How To Grow Your Own Cut Flowers: A Beginner's Guide (Part 2)
We are always so impatient to get sowing our flowers when March and April come around. Our fresh new packets have already arrived and the sun has started coming out and we can’t wait to get started. But it’s very easy to sow your seeds too early and get caught out by the changeable spring weather.
Sow your seeds inside on a window ledge with the wrong light levels and you’ll end up with leggy seedlings that won’t thrive once they’re planted outside. Sow your seeds outside too early and you could get caught out with frosts in late April or even early May. It’s so disappointing to lose your seedlings, so we’ve put together these tips to help you grow successfully this spring.
Prepare Your Cutting Garden
Now is the perfect time to clear your growing area of weeds in preparation for sowing your seeds. Lightly dig over the soil to free up large clumps of earth, breaking them up as much as you can. Remove any remaining clods and rake the soil until it has a light, crumbly texture known as a tilth.
Seeds to Direct Sow
Not all of us have greenhouses or spaces that we can grow seeds undercover to get them started, but this doesn’t have to stop you sowing flowers in March and April. There are a wide variety of flowers that are excellent for cutting that you can sow directly into your prepared flower bed over these months. Here’s a few you could consider trying:
Read the Growing Instructions
Not all seeds like to be treated the same way – some like to be sown deeply, some only lightly covered with soil, and others want to be scattered onto the soil’s surface.
Always read the sowing and growing instructions so that you know the right information for each variety.
Each of our packets comes with a QR code that will take you to the correct product page on our website when scanned. You will find detailed instructions and descriptions here to help you sow your seeds correctly.
Sowing Your Seeds
If your seeds need to be sown a little deeper, you can use a stick, a large dibber, the edge of a hoe, or any number of other tools to mark out a shallow trench.
If you want to sow your seeds in a straight line, then you can use some twine attached to two sticks or canes so sow along.
It’s also important to keep the soil moist but not too wet to help your seeds germinate properly, especially when then weather is dry.
Thinning Out Your Seedlings
Keep an eye on your seedlings as they grow as you will likely need to thin them out as they get bigger. Each variety will have different instructions for this process so check the cultivation advice on our website for more information.
It always feels sad to take out the extra seedlings, but it’s an important step to allow your flowers to flourish. Without thinning, your plants will be forced to compete for light, water, and nutrients and this leads to weaker, stunted flowers. You won’t be able to cut these for indoor displays, and they won’t look good in your garden. Thinning out your seedlings is vital in getting your flowers to thrive.
