More and more gardeners are discovering the satisfaction of growing their own vegetables and flowers from seed.

It is an art, and a skill, that the older generation had and which we are discovering all over again.

It is just a pity that so many of the older gardeners are not around to ask for advice when seeds don’t germinate or newly geminated seedlings die for no obvious reason.

A gardener who has kept up the family tradition and business of gardening is our Marlaen Straathof who inherited her love of gardening from her parents and has passed it onto her children.

The main reasons why seeds don’t germinate, says Straathof, is that they are planted too deep and that the soil dries out during germination because it MUST be kept moist, but not soaking wet.

Her third piece of advice, obvious as it may seem, is to read the instructions on the seed packet.

It provides all the information that is needed for growing the vegetable; whether it needs sun or semi shade, season to plant, planting depth, germination period, spacing between plants and time to harvest.for

Here are our tips:

• When scatter sowing, make sure the bed is level because if it rains, the seed could all wash to the lowest point.

• When sowing in rows distribute the seed evenly along the row.
  This is made easier by using a planting stick with markings at 5cm intervals. Put the stick alongside the row and sow in little dribbles.
  Then fill the row with sieved compost. This aids germination because it is easier for the germinated growth to push through, especially in clay type soil.
  It also provides nutrients to the seedling.

• Individual holes are best for larger seeds. Use a cone shaped dibbler or sharp pointed tool to make the hole.
  By using a blunt tool like a pencil or stick the soil underneath the tool compacts. After dropping in the seed, fill the hole with sieved compost.

• When planting out your own seedlings that were started in pots or seed trays, wait until they are about 10 to 15cm tall, handle the root ball carefully and never pull a seedling out by its stem.
  The best time to transplant is during the coolest times of the day.

• When watering seed beds use a watering can or hose with a fine nozzle.
  Start watering away from the bed and move it evenly over the bed, making sure that you also stop away from the bed.
  Water tends to come out in spurts at the beginning and end of watering which can splatter the seeds out of place.

• Soak beetroot seed overnight before sowing.
  Capsicum seed (chillies and sweet peppers), especially old seed, can be soaked overnight in a vitamin c mixture. Open a vitamin c capsule, mix the powder with water and soak the seeds in this mixture.