Today I have sown a variety of tomato seed. The varieties I have gone for will all need staking and “pinching out” when I eventually plant them outside.

Growing your own not only tastes great, but offers the chance to discover a whole range of different types of tomato you cannot find in the shops. Here are the ones I’m going to try my luck at growing this year.

I am also sowing one variety of chillie pepper called Early Jalapeno, which I plan to grow indoors.

I make my own pots for free using toilet rolls or paper. For Christmas I was kindly gifted a wooden pot maker, but you can make pots using cut down toilet rolls with paper wrapped around and tucked underneath.

Find a tray to sit your pots in. Fill the pots with compost of your choice and water well before sowing. Its best to water the compost before you put your seeds in. If you water after sowing your seeds, they can float about and get dislodged.

This year I am using compost discs that you soak in water, and they expand to fill your pot.

Prepare labels with the name of your seed and the date you are sowing them. Then start sowing.

I make 2 small indents in the top of the compost in each pot, with the end of a pencil to the depth recommended on the seed packet. I put one seed in each hole. This is insurance in case one of them doesn’t germinate. If both seeds germinate I will wait and see which one is the weakest, then snip it off leaving the stronger one to grow on.

Next sprinkle over a little more compost. I have chosen to sprinkle mine with some vermiculite I have left over from last year.

Place the tray on a sunny window sill. I have covered mine with a lid to maintain temperature and prevent them from drying out, but with the vent on the top left open.

Choose a windowsill that is going to get some sunlight, so avoid north facing ones. These seeds need heat to get going, then when the first leaves appear they need sunlight to keep growing.

Over the next 2 weeks I’ll spend a minute to check on my pots each day, and wipe off any build up of condensation on the inside of the cover, to avoid build up of algae or mould on the inside.

Now its a matter of waiting and seeing. I hope to see shoots appear in 14 to 21 days if I can maintain temperature.