

My solution to that is a light covering of Vermiculite that I think is transparent enough to allow the seed to get enough light. But ... notwithstanding that ... the normal descriptive instruction (when one is provided other than "Needs light") is "surface sow"

 

Poppy seed is a good example.
Lies dormant in the soil for years until the ground is disturbed and the seed receives some light.
It then knows its near enough to the surface to survive.

So it grows.

Bury it deep and it wont.

 

When I've potfulls that don't germinate I sometimes have a bit of a stir round to see what's going on in there. This has been followed by a sudden rash of seedlings appearing. I can only attribute this to the poppy effect described above.

 

Thanks all.

The seeds in question are Coreopsis.

I usually plant two or three seeds per tiny pot, but these ones are too fine to pick up individually so I sprinkled them on the surface of a small tray of potting compost, sprayed it with my brand new spray bottle thing (just tap water in it) and put it in my new heated propagator. That was just a few days ago and there are lots of tiny seedling in there now. The next challenge is to practice this 'pricking out' malarkey you good folks taught me about recently.

I'm getting right into this growing from seed game. I've got quite a few healthy young plants already, and more keep coming, and I've hardly spent any money so far. I've probably spent about £30 on kit and consumables, and I reckon I've already broke even.

 

Glad you're enjoying the sowing side of things Clueless, it's great to see plants in the garden you've grown yourself. I actually prefer growing plants to gardening itself.

Take it slowly with the pricking out, it needs a lot of patience and it's time consuming.

 

Couple of thoughts:

I have read of mixing very fine seed with sand so that you can sow the combined mixture and get it evenly spread.

Personally I've never had a problem sowing seeds, even if small. I tip some into the cup of my left hand, and then take a small pinch between thumb and forefinger of right hand, and then rubbing it between those fingers the seeds ease their way out and fall onto the compost.

You can practice this on a piece of paper of a suitable contrasting colour, and then tip the seeds back into your hand for another go, and then back into the packet :thumb:

Make sure you don't sow them too thickly - its a temptation with very small seeds- "there's hardly any there, I'll just put a few more on" - and you've probably sown 1,000 per square inch already!!

In a small rectangular seed tray I sow a pinch back and forth across the seed tray. I have decided beforehand how much "length" of the seed tray I should use up for the size of pinch that I have taken, and I then sow across the seed tray, within the area of that "length". Then I get another pinch and do the next "length" of the seed tray. When I get to the end I repeat the process, but at right angles to the first "pass".

So on each pass I only sow half of the planned total, the idea of doing it twice, at right-angles, is to even out the seeds, as they tend to rub between by fingers such that they fall in small clumps.

 

The other great thing about growing from seed is how it gives you so much more choice. And as Sheal says, it is also much rewarding!

Re pricking out; I buy 30cm bamboo skewers from the Asian supermarket. The pointed end is ideal and the length of them means that they're nicely balanced for the fiddly pricking out jobs such as Lobelia and Nicotiana.