Starting my first seeded fruit/veg/plants
Shoxt3r
Posts: 196
Hi there,
So over the weekend I've been busy planting some seeds for fruit, vegetables and bedding plants of various varieties.
The fruit and veg are within 8cm fibre pots (I read that contamination can occur with plastic ones) and the plants are within 8cm plastic pots. I've planted roughly 5-6 seeds per pot using Grosure Seedling/Cutting Compost and given them a couple of tablespoons of water per pot directly after planting.
I've also bought a 100cm propagator lid to keep the pots/seeds safe from pests/rain until the seedlings are established, which has two adjustable inlets which I've left closed for the moment.
Does anyone have any tips on how best to keep the seeds going such as watering, when to adjust the inlets and any other general tips? Have I done anything wrong so far or is it all good?
Cheers,
Andrew
Posts
If you're raising in a propagator water from underneath, golden rule really. They should germinate quickly so one soak is all that's usually needed. Once they come up remove the lid or open the vents and pot them on once you have the first set of true leaves.
A further thought about having the water in a tray underneath the pots is that wouldn't this make the seeds soak up too much water and also attract mould etc as it's underneath the propagator and therefore attracting heat?
Thanks Philippa. So I wouldn't need to water the pots any more until they've started germinating?
I've now closed the vents on the propagator for now as it was letting water/rain in. However, I've noticed that even with the vents open there is a lot of condensation building up, is this necessarily a problem or will the seeds cope with it?
Hi
what seeds have you actually planted as this may deter your watering programme before and after germination
happy gardening
I've planted the following:
3x pots Gazania
3x pots Californian Poppy
3x pots cherry tomatoes
3x pots beetroot
3x pots mixed salad leaves
Cheers,
Andrew
Don't know about the first two (I don't do pretty things) but the next stage is...
Tomatoes; As soon as they get big enough to handle, lift them out with a lolly stick or pencil underneath them and pot them up individually in 3" pots (plastic will do). Don't touch the very delicate stems - handle them only by the leaves. Firm in gently and water from below. When they seem to have outgrown these pots they can go straight into their permanent homes.
Beetroot: Similarly, move them into something bigger quite soon, or their roots will get entangled and they'll stay tiny. Best to sow these straight into the ground in future, or individual pots or modules. There's a thread about this active at the moment.
Salad leaves: Can stay where they are until harvest, but sow more every week or two to give you a continuos supply. They do well sprinkled thinly in a seed tray, as their roots are quite shallow.
Hi Steve,
Great, thanks for the advice.
Would you recommend I do any more watering to any of the veg for the time-being or wait until the seedlings have had chance to develop? I haven't checked them since Sunday but I don't imagine a lot has happened.
I checked over the seed packaging and they all (veg, fruit and plants) recommend that watering take place every 1-3 weeks...doesn't give me much of a guide! haha.
Cheers,
Andrew
Hi all,
So with the recent frost I decided to bring the pots I had previously put under the propagator indoors and now the lettuce is thriving! The other seeds haven't shown much of a sign of life as yet though. I think the lesson has been learnt not to plant out too early!
I've started up a second batch of seeds which I'm now keeping indoors on a windowsill until the warmer weather is less erratic and have decided to give them a regular watering each week.
Part of the problem of keeping them under the propagator I think has been that I had closed the vents to keep the rain out and therefore condensation was building up, and as this vapourised the water was then dripping down onto the pots and overwatering them - another lesson learnt when it comes to putting them outdoors again, to keep the vents open!
I'm not sure what's going to become of the original batch but as I said the lettuce seems to be happy enough. The real question is, at what point do I separate these seedlings out? Some have already grown 2 leaves but are still very small (maximum of about 1cm across from leaf tip to leaf tip).
Quite right about not planting out too early but indoors (windowsill or greenhouse - or even cold frame), things should be romping away by now, provided they have enough light.
Don't be tempted to water trays of germinating seeds too often. If they're too wet their delicate little roots will rot and they'll snuff it. As long as the potting compost is good and moist (and then drained) to start with, they shoud be OK without further water as long as they're prevented from drying out by a glass or plastic lid. Certainly keep the vents open to keep the humidity within bounds, and remove it (indoors) as soon as a goodly fraction (half?) of the seeds have grown shoots.
Lettuce will be fine in their trays/pots if you're harvesting leaves every week or so. Just thin them out so they're an inch or two apart. If you want them to grow to full size they'd be better in the open ground: sow a few each week from now on. They'll need a bit of shade if we have any summer this year.
Not sure that I'd have used a propagator outside - in a cold greenhouse yes but not out in the rain.
It's not a heated one is it?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.