Gardening Advice & Tips for Irish Gardeners

Day 3 and the start of a new project. With the weather being so wet today was a day for indoor gardening and with it being the beginning of February now is the perfect time to start sowing my tomato seeds. It's best to start tomato seeds early because they require a long growing season to get them from seed to maturity and being fully ripe.

I prefer to sow from seed because of the sheer variety of tomatoes available from seed. This year I want to grow something that will offer me maximum tomatoes for the little space I have to grow them in. So I have chosen Tomato Alicante & Tumbler. Alicante gives a good yield and is a reliable cropper, while tumbler is a cherry tomato that can be grown outdoors in hanging baskets so won’t take up much need space in my greenhouse. Whichever you chose to grow, now is the time to start sowing and this can be done in the comfort of your own home.

I’m going to use a 24 cell seed tray growing kit. This handy kit includes everything I need to get started with sowing; the tray, the tray lid, a base tray and capillary matting are all including and this makes watering and raising seedlings easy.

I am also using a peat alternative growing medium which is new to me but so far I’m very happy with the results. These growing pellets are so convenient and offer light and airy soil that looks perfect for my seedlings.

Step 1 - Preparing The Growing Medium Take the growing pellets and place into a bowl. I used 8 pellets to start with as I only wanted to half fill the 24 cell tray this week. Next, slowly add warm water to the blow and watch as the pellet comes to life as they more than quadruple in size. Once fully expanded the pellet compost, which is a mix of compost and coir, can be added to the seed trays. You can always add perlite or vermiculite to the soil to improve water & air retention in the soil.

Step 2 - Sowing Your Seeds Fill each of the cells with soil – almost to the top. Next place 2 seeds per cell pressing them into the soil lightly and then cover over with a bit to soil. Again lightly press down. The soil should already be sufficiently moist and warm so the conditions are now perfect for germination.

Step 3 - Positioning Seed Tray I would place the seed tray lid over the tray immediately – to keep in all the warmth. As the weather is still quite cold and the frosts regular, I will keep my seed tray indoors on a bright windowsill until mid-March depending on weather conditions.

Right now my greenhouse is 7 degrees but at night it can drop to 1 or 2 and tomatoes need about 10 degrees to germinate.

Step 4 - Early Maintenance Over the coming week I will keep a close eye on water levels and the moisture in the soil. As this is the first year using the coir pellets I am not sure of now often I will need to water them, so for now I will check on them every day. I know that compost and coir must be kept moist at all times as once it dries out it can be difficult to re-wet.