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Seeds I will be Sowing in January

Writer's picture: Suzanne DuftySuzanne Dufty


The nights are finally drawing out, and its time to try and rein in my over enthusiasm at the prospect of sowing seed for my 2025 cut flower growing season.

It is so tempting to get a little carried away sowing a vast amount of different hardy annuals or cool flowers.

Although we may begin to have some sunny and spring like days, we are not out of the woods yet, and certainly where I live we often get some very cold weather in March and even into April.


Direct sowing is definitely totally out of the question, until the soil temperatures reach at least 10 degrees Celsius 

                                                                                                                                             For a seed to successfully germinate and grow on to be strong and healthy, it needs to be provided with the perfect conditions, including the right temperature, light or the exclusion of light depending on the variety to be grown, and adequate moisture.                        And once germinated will grow far better if it receives 12 or more hours of daylight.

In the past, January has been the month that I have been known to fill every single window sill in my home with my precious plant babies, and lets be honest, it is very likely, I will be trying to find room for seed trays in my kitchen at some point very soon.


It is totally possible to grow flowers from seed in our homes in January by providing them warmth from central heating, boiler rooms or even heated propagators or heat mats.

Relying solely on daylight from our windows can prove to be slightly more problematic resulting in seedlings stretching and reaching for light. I have previously found myself using mirrors or foil to try and reflect more of the available light to seedlings, with little benefit.

They definitely value more, from the light available to them from conservatories, greenhouses or poly tunnels, but these areas are often too cold for germination to occur.

So with all of this in mind, which seeds can I germinate and grow on in January and how and why am I starting them so early.


So the first seeds I am going to be sowing are Antirrhinums or Snapdragons and I prefer to sow the majority of these in the autumn and then sow a second succession in January, and often a third succession in March to ensure I have them available to cut over a longer period of time.

For me the autumn sown plants are often superior to the ones started in the spring.

Snapdragons are slow to maturity taking 100 days from germination to harvest, they also prefer growing on in cooler conditions, making them a perfect candidate for early sowing.

 

My Personal favorite variety is the Chantilly and I would happily only grow this type.

It is very different in appearance to other varieties in that the flowers are very open making its pollen available to a variety of different pollinators, where as the classic snapdragon varieties are much loved by heavy bumble bees who can weight down and open the mouth like flower to retrieve their reward.

Snapdragons are a great edition to the cutting garden providing that useful line shape necessary in arrangements, and with a excellent vase life of up to two weeks they are perfect for retail bouquets.

I am going to be attempting to grow several varieties, in order to use up any old seed that I have some it is likely that my germination rates will be low.

So I am going to be starting my favorite Chantilly, as well as Appleblossom which I grew last year, and  Canary bird which I grew in 2023. in addition I will be growing Antirrhnum majus Brighton Rock and Monarch both of these being slightly shorter at 45cm and very old seed.

 

Sprinkle seed thinly on to damp peat free compost and do not cover as

Antirrhinum seeds need light to germinate.

Antirrhinum seeds need temperatures between 16–18°C to germinate. 

I will be placing my prepared seed trays into heated propagator under grow lights, for improved growth the recommendation is to use lights providing full spectrum light, which includes a balance of red, blue, and green wavelengths. This mimics natural sunlight and provides the plants with the necessary light for photosynthesis and overall growth.

 

The next Seeds I am going to be sowing are sweet peas and this is my second succession to ensure I will have sweet peas available to me for most of my cut flower season. I do not have as much space as I used to have for sweet peas, so I am planning to plant plenty of these into my cottage garden, I always love to grow some of these in pots on my patio.

As with the snapdragons, some of the seed is not very fresh so I am expecting reduced germination.

I am going to be growing Prince of Orange, watermelon and Fire and Ice, all varieties that I grew Last year, in addition I will be growing Royal family which I grew in 2023 and new for this season ‘ Lady Grisel Hamilton’ and ‘Elegance’ which are both a lovely lavender colour.

Sweet peas do only have a short vase life of up to 5 days, but provide bouquets with a sweet perfume, hard to beet, and for me are one of my go to event flowers.

 

Sow a couple of seeds into individual pots or root trainers if you have them, use moist peat free compost, sow seed 2- 3 cm deep.If sowing in autumn or spring, sweet peas can be germinated in an unheated greenhouse.

 

Seeds sown in January will require heat, the ideal germination temperature is between 10 and 18 degrees Celsius and as sweet peas do not need light to germinate I will be placing my trays into a warm area in my house, and then moving to the cool greenhouse after germination.

 

I am also going to be sowing another succession of stock ‘Matthiola incana’ ,

which are another flower that prefers to finish flowering before the summer temperatures get to hot, and grows well in cooler temperatures.

I only have a few stock seed left in purple and apricot, but I have trays of autumn sown stock in the green house.

Sow seed thinly onto the surface of pre- watered peat free compost, cover very lightly as seed requires light to germinate. Germination takes around 7-10 days at 18-20 degrees Celsius.

As soon as the seedlings have germinated grow on in a cool greenhouse at 5-8 degrees Celsius.


If you only wish to have double flowers, this drop in temperature will change the colours of the leaves, making it easier for you to remove the singles, the doubles will most likely be lighter in colour. Personally I like to grow both the doubles and singles.

What ever you do, DO NOT PINCH YOUR STOCK pinching will result in no flower, as they are not cut and come again, each plant just producing one flower.

I always grow my stock on under pest protection netting, as both cabbage white caterpillars and flea beetles have caused problems for me in the past

 

I have limited heated space for starting seeds so that is all I intend to sow, until I free up some space, when hopefully the seed I have discussed today has germinated and been relocated to the poly tunnel or greenhouse.

And as soon as there is space available I will let you know what I will be sowing next in February.


Good luck with your seed sowing, happy growing.

 

 

 

 

 

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