There is something so special about raising your seeds in a seed box. It’s a little like Aladdin’s lamp; inside there is the potential for magic and miracles. All you need is a little faith, water and light, and anything is possible. Even the most unlikely plants can thrive given the right conditions.

I remember my planting up my first seed box with my Nana – it was old, wooden and traditional looking. I can’t remember what those seeds were that we planted (probably flowers), but I knew that they had the potential to grow into something beautiful. With each passing day, I would water them a little bit and watch as they sprouted and grew. It was truly magical.

These days, I still get just as excited about planting seeds as I did when I was a child. There is something so satisfying about taking a tiny seed and watching it transform into a plant or flower. If you have never tried it, I highly recommend it!

Get a head start with the best seed box ideas

The seed box for raising seedlings, can be kept in the house or shed, is the most practical method of raising early plants for the Home Vegetable Garden. If you make one yourself, the cost of equipment is practically nil, and the seed box greatly facilitates earlier crops of French Beans, Tomatoes, Capsicum, Melons, Marrows, Pumpkins, Egg Plant, etc., and is also invaluable for starting plants of hardier sorts, such as Cabbage, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, etc., particularly where an outdoor seed bed is not practicable.

Good sturdy plants of Tomatoes, Melons, and other tender Vegetables may be had ready for planting out as soon as frosts are over. Transplanting, if properly done, develops a strong root system and the plants commence to grow right away. Any wooden box will fill the purpose, but the following are good dimensions to work on: Depth, 3½ to 4 inches; width, 12 to 14 inches; length, 20 to 24 inches. Drill holes in the bottom of the box to allow drainage, and stand the box on bricks to allow a free passage of air underneath.

Place a layer of about an inch of gravel or charcoal in the bottom of the box and then fill nearly full with rich garden loam or soil enriched with well-decayed leaf compost or manure. Press the soil down firmly with a piece of board and mark out rows from ¼ to ½ inch deep and 2 inches apart crosswise of the box. Sow about 8 or 10 seeds to the inch, in the rows, and cover with soil.

Water and place the box in a light, warm situation. Just inside a sunny window is a first-class position. Water sufficiently to cause germination and growth, but do not give enough water to cause it to leak through the box. Bear in mind the fact that very frequent watering of germinating seed has a tendency to weaken its vitality, and be careful never to allow the soil to get too dry.

A piece of glass used as a cover will hold the moisture in the soil and quicken germination. Be careful not to flood the surface of the soil, and only water through a fine rose can or with a fine sprayer. Cover the glass with brown paper to keep out the light until the seed germinates and as the seedlings grow remove the glass, otherwise the plants are liable to become drawn and spindly. When about 1 to 1½ inches high, thin the plants to 1 or 2 inches apart in the rows to allow sufficient space for making a strong, sturdy growth.

The plants thinned out if desired may be planted back into similar seed boxes. Transplanting from the seed box into Strawberry boxes as recommended below is a good plan, and as these plants will not be subsequently disturbed they can be grown to a fair size before being put out in the open. As the weather becomes milder place the box out of doors for a few hours a day to harden the young seedlings, increasing the time a little every day or two, and decrease the watering so that the plants will become better accustomed to the conditions under which they are to mature.

Just before the plants are lifted out of the box for transplanting, a good watering is essential so that a large ball of earth will adhere to the roots of each one. A simple and modified form of raising plants in seed boxes is to plant early a few seeds in a Strawberry box, which can be kept in a warm place as suggested above. By the time the seedlings are large enough for planting out the bottom of the box can be cut away, and the remaining frame, without disturbing the plants, sunk in its permanent position in the garden, thus avoiding any possible check in growth. This method is particularly useful for French Beans, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, etc. Care must be taken only to have sufficient plants in each box, but any surplus may be lifted and transplanted as with those thinned out from the larger seed boxes.

Funky plant raising solutions

If you have never grown plants from seeds using a bespoke seed box before, I urge you to give it a try. It’s an incredibly rewarding experience. All you need is your seed box, soil, some water, and some sunlight. With a little patience, you will be amazed at what can grow anytime, anywhere and any place.

Seed Germination Kits