As soon as spring rears its head, everything seems to sprout at once. Daffodils pop out, dead-looking trees turn green, and the world just seems a little better.
Those signs of life are cues to start planting whatever it is you want to be eating over the summer. You don’t need a garden to grow food; my most successful tomato crop happened on an East London balcony.
There are so many kinds of fruits and veg it can be hard to know what to grow, and for first-timers it can be daunting. But I’m a seasoned green-fingered woman, and I’ve tried and failed enough times to tell you how to succeed.
READ MORE: ‘My £4.29 Amazon fingerless gloves stop my hands freezing when working at home and I can still type’
To start planting any seeds, you’ll need some seed trays. Amazon‘s £17.99 trays come with their own lid so all you have to do is fill them with soil, plant the seeds (three per pot in a triangle shape), water, pop them in a sunny indoors spot, and wait for seedlings to appear before moving them to bigger pots.
I use biodegradable pots – £8.49 for 96 on Amazon – so I can save the trouble of moving the plants into bigger pots. Instead, these cardboard pots can go straight into soil and the roots will grow through. You’ll have to cover them with clingfilm to give the seeds the best chance of sprouting.
You can now join ‘s new WhatsApp Community to get the best deals, sales, bargains and much more.
Through WhatsApp, we’ll send the latest exciting new products and bargains straight to your phone, both across London and online.
To join our community, you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘join community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘exit group’. If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
Click here to join our WhatsApp community.
Soil-wise, I recommend Westland’s House Plant Potting Mix, which you can get for £6 at Homebase. The soil has never let me down, plus the bag is the perfect size for a few seedling pots. As for what’s easiest to grow, read below for all my recommendations.
Best beginner seeds in short
Vegetable seeds
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are one of the easiest vegetables to grow. Yes, they’re technically a fruit, but I’m lumping it with the veg regardless. Most varieties are just as easy to grow, making them the ideal starter plant.
Tomato plants don’t grow particularly bushy, and they have the potential to get quite tall, so make sure you plan accordingly. Fans of cherry tomatoes can get Amazon’s £2.95 pack from Simply Garden, which has 4.3 stars and offers 125 seeds.
You can also get a pack of 20 seeds for 99p from Suttons. For something bigger you can try the Moneymaker tomatoes from Amazon, or you can get a pack with five different tomato varieties from B&Q.
Peppers
Peppers grow similarly to tomatoes, and seeing them flower then transform into veg is incredibly satisfying. Simply Garden’s 50-pack of seeds is £2.95 on Amazon, and it’s got 4.3 stars from 6,145 reviews.
Cucumbers
A third banker, I always end up having to give away cucumbers at the end of the summer because of how easily they grow. Be warned, they will throw out vines that’ll grip onto nearby surfaces to help them climb, so it’s worth popping a trellis or some stakes next to them.
At Suttons, you can get six seeds for sweet-tasting baby cucumbers for 99p. They’ve also got the bigger Telegraph variety, which are usually sold in shops, for 99p.
And on Amazon, there’s Cornichon cucumbers ideal for pickling for £2.49. You get 50 seeds, and they have 4.3 stars from 3,344 reviews.
Fruit seeds
Strawberries
Strawberry plants spread quickly and their white flowers look beautiful in early summer. You can get a 50-pack of seeds for £3.29 from eBay or the smaller, sweeter Alpine strawberries for £1.79 from B&Q.
Rhubarb
Rhubarb grows quickly and has the potential to re-sprout every spring. Make sure you have space, as the leaves can grow quite large.
Premier Seeds Direct’s seeds are £1.49 on Amazon, and they have 4.4 stars from 782 reviews. You can also get rhubarb seeds for 89p at Suttons.
Flower seeds
Wildflowers
Now only are wildflowers nearly impossible to mess up and absolutely beautiful, but they’re also great for the bees. To plant them, all you need is a pot of soil to sprinkle them onto – you don’t even need to sprout them in your seedling pots inside first.
On Amazon, you can get a sack with 30 different flower varieties for £10.99. You can also get a traditional scatter pack from Thompson and Morgan for £8.99.
Sweet Peas
Every year, I grow sweet peas and every year, I forget just how easily they grow. As soon as the little seeds are buries an inch under the soil, they shoot up metres of stems with sweet-smelling flowers – you’ll need a trellis to keep these bad boys under control.
Johnson’s sweet peas are £3.49 on Amazon, and have 4.4 stars from 264 reviews. Elsewhere, Suttons has a ‘sublime scent mix’ for £2.99.
Sunflowers
If you have plenty of vertical space but not much horizontal, sunflowers are the one. Plus, it’s exhilarating seeing the flowers unfurl after growing impossible tall. You can get a pack of 55 seeds from Dobies for 89p, or a ‘giant yellow’ variety from Suttons for £2.49.
To see all the best Deals, Sales and Bargains in London, check out our Facebook group.
