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Monty Don shares a wealth of tips in this step-by-step guide to sowing seed indoors. Learn about the best compost mix for seedlings, how to cover freshly planted seeds and discover an ingenious method for boosting light levels during the early

Sowing cyclamen from seed is surprisingly easy, but it's not a job for the impatient gardener: grown this way it can take a year or more before you are rewarded with beautiful blooms. To produce indoor plants you need to use seeds of tender large

Tomatoes are easy to grow from seed and should germinate within two weeks. Compact cherry varieties can be grown in pots and hanging baskets, while larger, cordon types are more suited to being raised in the ground or in growing bags. Tomato seedsSeed

Follow Monty Don's video advice for sowing sunflower seeds in a fine tilth, for a summer display.summerMore flowers to grow from seedBluebellsExoticsCyclamenDahlias

You can never have enough lettuce in summer, but sowing directly into the soil takes up valuable space in the garden. Keep a regular supply growing by sowing seeds in lengths of plastic guttering: short, 1m lengths are convenient and easy to handle

. Sweet peas dislike root disturbance so grow them in cardboard tubes or coir pots. This will enable you to plant them out in their containers without damaging the roots.Sweet pea seedsSeed compostCardboard tubesJanuary - May20 minutesSow seeds

Monty Don and Chris Beardshaw demonstrate how to sow a range of vegetable crops in a greenhouse, including chillies, cucumber and lettuce. Pick up tips on choosing compost, watering, spacing, preventing disease and covering your seeds

Ensure a burst of spring colour by sowing polyanthus seeds in the previous summer. Watch Monty's video, including tips on compost and aftercare, to find out how.summerMore advice on primulasHow to rejuvinate primrosesBrowse primula varieties

on these as the only means of support. The shoots will branch out and produce spectacular flowers in midsummer.AdamTry planting other exotic summer-flowering plants, like eucomis, tiger flower and calla lilyMore on summer colourPlant summer-flowering bulbs in pots

on growing salad leavesGrow salad leaves from seed - video project with Joe SwiftGrow tomatoes from seed - with advice from Joe SwiftSow salad in gutteringPlant out lettuces