Start seedlings for your plant pots

Press, 26 February 1980, Page 14

Start seedlings for your plant pots

The next time you eat an orange or a grapefruit, save about six of the pips and try to grow a little tree indoors. It will not bear fruit, but it will be decorative. Soak the pips in some cold water for two days. You will need a fairly large plastic bag and some potting soil. Dampen the soil- and put it into the plastic bag to a depth of 12cm. Plant the seeds in

this (not too close together). Tie the top of the bag with string and put it low down in an airing cupboard or some other warm dark place. The seeds should germinate in about three weeks. If you decorated some plastic pots as was suggested on this page last week, now is the time to use some of them. Prepare them with damp

potting soil in readiness for the orange or grapefruit seedlings. When the seedlings have three tiny leaves, cut open the bag and carefully' transfer them to the pots. Keep them in a warm room and see how they grow. If your seedlings thrive, you may have to move them into' larger pots later on. Always keep the soil moist, but not too wet.