Indoor Plant Seeds: Grow Houseplants From Scratch

Picture the usual setup: one south-facing sill, about 30 cm of space, three small pots. Which seeds you pick decides whether you get velvety leaves by April or a single palm frond by next winter. If you want something you can actually eat off the sill, start with the Dwarf Pepper 'Mixed' (Capsicum annuum) Seeds, since they stay small enough for a pot and still set fruit indoors.

Foliage, Cacti, Palms and the Ones You Can Eat

The 14 packs here split into groups that want very different treatment. For foliage, Coleus - Rainbow Mixed (Coleus blumei) Seeds give you pink, lime, and burgundy leaves with a soft, almost velvety feel, and they move fast. Philodendron selloum and Asparagus Fern are the slow, green, fill-a-corner types. Mimosa pudica is the party trick of the group. Cacti Mix (Ferocactus wislizeni) and the Aloe mixture want the driest, sunniest spot you have. Palms, Neanthe Bella and the Californian Desert Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera) Seeds, are the patience group. Two are odd ones out: Pumpkin Jack O' Lantern (Cucurbita pepo) Seeds and the Small Ornamental Gourds Seed Mixture start indoors in a pot, then need a balcony or a bit of ground. A pumpkin vine on a windowsill ends badly, so plan the move.

How to Germinate Indoor Plant Seeds Without Losing Half the Tray

Numbers matter more than technique. Most species share a germination temperature range of 20-25C, and a potting mix with perlite for drainage keeps the roots happy once the seedlings are up. Coleus blumei goes on the surface of damp seed compost, uncovered, because it wants light to germinate, around 20-22C, and it's usually up in 10-14 days. Capsicum annuum likes it warmer at 25-28C, sown about 1 cm deep, 7-14 days. Chamaedorea elegans and Washingtonia filifera are the slow pair: soak the seed 24-48 hours, hold it at 25-30C, then wait anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months. Cacti seeds sit on top of a gritty mix under a clear lid at 20-25C, bright but not roasting. Keep it damp, never soggy, and mist with a spray bottle instead of pouring.

February Onwards Is When the Windowsill Gets Busy

Peppers and the Coffee Plant (Coffea arabica nana) go in from February, because both need a long run-up. Coleus and Cigar Plant work well in March, and cacti can be sown any month since they live under a lid anyway. The pumpkin and gourds want a March or April start so they hit the balcony after the cold snaps. If your flat runs cool, the top of a fridge is the warmest flat surface most people own and it does the job for the 25C-plus seeds.

What We'd Sow First

First tray ever? Coleus, every time. It germinates quickly, shows colour in weeks, and forgives a missed watering better than any palm will. Second pick would be the Cigar Plant (Cuphea ignea) Seeds for the little orange tube flowers. Keep the Coffee Plant for later; germination is slow and patchy, so it's a bad choice for your only pot. The Lemon-Scented Gum earns its space on smell alone, rub a leaf between your fingers and the whole room gets a lemon-sherbet hit.