@NormandyLiz My vegetable choices are fairly conservative. There's only two of us so whatever I grow has to be something we both like and we're both a bit boring!
@Fairygirl Definitely wasn't expecting the second set of sweet peas to go so bonkers as only three germinated from the first lot. I've got two obelisks in the beds I'll be using. The first is the willow one that I use for my honeysuckle (provided it recovers from the intense pruning I've just given it) as it only flowers in May/June. I figure some sweet peas growing up it will produce some interest for the rest of the summer. The second is a metal one that I was growing some annual climbers up last year but I don't really know how many to plant around it. I'm sure I can give some away as well though. I do my annual clear out in March and there's a week where I'm bringing plants into work to give away. I don't drive so have to get the bus and can only do it in drips and drabs, God only knows what the people on the bus must think 😂
My greenhouse is often colder than outside in the winter and certainly doesn't keep the frost off. Very disappointing! Last year was it's first full year for me, and I thought I would be able to put tomatoes in there a few weeks earlier than they go outside, so started many of my toms off at the end of February. But no. The greenhouse gave me no advantage and I ended up with a jungle in my sitting room. i.e. sowing early is not necessarily a good idea even if you have a greenhouse (unless it's heated).
It is taking a *lot* of self control not to start sowing now, but really the tomatoes, for example, that I sowed in on April 7th last year caught up and gave me as good a harvest as the ones sowed on February 27th (I have a spread sheet ) My desire to sow sooner rather than later is also to stagger things, though. I have very few windowsills. But I am going to have to resist the urge. (Unless I take up husband's offer to use the north facing front room table with the help of grow lights. It will be rather on display to the world, though.)
@NormandyLiz you are probably doing this anyway, but if you are trying to be somewhat scientific in your approach, it's useful to keep a record of what you sowed when, germination and growing on conditions with notes to refer back to the following year. I have been growing tomatoes for nearly 30 years - other veg for now quite so long and flowers are a recent thing for me - but I only started sowing anything at all from from seed about four years ago, and I do find keeping a record helpful.
The main advantage of a cold g/h, is that it stops things getting wet and cold together. A lot of plants will survive being cold, but not cold and wet.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
Absolutely @punkdoc. It's the combination. It's why a basic cold frame, or even the plastic greenhouses, are fine for just sheltering hardy plants and cuttings etc, from the worst weather - ie rain/sleet/snow, especially if it's persistent. Many people have been mentioning weather damaged Hebes lately. It's the same for those - cutting back the damaged stems only works reliably if they have drier, milder conditions to grow in. Wet cold sees them off far more rapidly than just cold on it's own.
@februarysgirl - you may find having a honeysuckle in with sweet peas is a bridge too far, because of the moisture levels. The s. peas may struggle. What size is your metal obelisk? That will determine what amount you can plant. You can put a couple at the base of each upright though, unless the obelisk is also short in height and width.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The problem still is - you could over think everything. The little bit about sizes of seeds for example - what constitutes a large seed! It's too vague isn't it? A sweet pea or morning glory seed is quite big, compared to wallflowers or agastache, but very small when compared with squash/pumpkin or peas&beans! You would never put 5 pumpkins seeds in a 9cm/3inch pot. Anything which produces thousands of seed from one flower is more likely to be considered small though - foxgloves are a classic example. I'd say most folk would understand that.
I always think that if you don't bury anything too deeply, you won't go too far wrong. A covering no greater than the depth of the seed itself would work for most things. If the germinated seed looks a bit lanky, it's also fairly easy to add a little compost or fine grit/Perlite etc, around them as long as they aren't crowded. It's also why it's better not to be too heavy handed when sowing anything. In a similar vein to the tap root bit, I don't know if you grow basil @NormandyLiz, but that's something which isn't great if pricked out into individual plants. Sow thinly in a small pot, then just divide into two or three clumps and pot those on. That's often a better way with many lettuce crops too, for cut and come again.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I sowed some Rhodochiton today, the seeds are like specks of dust, make foxglove seed look big. If I hadn't grown them once before I would never believe they could grow. To be honest, I'm still not sure!
I'm guilty of it too, but I think that page you linked to just shows how hard it is to know if what you do is fine, or is completely and utterly wrong! People often complain that G'sWorld shows seed sowing or taking cuttings and 'that's not necessary, it's boring for experienced people' blah blah blah, but I think it's vital, and not just for those starting out. I feel they should do a continuing item right through the season, showing the different stages of those seeds, the growing medium, pricking out, potting on, planting out, general care etc. Five minutes, at least, every week is nothing in a one hour programme. Explaining about different locations and climates and the effect that has on the seedlings is also something that should be addressed too. You only have to look at this forum every year to see how difficult many folk find it all.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
@Fairygirl Definitely wasn't expecting the second set of sweet peas to go so bonkers as only three germinated from the first lot. I've got two obelisks in the beds I'll be using. The first is the willow one that I use for my honeysuckle (provided it recovers from the intense pruning I've just given it) as it only flowers in May/June. I figure some sweet peas growing up it will produce some interest for the rest of the summer. The second is a metal one that I was growing some annual climbers up last year but I don't really know how many to plant around it. I'm sure I can give some away as well though. I do my annual clear out in March and there's a week where I'm bringing plants into work to give away. I don't drive so have to get the bus and can only do it in drips and drabs, God only knows what the people on the bus must think 😂
It is taking a *lot* of self control not to start sowing now, but really the tomatoes, for example, that I sowed in on April 7th last year caught up and gave me as good a harvest as the ones sowed on February 27th (I have a spread sheet
@NormandyLiz you are probably doing this anyway, but if you are trying to be somewhat scientific in your approach, it's useful to keep a record of what you sowed when, germination and growing on conditions with notes to refer back to the following year.
I have been growing tomatoes for nearly 30 years - other veg for now quite so long and flowers are a recent thing for me - but I only started sowing anything at all from from seed about four years ago, and I do find keeping a record helpful.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
@februarysgirl - you may find having a honeysuckle in with sweet peas is a bridge too far, because of the moisture levels. The s. peas may struggle. What size is your metal obelisk? That will determine what amount you can plant. You can put a couple at the base of each upright though, unless the obelisk is also short in height and width.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
https://www.rhs.org.uk/membership/rhs-members-seed-scheme/germination-guide
A sweet pea or morning glory seed is quite big, compared to wallflowers or agastache, but very small when compared with squash/pumpkin or peas&beans! You would never put 5 pumpkins seeds in a 9cm/3inch pot. Anything which produces thousands of seed from one flower is more likely to be considered small though - foxgloves are a classic example. I'd say most folk would understand that.
I always think that if you don't bury anything too deeply, you won't go too far wrong. A covering no greater than the depth of the seed itself would work for most things. If the germinated seed looks a bit lanky, it's also fairly easy to add a little compost or fine grit/Perlite etc, around them as long as they aren't crowded. It's also why it's better not to be too heavy handed when sowing anything.
In a similar vein to the tap root bit, I don't know if you grow basil @NormandyLiz, but that's something which isn't great if pricked out into individual plants. Sow thinly in a small pot, then just divide into two or three clumps and pot those on. That's often a better way with many lettuce crops too, for cut and come again.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I'm guilty of it too, but I think that page you linked to just shows how hard it is to know if what you do is fine, or is completely and utterly wrong!
People often complain that G'sWorld shows seed sowing or taking cuttings and 'that's not necessary, it's boring for experienced people' blah blah blah, but I think it's vital, and not just for those starting out. I feel they should do a continuing item right through the season, showing the different stages of those seeds, the growing medium, pricking out, potting on, planting out, general care etc. Five minutes, at least, every week is nothing in a one hour programme.
Explaining about different locations and climates and the effect that has on the seedlings is also something that should be addressed too. You only have to look at this forum every year to see how difficult many folk find it all.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...