Grow a seed
Introduction
A Kiwi Guardians activity for you to earn your Kiwi Guardians – Seed Grower medal.Your backyard is a great place to grow and nurture seeds into life. We can grow our own vegetables to eat, flowers for the bees, or native plants for the birds and native insects.
Did you know?
- The oldest seed to grow into a plant was a date palm seed, thought to be 2,000 years old.
- The biggest seed belongs to the coco de mer palm tree. It can weigh up to 17.6 kg.
- One dandelion flower head produces about 200 seeds.
Download this activity
What you need
- Seed raising compost, or soil
- Seeds
- A container to grow your seeds in
What to do
- Put some soil into your container.
- Sow some seeds on top of the soil, and scatter a bit more over the seeds to lightly cover them.
- Gently water your seeds. Not too much or they'll go mouldy. Remember to water every couple of days – seeds need water to grow.
- Put your container somewhere sunny and warm. Don't leave your seeds in the full afternoon sun, as this can quickly dry them out.
- Keep your seeds protected! Wind, rain and frost can damage them.
- Once your seeds have germinated and shoots start to show, carefully lift them out and put them in individual containers with potting mix (or soil).
Get creative with seeds and containers
A selection of items around home can be reused for growing seeds and seedlings. Egg cartons, newspaper pots or used toilet rolls are all good options.
If you don’t have any seeds handy, head outside and see what you can find in your garden or local park. Can you find any seeds from trees? It would be cool to grow your own tree – but remember a small seed can grow into a big tree so think about where you plant it.
Seedings in newspaper pots
Image: Kerryn Penny ©
Seedlings in egg cartons
Image: Kerryn Penny ©
What is a seed?
A seed is a tiny living thing, that is not active until it has the right conditions to grow. A seed has all the food it needs to begin growing, but seeds need our help after they germinate to grow into a healthy plant.
Most seeds germinate underground in dark, moist soil, where there is no sunlight. Once a seed breaks through the soil and unfolds its first leaves, it will need sunlight and water.
Helpful videos on YouTube:
Claim your Kiwi Guardians medal
Tell us how your activity goes and let us know who helped you with it, and we'll send you a Kiwi Guardians – Seed Grower medal.
Complete the claim form to tell us about your activity, and we'll send you a medal. Each Kiwi Guardians action has a different medal – see how many you can collect.
Share what you did
The team at Toyota Kiwi Guardians would love to hear about what you did. Send us an email, or share something online using #KiwiGuardians, so we can share it with others. Visit Kiwi Guardians on Facebook.
