Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Plants you see here have different demands to those we have raised since late winter. See my Quick Guide nodigquickguide.com for planting and bed-making advice
Many April-sown vegetables require extra warmth and would be killed by frost, so in cooler climates a heat source is worthwhile.
See my hotbed video for how we make and maintain it youtu.be/oX59chFvI44
The trays are my own design CD60, CD30 and CD15. They require just 1L compost for 30 cells. The small cell diameter means a lot of plants can grow in a small space. See stockists below.
Even with the small cell size, I do no feeding. Growth is from what is in the compost.
Mostly I transplant from these cells, but with the warmth-loving plants I use 7 cm pots to grow them on further in warmth, before transplanting
The potting mix I use is 50% year-old wormcasts, created in my heap of Eisenia fetida red worms. We sieve it to about 10mm, just under a half inch.
The other 50% is Urban Wyrm black gold peat-free. It's made with 30% wormcasts, and 70% mixture of shredded coir and some green waste compost, with a little basalt rockdust, sieved to 3mm. The fine sieve means very few pieces of wood.
urbanwyrm.co.uk/collections/range/products/urban-wyrm-peat-free-black-gold-organic-all-purpose-compost
The module trays are sold worldwide, and in the UK, the main distributors are
containerwise.co.uk/charles-dowding-propagation-trays
In Europe,, trays and books from The Farm Dream, Netherlands, ship to EU
thefarmdream.com/collections/charles-dowding
In Denmark and ship to EU, from FantastiskeFroe
https://fantastiskefroe.dk/products/forspiringsbakke-charles-dowding?_pos=1&_sid=ab57e9412&_ss=r
also Barneys https://www.barney.dk/produkt/spirebakke-charles-dowding-cd30/
Norway, from Lindholm gård
https://www.lindholmgard.no/produktkategori/dyrkeutstyr/
For USA and Canada, trays from
allaboutthegarden.com/products/charles-dowding-starter-pack-1
and long-handled dibber from All About The Garden
allaboutthegarden.com/products/long-handled-dibber?_pos=1&_psq=dibber&_ss=e&_v=1.0
For Australia and New Zealand, from J & E Stevenson in Tasmania
sow-your-seeds.myshopify.com/collections/long-life-seeding-trays
My climate is temperate oceanic zone 8, and last frost date is mid May. 
Filmed 19th April by Anne Svendstrup, at Homeacres, Somerset, UK.
You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members:
youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg/join
#propogation #nodig #compost #sowingseeds #gardeningtips
Plants you see here have different demands to those we have raised since late winter. See my Quick Guide nodigquickguide.com for planting and bed-making advice
Many April-sown vegetables require extra warmth and would be killed by frost, so in cooler climates a heat source is worthwhile.
See my hotbed video for how we make and maintain it youtu.be/oX59chFvI44
The trays are my own design CD60, CD30 and CD15. They require just 1L compost for 30 cells. The small cell diameter means a lot of plants can grow in a small space. See stockists below.
Even with the small cell size, I do no feeding. Growth is from what is in the compost.
Mostly I transplant from these cells, but with the warmth-loving plants I use 7 cm pots to grow them on further in warmth, before transplanting
The potting mix I use is 50% year-old wormcasts, created in my heap of Eisenia fetida red worms. We sieve it to about 10mm, just under a half inch.
The other 50% is Urban Wyrm black gold peat-free. It's made with 30% wormcasts, and 70% mixture of shredded coir and some green waste compost, with a little basalt rockdust, sieved to 3mm. The fine sieve means very few pieces of wood.
urbanwyrm.co.uk/collections/range/products/urban-wyrm-peat-free-black-gold-organic-all-purpose-compost
The module trays are sold worldwide, and in the UK, the main distributors are
containerwise.co.uk/charles-dowding-propagation-trays
In Europe,, trays and books from The Farm Dream, Netherlands, ship to EU
thefarmdream.com/collections/charles-dowding
In Denmark and ship to EU, from FantastiskeFroe
https://fantastiskefroe.dk/products/forspiringsbakke-charles-dowding?_pos=1&_sid=ab57e9412&_ss=r
also Barneys https://www.barney.dk/produkt/spirebakke-charles-dowding-cd30/
Norway, from Lindholm gård
https://www.lindholmgard.no/produktkategori/dyrkeutstyr/
For USA and Canada, trays from
allaboutthegarden.com/products/charles-dowding-starter-pack-1
and long-handled dibber from All About The Garden
allaboutthegarden.com/products/long-handled-dibber?_pos=1&_psq=dibber&_ss=e&_v=1.0
For Australia and New Zealand, from J & E Stevenson in Tasmania
sow-your-seeds.myshopify.com/collections/long-life-seeding-trays
My climate is temperate oceanic zone 8, and last frost date is mid May. 
Filmed 19th April by Anne Svendstrup, at Homeacres, Somerset, UK.
You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members:
youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg/join
#propogation #nodig #compost #sowingseeds #gardeningtips
