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How To Grow Nasturtium

Nasturtium are the perfect plant for growing with kids in any garden. Ideal for pots or hanging baskets, nasturtiums are the perfect companion plant.

Nasturtium have been a staple annual in our garden for many years and the kids love to grow the vibrant foliage and flowers. You can eat the edible nasturtium flowers and they have a peppery taste as well as gorgeous color. Growing from seed nasturtiums are some of the fastest herbs to germinate that we can think of in the UK.

nasturtium foliage and flowers
Companion planting or as ground cover to suppress weed growth

How To Grow Nasturtium From Seed Outdoors

  • Prepare the soil by weeding before sowing directly in the ground.
  • Wait for the fear of frost to have passed in Spring. Mr Fothergill’s have a lovely Nasturtium Collection you can buy here.
  • Plant each seed around 1 inch deep and with 10 inches between seeds. You can avoid this by planting them slightly closer together and then transplanting when the seedlings are large enough to be handled.
  • You may choose to plant your nasturtiums as companion plants so mixing them between the lines of your main crop will work well. However be careful not to weed them out by mistake, the leaves are distinctive once they have grown passed the first leaf.
  • Water well and protect if a surprise frost sneaks up on you!
  • Wait until Summer for a lovely long lasting display of foliage and vibrant flowers. Ours bloom well into November and even December in milder years.
  • Water well during dry periods.

Growing Nasturtium Indoors In Pots

  • Choose pots around 2 inches and plant one seed per pot one inch deep. If you are looking for reliable seeds then, Mr Fothergill’s have a lovely Nasturtium Collection you can buy here.
  • You can use a biodegradable pot to avoid the roots being disturbed during transplantation later on in the year, but this will not be too much of a problem for nasturtiums.
  • Clearly label your pot and if you are growing with kids a little decoration before planting up goes a long way to keeping them interested.
  • Nasturtiums take between 10-12 days to germinate and you will get good results in a warm sunny windowsill or under an electric propagator.
  • A few more weeks and the true leaves will come through. They are ready to be transplanted to a larger container inside or to be hardened off outside.
  • Wait until the fear of frost has passed and start leaving them outside during the day, after a few days they are ready to be transplanted full time to the outside world.
  • If you intend to grow your nasturtiums on the windowsill just transplant them into a larger pot, they thrive in a conservatory, with the right amount of watering.
Growing nasturtium
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Why Grow Nasturtiums

  • Nasturtium are a well known companion plant and do well to deter aphids from decimating your main crop.
  • Nasturtiums are also great for attracting pollinators to your garden. They provide an extended period of flowering that can be very beneficial to bees later in the year.
  • If you are looking for a perfect beginners plant with your children, then nasturtiums will fit that bill. So simple to grow with large seeds, they make gardening easy with quick rewards.
  • Perfect for filling hanging baskets. We all know how expensive gardening can be, but nasturtiums are great for filling spaces in hanging baskets and creating that cascade we all love.
  • Nasturtiums provide ideal ground cover for deterring weeds from growing. They can also be trained to grow upwards and this can make for an interesting feature on a bland fence panel.
  • The edible flowers of your nasturtium plants will prove very tempting to younger gardeners. So you can eat as you go, always a winner for sneaking nutrients into the kids diet!
  • That foliage though! Seriously pleasing to those of us with a geometric eye, nasturtiums offer a little bit of variety in your Autumn and Winter garden.

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