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Seed packets explained
Bewildered by the jargon on the back of seed packets?
Here’s a list of what the words and expressions mean.
Seeds are sown, plants are planted.
Transplants and seedlings are small, young plants.
Germinate = when the seed starts to grow and develop a root and a stem.
Under glass = a cover of some kind, to protect the seeds or plants from inclement weather. Examples – bottle cloches, cold frames, and greenhouses.
In heat = a heated area for growing in. It helps seeds germinate. Most often needed for crops, such as tomatoes, that originate in warm countries.
Drill = shallow V-shaped trench, to sow the seed in. Often the depth is given, such as ‘ a drill 1.5cm deep’. Use the corner of a rake, or the tip of a trowel, to make the drill.
Flat-bottomed drill = shallow trench, but flat or U-shaped, not V-shaped. Often used for sowing peas in.
Prick out = lift young plants out of the pot in which they germinated, and move them to another growing position, usually a new pot or tray with wider spacing, so they can develop. Can sometimes be ‘pricked out’ from pots straight into the garden.
Transplant = Move young plants from one growing spot to another. Sometimes from a pot to the garden, sometimes from one part of the garden to another. The young plants are often also called ‘transplants’.
Harden off = acclimatise young plants, growing in pots in a warm place, to
outside conditions. It often means moving the plants outside during the day, and returning them inside at night for a few days/weeks.Thinly = sowing thinly means not too many seeds all in one spot. When handling small seeds, mix them with a handful or two of dry sand. This automatically makes it easier to sow the seeds more thinly.
Thin = remove plants in order to allow more space for the remaining ones to develop. ‘Thin to 5cm apart’ gives 5 cm space between each plant. You can often use the plants you’ve removed somewhere else in the garden, if you dig them out carefully when thinning.
Spacing = space between plants in a row, and distance between rows.
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Seed packet jargon buster