You can certainly feel Autumn in the air, as well as starting to see it on some trees. And the nights in particular are also getting cooler. All signs not to just retreat to bed, but to get up and out and sow your Autumn seeds!
Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale are all good to have growing in the garden, so you might as well get those going.
Firstly, make a note of what seeds you are planting and when you planted them, and put that in the trays, or next to the row where your seeds will be. These things are easily forgotten. Certainly I can’t remember what is where and where is what 10 minutes later!
Get a cell tray and fill it with a good quality seed raising mix. Then place one seed into each cell. You can use your fingers for this, or tweezers, there are even specific seed dispensers, whatever you like. Once you have a seed in the centre of each cell, lightly push down to about the same depth as the seed you are planting. You may want to then lightly sprinkle more mix over it. But these are small seeds, so you only want to have them just covered, so it is not too hard for them to use their small mighty strength to push the way up and out.
I then put the cell tray on top of a drip tray. This way the water will be collected and not flow out all over the place and can be reused. It will also keep the cells away from the ground, which I find helpful in keeping the slaters and slugs off. But not fool proof - is anything?
Then lightly water in. You can dissolve some liquid fertiliser in the water, and sprinkle using a bottle top sprinkler, always handy to stop a gush of water washing seeds and mix away.
Then that is that. You can keep them outside, or in a hot house, or inside near a windowsill, somewhere warm. You will be looking to keep the soil at about 12 – 14 degrees.
But you can’t just leave them to it. You will need to top up the water and keep an eye out for and pests that will come around once they start to sprout. As with everything, there is always one!
Of course, if you have seedlings, put them straight into the beds where you want them to grow. Cover them with insect netting, the white cabbage moth and others are still around to cause havoc!
Enjoy
Peter