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for sowing next year's coriander crop. Allow the seeds to ripen fully on the plant before harvesting.In the greenhouse I save seed from chillies, tomatoes and sweet peppers. The rule of thumb here is not to save seed from F1 hybrid varieties, as their progeny

Baron' as an example, I can buy a packet containing 250 seeds for £1.45, or a pack of about 40 heat-treated sets for £3.99. If they all grew then an onion grown from seed costs less than 1p, while one grown from a set costs 10 times that at 10p.If you

Should I feel guilty about heating my greenhouse? While I'm turning the heat down in my home to save energy, keep bills down, and reduce CO2 emissions, here I am considering heating my greenhouse to both protect plants through winter and provide

of newspaper in a warm, dry place they'll continue ripening, and I'll be able to shake out the seeds.The best germination comes from sowing right away, and not saving for another day. Just sprinkle seeds onto the surface of compost in a large pot and cover

few bits to friends, too. If I wanted more I could save some of the ripe seed capsules and sow them to raise new plants, but I think one clump is enough.Apparently you can find it growing wild in parts of southern England, especially on lime-rich soils

-pods of honesty look charming, adding interest when many other worthy perennials have given up the ghost for winter.Seed will naturally fall onto surrounding soil, sowing itself, with new seedlings emerging next year. Alternatively, seed can be saved to raise new

I hope I’m not getting impatient in my advancing years. When the latest seed catalogues arrived I was determined to find out which were the quickest-growing salad crops.Gardening isn’t the best pursuit for anyone seeking instant gratification, and I

or the variety?).I've been a member of the Heritage Seed Library run by Garden Organic for many years, and fully endorse the value and ethos of saving varieties from extinction. After all, you never know when the genetic material they contain could be of value

We're all looking for ways to recycle more, save money and grow our own edible crops, so it's great finding a way to combine all three at the same time!OK, there's nothing new about re-using cartons and packaging that would otherwise find its way

Last summer I discovered a twining, tender climber called Lophospermum, or lofos. I bought two varieties, 'Burgundy Falls' and 'Summer Cream' (both pictured left), as plug plants from a mail-order seed company. I grew my lofos under cover, in 7.5-10