How to sow seeds: six tips from Stephen Ryan to ensure successful seed germination.

This week on The Horti-Culturalists Stephen Ryan takes us on a deep dive into the art of seed propagation; just how, when and in what do you successfully sow seeds!? Stephen has been propagating plants at his nursery Dicksonia Rare Plants for many years so he takes us through his six hard learned basic seed sowing principals:
1) what seeds to gather & when
2) when to sow
3) what mix to sow them in
4) what containers to use for what seeds
5) how deep to cover your seeds
6) how long to wait for germination
We've time stamped each of these six tips below so you can jump to a particular one.
These are basic principals, you may well need to adapt them to suit your own conditions and the types of plants you're wanting to propagate.
It was a cold wet day when we filmed this in Stephen's propagation house and LOTS of noise lead to all sorts of audio problems so apologies in advance!
And if you're interested in Stephen's masterclass in propagation by cuttings you can see our video on that here: • How to take & propagat...
0:00 introduction to how to propagate plants from seed
2:08 where do you get seed from?
5:40 when is the best time to harvest seed?
6:13 what types of seeds are there?
8:37 how do you store seeds?
10:07 when is the best time to sow seeds?
12:24 what containers do you use to plant seeds in?
15:53 what potting mix do you use to sow seeds into?
17:21 how long does it take for seeds to germinate?
22:40 how to sow seeds into a seed tray
23:44 how deep do you cover seeds?
24:31 which seeds do you sow in pots?
25:47 what do you cover newly sown seeds with?
26:14 what is seed stratification and when do you do it?
28:48 can you keep seedlings in a tray after they've germinated?
30:16 how to use the mycorrhiza of existing conifers when planting new conifer seeds
31:37 summary of Stephen's six key tips to successful seed sowing!

[@jcl5345]

Great to see a smart, informational video instead of the fluff that we see on many gardening channels! Funny , elegant, and easy to digest, I enjoyed this very much.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thank you very much!

[@jcking6785]

Fast paced and packed with good information and a bit of humor (which I love by the way)! I’m in central KY, USA but this info is pertinent no matter where you are. Thanks for all the great seed starting tips. 💚

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Glad it was helpful! Regards Stephen

[@jucjuc314]

Learning about the mycorrhiza trick was so wonderful! Finally not just the general informations, it was so much more in this video! Thanks a lot! 😊Greetings, Judit

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Glad it was helpful! Regards Stephen.

[@solangeunzurrunzaga3816]

Thanks for this video!!! In many youtube channels, everything seems easy, almost obvious and immediate. It feels good to know that gardening needs to be learnt, that it is not self-evident!! Brilliant programme as always!!!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thank you very much for watching!

[@svetlanasgardenhomeofredwa4342]

Good luck with your Paris! It is certainly worth the wait. I love your channel! Best wishes from Oregon, usa

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thank you so much! Regards Stephen

[@taraswain5411]

Another great video gentlemen! Thanks so much! Keep them coming :)

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@enac1]

Wow! So much info, will have to watch again. Thank you.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Glad you enjoyed it! Regards Stephen

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

Very useful. Thanks for that. x

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@minicookinghd7373]

Dear friend, Awesome!! So beautiful idea & your performance. Good looking & presentation. Grate. So satisfying, love your videos & I always watch the videos, Wish me luck

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@figureitout9007]

Fantastic video ! Great information !

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Glad you liked it! tell all your friends. Regards Stephen

[@dianecotton9531]

Fantastic & so interesting. Thankyou for all those tips. I found the micorrhiza particularly interesting. I was composting stable cleanings under a big pine tree & thought recently that perhaps l should compost somewhere else because of the fact that pines put out something in the ground to stop other plants growing, but perhaps it was good there because of the micorrhiza???

[@thehorti-culturalists]

It is possible that this could be a good thing. Regards Stephen

[@dbbdeb2327]

Love this great info. Thank you.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@dawnwenguo8794]

What a timely video for sowing seeds. Thank you for your informative and fun presentation. I wonder in Australia if you have growing zones. I am in Zone 7a in the US. When is it good time to seed daphne, poppy, hollyhocks, foxglove, phlox, just to name a few. Stephen, have you tried germinate ginkgo seeds?

[@thehorti-culturalists]

We don't have zones like in the US. I sow most seed other than frost tender annuals in autumn when they are ripe as I think I said in the video somewhere. Gingko is fairly easy from ripe fertile seed sown in autumn. Regards Stephen

[@dawnwenguo8794]

Thank you Stephen for your immediate reply. Very much appreciated.

[@quitlife9279]

That was very informative, i just have a question as to why the pebble was used to cover the seeds? What is the reason/benefit of that?

[@thehorti-culturalists]

The pebbles were used as they stop moss from growing and they stop the soil from forming a crust. Regards Stephen

[@user-bl5qc9vp8v]

I just realized that a lot of plants that are in the nurseries are inoculted. Vegetables Ornamentals etc.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

There are lots of tricks to the trade and inoculation is just one. Regards Stephen

[@ganeshhegde1979]

Sir your videos are very informative, I like watching all videos, I have one question, while using Mycoriza in potting mix which fertilizer can we use? Organic or synthetic?

[@thehorti-culturalists]

I use a slow release Osmacote in all my potting mixes but don't feed seed trays until seedlings are well underway as this encourages strong roots. Regards Stephen

[@ganeshhegde1979]

Thank you sir

[@user-bl5qc9vp8v]

I meant inoculated

[@paigeturner165]

My Callicarpa trees never look healthy and I don’t know why. They were in pots for two years after I bought them but I put them in the ground this year to see if I could improve them. The leaves always look a bit dry and shrivel at the edges. Any ideas o wise ones? They seem to be grafted onto a single stem as if to ‘lollipop’ them. Thank you 🙌

[@thehorti-culturalists]

A bit hard to tell but if they had been in the pots for two years they may have got quite root bound and may not have broken out of the ball after you planted them. Dig them out in winter and if this was the problem it should be obvious so tease out the roots quite vigorously and prune the tops back by half, replant and dose with seaweed extract and see what happens. Regards Stephen

[@paigeturner165]

@@thehorti-culturalists terrific, thanks muchly 😀

[@besottedorchids3605]

Poppy seeds need a stratification period. I have masses of them. Also I saved one red zinnia seed. It formed a row of all zinnia colors! Any idea why

[@thehorti-culturalists]

I find poppy seed sprinkled in autumn gets enough cold to germinate in situ. The Zinnias are a complex hybrid and in many cases aren't stable so will show mixed colours. Regards Stephen

[@cbjones2212]

I've Flanders Poppies growing in gravel from when I walked across the pathway with an armload of last year's stems, and dropped a bunch of them by accident. They are doing brilliantly with no help from me but the seeds I sowed are doing nothing!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

@@cbjones2212 Ha! A seed will always seem to find its perfect spot!

[@elenawar5134]

Any problem with mice/rodents getting the sown seeds? What is your shade house?

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Very occasionally I have rodent issues and I usually put wire cages over seed and try to dispatch the offender. Regards Stephen

[@MDA-rs4uf]

I had lady slippers that grew on the property where I used to live and they have to have their microbes to live.... I could never get them to live when I tried to transplant them. Foolishly I started to "care" for the grass in that area and my lady slippers disappeared entirely...I literally killed off my wild stand of lady slippers by eliminating the microbes in the pine fluff, all for the sake of grass...are you kidding me...what a fool.....what damage ignorance can cause....!!!!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

True enough I don’t get the obsession with grass. RegRds Stephen

[@donaldauguston9740]

Boys, the sound on this video is a little messed-up.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

"It was a cold wet day when we filmed this in Stephen's propagation house and LOTS of noise lead to all sorts of audio problems so apologies in advance!"