Nasturtium Seeds

Grow nasturtium from seed — trailing, jewel-toned and completely edible (Tropaeolum majus). Cream, yellow, apricot, orange, scarlet and deep mahogany blooms held above round lily-pad leaves, all in one mixed packet. It is among the easiest winter flowers to grow in Pakistan, and the only one you can put straight into a salad.

Growing Guide for Pakistan

• Sowing time: September to November in the plains; September to October in Islamabad and the hills; October to December in Karachi.
• Method: Direct sow where it is to flower — nasturtium resents root disturbance. Soak the large seeds overnight, then cover with 15–20 mm of soil.
• Germination: 7–14 days at 18–22°C.
• Spacing: 25–30 cm apart in full sun; give trailing plants a wall, a basket or a bed edge to spill over.
• Flowering: December to April, and continuous as long as you keep picking.
• Sun and water: Full sun; moderate water. Do not feed it — rich soil gives a mountain of leaves and almost no flowers. Poor ground is what makes it bloom.

Edible flowers and leaves

Petals and young leaves are both edible, with a clean peppery heat close to watercress. Scatter whole flowers over a salad, chop the leaves through a sandwich, or pickle the green seed pods like capers. Nothing is sprayed and nothing is wasted.

A working plant, not just a pretty one

Nasturtium is the classic companion plant. Aphids prefer it to almost anything else, so a row sown beside your vegetables pulls them off the crop you actually care about. The open flowers also bring bees and hoverflies into the garden at a time of year when little else is in bloom.

New to seed starting? Read what to sow in September and why seeds fail to germinate in Pakistan first.

Germination-tested in Lahore before shipping, since 1932. Pair with calendula and alyssum from our winter flower seeds collection for an edible, pollinator-friendly border.