I've been watching the thermometer in my conservatory here in Scotland, variations from 35C on a sunny day to 5C overnight - horrible!
The thermostatic plug adapter has finally arrived and seems to work properly - I've set it to 15C and plugged a fan heater into it and it has been keeping the conservatory at around 15C all evening so far. I've just taken the plunge and sown my seeds - Shirley and Tomatoberry. I'll need to hook the fan up again in the morning to try and keep the daytime temperature down - looks like my old car battery has died over the winter but it will run OK straight from the solar panel for now.
I'm running a bit later than most of you, but still a month or 6 weeks ahead of my efforts last year!
New for this year, and more for the stuff I grow outside than the toms, I've picked some flower seeds of varieties that are good for pollinators, so I've sown up a propagator with some of those too. I really have no idea about flowers but I have chosen varieties suitable for hanging baskets so as not to waste ground space for fruit and veg
I sowed 6 seeds of each variety. As I find every year, Sungold incredibly reliable (6 out of 6 strong seedlings already germinated), closely followed by Black Cherry (5/6) then Tigerella (3/6). Sweet Aperitif - only 1 out of 6 germinated so far. I do vaguely remember from last year that they take longer.
I've taken the lid off my seed tray now as I want to get some air circulating for the seedlings already there. Hopefully that doesn't put the remainder off from germinating. The tray's in a pretty warm spot - inside our house so at about 20C.
My plan / hope would be to choose the three strongest seedlings from each variety to grow on...
Sounds good Boater, I am sure your tomatoes and flowers will do well.
Bf206, yeah some varieties tend to be better germinators than others. The late ones may come through in the next couple of days, just make sure that you keep them moist, now that the lid is off!
Yes, a few more Sweet Aperitif have reared their heads... Basically I'll have plenty of plants. Always strikes me how reliable Sungold are, from germination to fruiting.
Just starting to get tiny true leaves on some of them...
Posts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
Bf206, I would keep the cover on untill you see seedlings up to an inch or so high.
Finally! - here is the link to my growing onions video.
My tomatoes are coming on well and have now reached the stage to be potted on to 3" pots (this weekends job).
My video Growing tomatoes Part 2 covers this stage. See it the following link:
https://youtu.be/6Lli2VZLbkQ
I've been watching the thermometer in my conservatory here in Scotland, variations from 35C on a sunny day to 5C overnight - horrible!
The thermostatic plug adapter has finally arrived and seems to work properly - I've set it to 15C and plugged a fan heater into it and it has been keeping the conservatory at around 15C all evening so far. I've just taken the plunge and sown my seeds - Shirley and Tomatoberry. I'll need to hook the fan up again in the morning to try and keep the daytime temperature down - looks like my old car battery has died over the winter but it will run OK straight from the solar panel for now.
I'm running a bit later than most of you, but still a month or 6 weeks ahead of my efforts last year!
New for this year, and more for the stuff I grow outside than the toms, I've picked some flower seeds of varieties that are good for pollinators, so I've sown up a propagator with some of those too. I really have no idea about flowers but I have chosen varieties suitable for hanging baskets so as not to waste ground space for fruit and veg
I sowed 6 seeds of each variety. As I find every year, Sungold incredibly reliable (6 out of 6 strong seedlings already germinated), closely followed by Black Cherry (5/6) then Tigerella (3/6). Sweet Aperitif - only 1 out of 6 germinated so far. I do vaguely remember from last year that they take longer.
I've taken the lid off my seed tray now as I want to get some air circulating for the seedlings already there. Hopefully that doesn't put the remainder off from germinating. The tray's in a pretty warm spot - inside our house so at about 20C.
My plan / hope would be to choose the three strongest seedlings from each variety to grow on...
Sounds good Boater, I am sure your tomatoes and flowers will do well.
Bf206, yeah some varieties tend to be better germinators than others. The late ones may come through in the next couple of days, just make sure that you keep them moist, now that the lid is off!
Yes, a few more Sweet Aperitif have reared their heads... Basically I'll have plenty of plants. Always strikes me how reliable Sungold are, from germination to fruiting.
Just starting to get tiny true leaves on some of them...
BF206, same as me, the first true leaves have appeared. There will be a lot of growing going on under the soil At the moment!