Story Title: Seeds and Your Garden Centre
Episode: Ten
TX Date: 31st December 2011
Presenter: Chloe Thomson

Have you ever thought what comes with your potted plants when shopping at your local garden centre? Chloe visits a propagation nursery to investigate what may evolve come from tiny seeds or cuttings in pots.

Tips and Facts

• Seed collecting can be a huge task – many seeds need to be collected from roadsides or private land – to do this they need a permit, patience and knowledge of the plants growing cycle so they know when is the time to harvest the seed.
• Depending on the seed, sometimes they may need to be woken up. This process involves keeping them in cool storage, or pouring boiling water over them.
• Once the seeds are ready for sowing, they are spread onto seed raising mix. And then nurtured in a glass house to germinate.
• Cuttings on the other hand, are taken from already established plants, and each cutting is then individually placed into propagation trays.