I am glad I am not alone! I realize I feel a bit guilty about my jungles (lean to and spare bedroom are quite over-populated too but they are not living spaces, at least.) It's a good thing my husband has more or less decamped to the front room these days! He only has to deal with the kitchen windowsill.
Most years they’d all be out on the terrace during the day by now and back into the studio at night ... but every year’s a challenge in one way or another .., the other day I posted on another thread about gardeners having a tendency for masochism .., I wasn’t joking 😆
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
@Dovefromabove there's definitely something in that. I fail so often in the garden, year after year, in so many different ways, yet I'm back again for some new ways of failing every single year 😆
I think a lot of us feel the same. You can't say you sowed veg too early,you cannot guarantee or forecast the weather a few months down the line. I'm in SE UK fairly near the sea,my latest frost was meant to be a Month ago,but t don't go by or believe that date. I haven't even sowed my runners and dwarfs yet. I did buy some pots today,didn't want to but the cucumbers are growing more than 6 inches a day. Still haven't got the conservatory back, peppers and small seedlings have been moved in to there from the kitchen window sill
I only say I sowed mine
too early because normally I don't reach this crisis point for another ten days
(I am pretty sure they went out early June last year.) So usually I only have two weeks of worrying that the poor plants will
suffer for not being potted on. This time it's more like a month.
I've held off sowing cucumbers and courgettes. I
am considering just buying a few plants instead, which is a pity because
they are so satisfyingly quick to germinate and grow. (And I prefer to grow mildew resistant varieties. Last year I couldn't get any and the courgettes all succumbed long before i reached glut stage.) But that's also the
problem at the moment.
I sowed some peas and beans (dwarf FB and climbing
FB) last Tuesday – mostly germinated and growing quickly - and 6 borlotti today,
so quite late and not that many. I’ve not got around to broad beans at all.
I just have to put up with this for another 10 days. The tomatoes have to cope for rather longer unless I risk it and put them out before I go away.
I have, of course had the same issue this year. Some things never change, all my flower seedlings are not all in the greenhouse, at least. However I at least I feel a bit more confident about the whole thing, one year on. I do have a question though. I am hardening off all manner of things, but need to go away next Tuesday/Wednesday. That's probably long enough of hardening off to be able leave things out over night, (certainly the hardy annuals. Maybe not tomatoes quite yet.) But many plants are in very small pots still, so if it's sunny there is a danger of them drying out, in which case they might be better off indoors as there is no one to water them. I assume doing this would not set them back to square one, hardening off wise? I appreciate this may not be a question anyone can really answer. Alternatively I could set up some capillary matting, but that's a bit of a faff, and I am not sure if I trust it. Might keep me occupied on Monday, though... (Wednesday is my mother's funeral...)
I should change my forum name to anxiousgardener. Overthinker?
Can you move the hardy annuals to a sheltered spot in the shade where they'll dry out less if it's warm and sunny? The tomatoes would be safer in the greenhouse I think. Do you normally water them every day? If they're drying out that quickly, maybe you could pot them on into bigger pots before you go, then they should be OK for a couple of days. You might want to leave the vents open if they're not automatic and it's not going to get too cold at night.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
No I don't water every day at the moment, although I do monitor closelt. They are not in bright sunlight all the time either in the greenhouse or in the lean to or house. Yes could put somewhere more shady outside. I really don't want to pot on as there are 200+ seedlings. A lot of work and I'd probably have to buy more pots. I also have rather a lot of other things on my plate at the moment. (Part of me thinks give up on the lot... But I probably won't.) Would definitely be easier to set up a capillary matting system. re the tomatoes, they are mostly in their intermediate pots. Many will go into quadgrows in the garden so I can't pot them on until they are ready to stay outside. I can probably only put the toms in the greenhouse if I leave everything else outside! (Lots of toms, 10x6 greenhouse.) Greenhouse vents are automatic. There is a louvred wall vent.
Sounds as if the capillary matting is the way to go for the greenhouse and the rest will have to take their chances with a good watering before you leave.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Posts
.., I wasn’t joking 😆
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I only say I sowed mine too early because normally I don't reach this crisis point for another ten days
(I am pretty sure they went out early June last year.) So usually I only have two weeks of worrying that the poor plants will
suffer for not being potted on. This time it's more like a month.
I've held off sowing cucumbers and courgettes. I am considering just buying a few plants instead, which is a pity because they are so satisfyingly quick to germinate and grow. (And I prefer to grow mildew resistant varieties. Last year I couldn't get any and the courgettes all succumbed long before i reached glut stage.) But that's also the problem at the moment.
I sowed some peas and beans (dwarf FB and climbing FB) last Tuesday – mostly germinated and growing quickly - and 6 borlotti today, so quite late and not that many. I’ve not got around to broad beans at all.
I just have to put up with this for another 10 days. The tomatoes have to cope for rather longer unless I risk it and put them out before I go away.
I am hardening off all manner of things, but need to go away next Tuesday/Wednesday. That's probably long enough of hardening off to be able leave things out over night, (certainly the hardy annuals. Maybe not tomatoes quite yet.) But many plants are in very small pots still, so if it's sunny there is a danger of them drying out, in which case they might be better off indoors as there is no one to water them. I assume doing this would not set them back to square one, hardening off wise?
I appreciate this may not be a question anyone can really answer.
Alternatively I could set up some capillary matting, but that's a bit of a faff, and I am not sure if I trust it. Might keep me occupied on Monday, though... (Wednesday is my mother's funeral...)
I should change my forum name to anxiousgardener. Overthinker?
I really don't want to pot on as there are 200+ seedlings. A lot of work and I'd probably have to buy more pots. I also have rather a lot of other things on my plate at the moment. (Part of me thinks give up on the lot...
re the tomatoes, they are mostly in their intermediate pots. Many will go into quadgrows in the garden so I can't pot them on until they are ready to stay outside.
I can probably only put the toms in the greenhouse if I leave everything else outside! (Lots of toms, 10x6 greenhouse.) Greenhouse vents are automatic. There is a louvred wall vent.