It’s now been 2 weeks since I sowed my first ever seeds. Within that time, I think the seed germination has been successful so far. I have seen noticeable progress on all the seeds that I sowed. I’m still waiting for 2 of the chilli seeds, one of each variety, to pop out of its shell and turn into a seedling. I think by having the heated propagator sat on the windowsill, it has made a huge, positive difference, as opposed to not having one. So here is my journey so far, starting out with germinating seeds.

Bell Peppers

My sweet bell pepper seeds have been the ones which have taken the longest out of all of them. I’m not exactly sure why this is. I did read somewhere that soaking the seeds in chamomile tea for 3 – 24 hours before sowing helps soften the casing and speed up germination. Maybe this is why it is taking so long. Apart from that, they all seem to be looking healthy and are growing bit by bit each day.

Chillies

Both chilli varieties seem to be doing the best out of all the seeds I had sowed. I was quite surprised by this as upon reading the back of the packaging when I first purchased them, seed germination could take anywhere from 14 – 28 days. Considering the seeds are only at the 14-day mark, they are looking strong and healthy! Again, I don’t think they would have had a chance without the propagator. I have also sown a few more varieties of chillies yesterday which I’m sure I’ll make a post about sometime soon.

Strawberries

My strawberry seeds seem to be doing okay. They were quite quick to shoot in all fairness however now that they have, their growth seems to have considerably slowed. Now, I’m not sure if this is down to sunlight, because if you live in England, you will know there isn’t much of that at the minute. I have tried giving them a few hours of extra light from a few rechargeable LED lamps that I had sitting around. If this makes a difference, I will make a separate post going into more detail on that.

Red Onions

Finally, I have my red onion seeds. I haven’t a clue if they are supposed to look like what they do. They all seem very, stringy, if that is the correct term. They only took a few days to shoot and have been looking like they do for the past week now maybe. Perhaps it could be the same issues as the strawberries, however I don’t understand why the chillis and peppers aren’t struggling if that was the case. I am going to let them do their thing for now and hopefully they’ll start standing up straight soon.

Follow along for more updates of how I am getting along, learning to grow my own fruits and vegetables in my own conservatory. As mentioned earlier, I have planted another 2 more varieties of chillies, which I will update you all on when they start to grow a little more. For now, happy sowing!