Getting a head start

Posts

• Wilderbeast Posts: 1,415

  January 2021

  I'm new to veg really but everything I have read says it's too early to sow yet. You will probably end up with weak seedlings that are caught up by plants down later on. I'm going to start sowing about Feb 20th, but only selectively.

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• Joyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933

  January 2021

  The easy part of starting early sowings is the sowing.
  The difficult part is to keep them growing well once they have germinated. You need some heat for several types and light which is out of your control unless you have Growlights.
  There are a few veg. which will be OK to sow now. Broad beans if not already sown, all year round cauliflower, some cabbage varieties, onions and leeks.
  Baby seedlings need a lot of nurturing to avoid damping off, weak, thin straggly growth, warmth and light.
  Waiting until the days lengthen will make life much easier for you and you will have much happier plants. The amount of effort needed for maintaining early sowings hardly makes up for the limited advantages of earlier crops. Very often later sown seed catches up with early sowings and there is very little difference in cropping times.
  We all have itchy fingers at this time of year, we all start preparing for the new gardening year and sowing seed is high on most of our priority list but be patient. Sit on your hands, go through your chosen seed, put them in order of the recommended sowing times. Prepare their prospective containers, making sure they are clean etc. There are plenty of other jobs to get on with outside. If the weather is really pants read books on the subjects you are planning to grow, even dip into growing exhibition veg. Not because that is what you are planning but you will find all sorts of useful growing tips such as the best fertilizers to use etc. 
  Failing that, try a few recipes cooking veg. you do not usually eat.
  Most of all, be patient!

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