EP2 - Free (ish) seeds #5MINUTEFRIDAY

EP2 - Free (ish) seeds #5MINUTEFRIDAY

Good Morning Everyone and welcome to our second 5 Minute Friday

I hope you're keeping yourself entertained in this isolation, if not then hopefully this video might help :p
 

This week take some advantage of something you already have.
We are looking at what you can find in your home, fridge, or cupboard that you can use to sow. 
A perfect example would be chillies, and that is what we are using today.

Oh, if you haven’t seen our recent blog 'What happens to our body and why do we love it?’ then head on to our website or follow this link HERE It is an interesting topic, definitely worth a look if you're a spice lover like me.

Okay let’s start

What you need:

  • A pot, or something that can hold soil and not fall apart with the watering. If it is a makeshift pot make sure there are some holes for drainage
  • Some soil or compost, multipurpose will do the trick
  • A Chilli
  • A small kitchen knife
  • A chopping board

Step 1
Okay, we have a volunteer chilli to be sacrificed. We need to extract the seed of the Chilli so the first thing I'll do is cut the top off and cut it through the middle. Inside, there will be some seeds so scrape them out onto a kitchen roll (I wouldn’t recommend toilet rolls as they are in high demand and worth more than gold now). A good thing is that you can keep the flesh of the chilli to use then in your cooking. The seeds can also be used in cooking too as that’s where the heat comes from, but that’s for another video.
Step 2
Spread the seeds out and wait for them dry. To speed up the process, you can place them on the window sill or on a radiator. I wouldn’t recommend putting it in an oven though. For this video, we're not going to wait and will move onto the next step
Step 3
Put your soil in the pot, add the soil in and leave it just a bit from the top. A fingers depth from the top of the pot is ideal. Now you need to gently tap the pot down. We are looking to get any air pockets out which will mean that the soil will sink a lot when we water it.
Step 4
Add your seed or grab a few and sprinkle it on the top of the soil. In the video, I’ve added 3 seeds and hopefully, they all germinate.
Step 5
Cover the seeds with some more soil. Not too deep just a light covering will do the job. Do not push the soil down. 
Step 6
Water the plants. You almost can't overwater at this stage make sure there is a nice lot of moisture in the soil. If you're in a particularly dry house, stick a polythene bag over it to help.
Step 7
As with most plants, your chilli will want to be in a nice and warm spot. Ideal temperatures would be around 25-26 degrees for them to start growing. Most homes in the UK are in this region of temperature so a windowsill, warm room or airing cupboard are ideal places.
Step 8
Sit back and wait. Remember to keep the soil nice and moist. You effectively earned yourself a free plant or free plants! Grab a beer if you can.
 
I hope you've enjoyed watching this video. You can use this step by step guide for other plants too such courgettes, tomatoes, sweet peppers and many others. You don’t have to use a plant pot, but your entire garden can be used as well.
Stay tuned for our next episode uploaded every Friday and stay safe!
 
Alan Lodge
Partner, Newlands Nursery