Most important if you know the varieties of seed a permanent marker / pencil and a plastic label
Firstly let me explain the process of using the teabag, I have had great success using a teabag to germinate seeds. I first heard about this technique 2 years ago and was sceptical, I purchased 2 packs of identical seeds and performed the below process and had an 80% - 90% success rate of germination compared to a 50%- 80% success rate of germination not using the tea technique. This is supposed to replicate the stomach of a bird to aid the germination in the wild.

Make a cup of tea and leave enough water in the kettle to make another, collect the teabag, and put it to one side and place in another cup that hot water can be used in. Pure the semi hot water into the cup and let it cool down to room temperature do not add milk. Then place the kitchen towel on the saucer and pour enough tea on the kitchen towel to soak up the water. Carefully place the seeds in the towel and fold over covering the seeds. *** NOTE *** do not allow the paper towel to dry ***NOTE***. Place the saucer with the seeds and the tea soaked paper in either an airing cupboard or a heated propagator overnight. Drink the first tea you have made.

Prepare the soil. Pour the compost into the sieve removing all the large lumps so it is a fine’ish compost. Make enough sieved compost to fill half a garden bucket. Add a cup of water and one handful of Perlite and Vermiculite stir well until thoroughly mixed. Once this has been completed collect the seeds that have been soaking overnight in the kitchen towel, if the towel has dried out you will have to start again. If you have one large seed tray or celled seed tray fill to approx a pencil width from the top, bang the tray on a table twice to settle the compost mix. Select each seed and place either in the centre of each cell or approx 2 cm apart in the seed tray. Spray with a water spray and very gently cover with a fine amount of sieved compost, and use the permanent marker and label and write the variety on the label placing it in the tray this is a mistake I have made and have not been able to tell what I am growing by not labelling... Place in a heated propagator, if you do not have a propagator then an airing cupboard will do well and cover with the cling film of plastic bag. You can purchase a heated propagator from B&Q or Homebase for approx £15. Check every 24 hours spraying water enough to mist and no more. This is a crucial point in the growth of the seed and the most common things that I suffered Please see the trouble shooting section.

Potting on : Prepare a plant pot per plant approx 8cm in diameter and pre fill with gravel approx 1cm and then fill with the premade compost described in earlier, in the centre of the plant pot use your finger to drill down a hole in the centre approx 2-3cm deep. Once the majority of the seedlings start to sprout out of the compost remove the cling film, place on a window sill and every day turn around forcing the seedling to seek out the sun each day, wait until the seedlings are large enough to be handled, this will be when the seedling has at least two leaves. Get a ice lolly stick or something similar and holding the seedling leaves between thumb and forefinger very gently prise out the seedling being very careful not to break the roots or the steam. Place the seedling root first into the hole and gently firm and spray water. Place in a sunny place and in the early days spray water once a day. As the plant starts to get larger once every two days is sufficient.

Once the plant has more than 3 – 4 sets of leaves then pinching out needs to be performed or the plant will shoot straight up which is not a problem see trouble shooting below. This is a process where the new shoots in the middle need to be pinched out so that the plant will bush out.
Take the new shoots in the middle of the plant and between the thumb and forefinger pinch and pull out. This way the plant will put its energy in the set of leaves below and will make the plant bush.

After approx 4 – 6 weeks you will start to see flowers appearing. This is when it is time to feed. Some people recommend and indeed feed the plant Miracle grow. I personally think that this is great if you intend to keep the plant as an ornamental plant and NOT to eat it. If you are to eat the fruit then feed the plant once a week with Seaweed solution or Tom rite following the instruction on the bottle. It really does make a difference.

If the plant looks like it is too large for the 8cm plant pot, repot in a 20cm plant pot with 2cm of gravel in the bottom and the premade compost, this time allowing space for the 8cm plant pot to fit in.
To produce more fruit pick the early existing fruit. ENJOY