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New allotment OMG...Part 2...

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  • Zoomer44 Lidl starts next week Thursday, Aldi store did have loads of the compost and quite a bit of the rest of stuff, good you got some plants and cheap

    Going to try and sow some sweet peas on Sunday other than that got to sort out the station seems really cold today but sunny  

    Hampshire Gardener
  • Aster2Aster2 Posts: 629

    I tried to find the heated windowsill propagator I want to get in local stores, but no luck. I'll have to get it online.

  • Zoomer44Zoomer44 Posts: 3,267
    I got my super seven on line. Check different t sites, there can be quite a difference in cost.



    You can also purchase extra tray's which are handy. Seedlings need to grow on till they produce true leaves before they can be potted up. You won't be able to use the tray for germinating seeds until then.



    The electric propagator costs about ??30.
  • Aster2Aster2 Posts: 629

    Goodness, yes, why didn't I think of online sites other than Amazon? I've already found it cheaper on the first other site I checked. Excellent!

    I'm planning to sow the seeds into pots made of newspaper and put those into the trays.

  • Zoomer44Zoomer44 Posts: 3,267
    I cut up small module tray's for bigger seeds, a tray cut into six modules can fit in quite nicely.



    It's also a good plan to get a decent seed compost, just used for seeds in the propagator, poorer one's can set like concrete if you forget to waterimage



    As the tray's are so small a small bag is usually sufficient.
  • Aster2Aster2 Posts: 629

    That's a good idea with the module trays!

    I bought a small bag of Westland seed compost last weekend. It was more than twice as expensive as Levington's, but I got suspicious at the low price (of the Levington) and I've had good experience with Westland MPC, so I went for the same brand. Good to know I won't need much.

    When you pot on seedlings, do you use seed compost again or MPC?

  • Zoomer44Zoomer44 Posts: 3,267
    Seed compost has very little in it by way of nutients. I purchase a cheaper seedling compost...I'll try the one from Aldi and mix it with mpc.



    Depending on the seeds though, . I sometimes pot into mpc but there is a compost in between which I haven't used.



    I sprinkle vermiculite around the stem of the seedling though, it helps to prevent damping off and when watering from underneath it turns a darker colour an indication the compost is damp, you also know when to water again as the vermiculite starts to dry out.
  • Aster2Aster2 Posts: 629

    Aha! Thanks, that's really useful to know.

  • Zoomer44Zoomer44 Posts: 3,267
    It's a big learning when you first start. I had an excellent first year sowing, then lost a lot of seedlings the second year due to damping off.



    I try to save some seeds for at least a second sowing just in case the first sowings/seedlings aren't successful.



    Happy growingimage
  • Zoomer44Zoomer44 Posts: 3,267
    Gg-I'll be sowing sweet pea next month.



    B&Q have 2ltr pots for ??3 with at least 25plus seedlings in and smaller pots, at ??1.19 with at least 10 plus plants in which seemed good value.
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