How to sow your free chilli seeds - Six Months of Seeds

Get cracking now, with the help of our step-by-step video guides to sowing your chilli seeds, below.

You Will Need

• Chilli seed, free with your January 2021 subscriber issue
• Multi-purpose compost
• Sieve
• Watering can with rose attachment
• Pencil or dibber
• Plant label

Step 1

Pour multi-purpose compost into a small pot. Gently tamp it level about 1cm below the rim, to leave room for watering.

Step 2

Place the seeds about 3cm apart on the surface. Cover lightly with more compost, ideally using a sieve to remove any lumps.

Step 3

Water using a small watering can with a rose, so the seeds are not dislodged. Place in a warm spot and keep the compost just moist.

Step 4

Once your seedlings have germinated, you need to prick them out. Gather a new pot for each one, fresh multi-purpose compost and a dibber. Fill each new pot with compost.

Step 5

Holding a seedling by a leaf, use the dibber to lever it out of the compost, taking care to bring all roots with it.

Step 6

Make a hole in the centre of the new pot and lower in the seedling. Plant a little deeper than it was previously, for strong growth.

Step 7

Water your newly transplanted seedling and place in a warm, bright spot.

Coming up - more free seeds

February 2021: Dahlia and echinacea

Colour made easy with our February double pack, worth £5.20

• Dahlia Mignon Mixed - loved by bees and butterflies, these colourful, compact plants are ideal for pots and borders
• Echinacea Large flowered - beautiful in summer borders, with elegant, lance-shaped leaves and large daisy-like blooms. The long stems make them ideal for cut flowers

March: Pollinator mix and sunflower

Perfect for pollinators, our March packs are worth £5.50

• Pollinator Mix - a wildlife-friendly mix of beautiful flowers, rich in nectar and pollen
• Sunflower Sunburst Mix - super-easy to grow, the cheery large flowerheads are a magnet for pollinators and the seeds are a great source of food for birds later in the year

April: Tomato and basil

The taste of summer. Packs worth £4.80

• Tomato 'Red Cherry' - heavy crops of small fruits with delicious, sweet fruits flavour. Can be grown outside or in an unheated greenhouse
• Basil 'Lettuce Leaf' - this unusual basil bears enormous, frilly-edged leaves, which have a sweet aromatic flavour you can enjoy all summer long

May: Cosmos and carrot

A couple of classics in this double pack worth £5

• Cosmos 'Purity' - this much-loved favourite will give you a dazzling display of large white flowers right through summer. Also great for cut flowers
• Carrot 'Royal Chantenay 3' - sow direct in the ground, or in containers. Kids will love growing and eating this fast-growing variety and the small, sweet roots are delicious cooked whole

June: Zinnia and cornflower

Get speedy results with this colourful couple, worth £4.80

• Zinnia 'Early Wonder' – large dahlia-like blooms in a mix of showy, vibrant colours
• Cornflower 'Blue Ball' - easy to grow, with masses of bee-friendly blooms, cornflowers are the perfect cottage garden flower