As the days begin to lengthen spring feels just around the corner. It's almost the busiest time of year for your propagation table and we can imagine you're itching to get started.

We'd recommend waiting a couple more weeks before you really get going but if you have access to undercover space now is a great time to get sowing your aubergines, chillies and peppers.

Here's our top tips to get them off to the best start possible:

1. Fill a 9cm pot or seed tray with fine seed compost
2. Sprinkle some seeds on the surface and then cover with a thin layer of compost (approx 5mm) and press down to make sure seeds have good contact with the compost
3. Water with a very fine-rose watering can, being careful not to displace the seeds
4. Place in a warm spot; you can use an electric propagator or a sunny windowsill above a radiator. The seeds will germinate best with even temperatures of 25C; if they get cold at night they will take longer to come up
5. You can also wrap the propagator with blankets / a duvet to keep them extra cosy at night
6. Once the seedlings have emerged, they can be pricked out into module trays or pots depending on the space you have available. If you use modules you may need to pot on again once the plants are 4 inches tall
7. Keep well watered but do be careful not to over-water, especially chillies and peppers. Your compost should be as moist as a moist chocolate cake but no wetter or the plants will suffer
8. Once any risk of frost has passed, probably by around mid-May, your plants can be planted out in a sunny sheltered spot or under cover. They may still benefit from being covered by a bit of horticultural fleece if the weather is cold.

Need to stock up your seed stash in preparation?

We've got a fantastic range of delicious open pollinated chillies, tomatoes, peppers and aubergines on our online shop below!

Itching to sow your tomatoes?

We recommend waiting until early March. Tomatoes are usually much faster to grow and if sown now, will usually get too big (and leggy!) before it starts to warm up.

Keep the above notes handy for when the time comes though, it's exactly the same technique for tomatoes too!

All the best and happy seed sowing :)

Chloe and the rest of the team