Hi. Bob What do you consider too early? I can heat my greenhouse now so what temperature would it have to be for new seedlings. Although the greenhouse is not bubble wrapped. i have planted some seeds but nothing fancy ie free GW seeds to see how it went, they have just come up do I keep them in til the proper leaves come? but then I thought I would try something else and the other tray is of Antirrinhum Chantilly is not up yet. So should I keep the vents open or not. Seems a bit more complicated than I thought it would be! Pta
It's a balancing act really, with no clear set of rules. The lack of enough daylight is one reason I wouldn't start too many things off now (see kili's post.) It also costs quite a bit to heat a greenhouse so a free packet of seeds may end up costing you £s.
Check the seed packets for the ideal germination temperature and use google if that information isn't there. Anything which needs over 20C will come up quicker and you'll see a more even spread of germination in a heated propagator, so can start things off as long as you have somewhere with plenty of light and reasonable temps.
I have a heated bed and will start off petunia seeds next weekend as those need an early start. By the time they are up and pricked-out, it'll probably be well into March and (hopefully) we won't be getting any extended frosty periods. I usually start the toms & peppers off late March. Long range weather forecasts also come into the equation.
However, don't overthink it and I would recommend you view it as something to help with 'tricky' seeds or to obtain a higher percentage of seeds germinating than you would without one.
My main use is getting sweet peppers started so they have enough time to produce a crop in the UK. However, I started them about this time of year several years ago and had a couple of weeks of cold weather (I don't heat my greenhouses.) The resulting plants did nowhere near as well as ones I started 2 weeks later, which grew without being 'checked' by the cold (peppers need a constant 15C or above to continue growing properly (under 5C will kill them.)
Most hardy annuals and veg seeds won't benefit but some perennials seeds are reluctant to germinate and it will be a help with those.
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
Thank you Bob, that all makes good sense. Still just wondered how long you left seedlings in the propagator, is it till the proper leaves come or as soon as they start coming up. Thanks in advance. Pta
I remove mine when a good proportion have their very first (seed) leaves otherwise they soon 'reach for the sky' if left in. More seeds usually continue to germinate after being removed, too.
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
some perennials seeds are reluctant to germinate and it will be a help with those.
@BobTheGardener Great info Bob. This is the purpose that I considered building a heated bed, but given the limited quantity of such seeds that I plan together with the other considerations that both you and @Kili have raised, such as size requirements, and number of seeds V running costs, plus hardening off requirements for early germinated seeds, I think I will get a small proprietary propagator this year and see how that goes before going all out building a larger bed.
I have acquired a Vitapod
too and spent this morning setting it up, and am wondering if I made a horrible
mistake buying it. It's in the spare bedroom (not much chance of visitors any time soon...)and since the grow lights have been rigged
up the temperature inside has not gone below 22 degrees (I set the thermostat to 15 and have put another thermometer in there to double check
that the reading is correct.) It's been warm out today and no heating on.
I have its vents open. Is this too hot for anything other than germination? If
so, it's surely only really suitable for growing on (and it suggests in all the
blurb, that it is suitable for growing on - its potential height if
nothing else suggests this) in a cool garage, cellar or shed with electricity? (None of
which I have.)
My reason behind buying it was the constant cry of
'not enough light' whenever I have mentioned my seedlings being leggy, in the
past. (Although I have always suspected that temperature might be the culprit.) I was intending
to start things off in it, then lower the temperature and grow on chillis and aubergines and maybe tomatoes until I can harden them off and put them outside. Last year I started chillis and aubergines in
April and didn't get fruit until autumn, so wanted to start them earlier.
I was also tyring to avoid the sitting room
turning into a greenhouse in late spring. (But would probably, in all
honesty, just end up growing more things anyway.)
I really do need a greenhouse...!
Maybe this isn't too hot for chillis and aubergines...? But can I put anything
else in it? I bought the big one (Christmas bonus present to self. I am not made
of money hence the horrible creeping feeling that this is a waste of money... )
Having just installed power to my greenhouse I would like to get a heated propagator, I note that Vitapod are considered good. Not sure which size to go for, and whether to buy the extended height version. If plants are to be removed after the seeds have germinated then I guess the extended height isn't needed?
I also need to consider what I would want to plant in there, I do usually grow tomatoes, would they benefit from a heated propagator?
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What do you consider too early? I can heat my greenhouse now so what temperature would it have to be for new seedlings. Although the greenhouse is not bubble wrapped.
i have planted some seeds but nothing fancy ie free GW seeds to see how it went, they have just come up do I keep them in til the proper leaves come?
but then I thought I would try something else and the other tray is of Antirrinhum Chantilly is not up yet. So should I keep the vents open or not.
Seems a bit more complicated than I thought it would be!
Pta
This is the purpose that I considered building a heated bed, but given the limited quantity of such seeds that I plan together with the other considerations that both you and @Kili have raised, such as size requirements, and number of seeds V running costs, plus hardening off requirements for early germinated seeds, I think I will get a small proprietary propagator this year and see how that goes before going all out building a larger bed.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
I have acquired a Vitapod too and spent this morning setting it up, and am wondering if I made a horrible mistake buying it. It's in the spare bedroom (not much chance of visitors any time soon...)and since the grow lights have been rigged up the temperature inside has not gone below 22 degrees (I set the thermostat to 15 and have put another thermometer in there to double check that the reading is correct.) It's been warm out today and no heating on. I have its vents open.
(Christmas bonus present to self. I am not made
of money hence the horrible creeping feeling that this is a waste of money... )
Is this too hot for anything other than germination? If so, it's surely only really suitable for growing on (and it suggests in all the blurb, that it is suitable for growing on - its potential height if nothing else suggests this) in a cool garage, cellar or shed with electricity? (None of which I have.)
My reason behind buying it was the constant cry of 'not enough light' whenever I have mentioned my seedlings being leggy, in the past. (Although I have always suspected that temperature might be the culprit.) I was intending to start things off in it, then lower the temperature and grow on chillis and aubergines and maybe tomatoes until I can harden them off and put them outside. Last year I started chillis and aubergines in April and didn't get fruit until autumn, so wanted to start them earlier.
I was also tyring to avoid the sitting room turning into a greenhouse in late spring. (But would probably, in all honesty, just end up growing more things anyway.)
I really do need a greenhouse...!
Maybe this isn't too hot for chillis and aubergines...? But can I put anything else in it? I bought the big one
I also need to consider what I would want to plant in there, I do usually grow tomatoes, would they benefit from a heated propagator?