Every Child a Seed

In addition to their plant starter kit, your students will also need the following materials:

• Old newspapers
• A spoon for scooping the potting mix
• A stick
• A filled watering can or a cup filled with water
  

Follow these steps for planting the seeds:

1. Wash your hands before planting your seeds.
2. Clear the surface of your table and lay old newspapers on it.
3. Use the spoon to scoop the potting mix into the pot until it is three-quarters full.
4. Use the stick to make five holes about 1 cm deep in the potting mix. The holes should not be too close to one another.
5. Place a seed into each hole, then cover the holes with a thin layer of potting mix.
6. Water the potting mix generously until water drips from the drainage holes of the pot. Water slowly to prevent the potting mix from being washed out of the pot.
7. Place the pot in a warm and semi-shaded environment.
8. Record observations in the plant journal.
   

Students should water their plants when the potting mix feels dry about 2cm below the surface or turns light brown.

When watering, students have to ensure the potting mix is damp, but not wet. To check if the potting mix is damp, make a 2cm mark on a stick and push it into the potting mix.

Damp soil will remain on the stick, which is when you should stop watering.

The Sunflower, Roselle and Sweet Basil grow best with moderate watering. 

Plants need sunlight to grow. When the second set of leaves (true leaves) appears on seedlings, students should place the pot under direct sunlight.

The first set of plant leaves (seed leaves) tends to be round or oval. Most plants have similar-looking seed leaves. True leaves, however, are distinctive to that plant.

When the Sunflower plant grows to about 70cm tall, you can tie a stick loosely to the stem to support it.

Your students can try trimming away the dead parts of the stem. The plant may still be salvaged. 

Students should:

• Re-pot their plant in a larger pot or recyclable container (for example, a plastic bottle cut in half lengthwise).
• Ensure there are drainage holes at the bottom of the recyclable container.

Refer to the video for more information:

The programme is free. It is fully sponsored by the Garden City Fund, a registered charity supported by NParks.

Schools can expect to receive the plant starter kits from May onwards.

In addition to the plant starter kits, each school should have received extra packets of Roselle, Sunflower and Sweet Basil seeds, with each packet containing approximately 500 seeds. 

You may use these to supplement the shortage.

Refer to the softcopy of the plant journal that can be printed out.