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Saving money by sowing seed
M Fent
Posts: 166
Hello everyone.
concerned at the price of flowers in the GC this summer, i have vowed to grow perennails/annuals for next years garden etc. however, me being a noob, when is the best time to sow? Im really not fussed about specific flowers, most importantly for me are flowers that are literally nectar for bees. i have an unheated greenhouse that could be used if i was to sow seeds now or should i wait until spring? I live in rural Derbyshire if that makes any difference. kind regards, m
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If you are new to it, then annuals are the best place to start! The seed is usually cheaper than perennials and they tend to be less pernickety. You can start them in the spring as they grow fast - they have to, they've only got one year! Some are hardy annuals which can be grown cooler, but half hardy ones come from warmer climes and need a little more heat to get started. This means either waiting for things to warm up (can be a long wait some years!) or providing some heat yourself. Ths could just be a simple propagator - like a seed tray with a protective lid that you place on a warm (but not too sunny) windowsill - or one that has a built-in heating element. These help you to get things off to a good start and steal a march on the seasons. This helps a lot if you are not in the southern counties! I'm just over the border in Cheshire and the growing season is shorter than down south. My propagator (a very large one!) sits on my bedroom windowsill and is stuffed from January onwards. As seedlings come up they are moved on gradually, to covered seedtray indoors, then lid removed, then to cold greenhouse before potting up or planting out. Tender plants often get a spell of growing on in the heated propagator to speed things up a bit.
Good luck! Once you get the bug - and there is hardly anything more rewarding than seeing the first signs of germination - and some confidence, there will be no holding you! Lots of good advice and support on here too.
It's a good time of year to sow some hardy perennials, the ones that need a chill to break dormancy. I sow every thing that's hardy in autumn, all outside in pots. Some germinate quickly, some already have, others wait til spring. I bring the germinated ones into an unheated GH and all pots in there about February, as much for my benefit as theirs.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Oo brilliant. Thankyou you two!!
Nut - could you prove a list of what you have sown now so I can copy please?
It's my first year with a greenhouse and all advice is much needed. Thanks
Yes me too
I'll put some thought to it but if you consider all hardy members of ranunculaceae and apiaceae as needing winter chill to germinate, you won't go far wrong.
So that's all the astrantias, aconitum, aquilegia, hellebores, (better fresh),
I've sown some foxgloves I picked up in the end of season sale, they have germinated and I'll protect them in the cold GH through the worst of winter.
I really do sow more or less everything as it gets ripe, and leave them outside.
In the sticks near Peterborough
M Fent.
Welcome .
If you get a seed catalogue from Thomson and Morgan, ( might get on at the garden centre, or email them ) they have a handy guide to tell you how easy each plant is to grow, if they're annuals, hardy etc etc.
And it's always nice to flick through a seed catalogue to find something new.
Thanks everyone - it's my first year with a greenhouse and so far loving it. I have got to get into the habit of labelling each plant though. I start off with labelling one plant with the intention of keeping them all together in a tray but...well... you know the rest
By the way does anyone k ow what these little lilac flowering plants are?