I did already post this photo in the 'Additional Lighting' Topic but I hope you will excuse the repetition.
Since taking the picture I have taken the cover off the tube which has increased the light level. The seeds under the cover are various brassicas and then there are peas shoots, mixed leaves, spring onions and radishes. I have a dozen of these troughs and I will keep the 'salad bar' going throughout the season.
The propagator is in the cellar where the temperature is pretty constant at 15C although there is a heater under the trays if necessary.
This is my favourite thread at this time of year! I love seeing all your seeds springing into life. I've planted some Primrose seeds and they are slowly starting to appear. Still tiny at the moment though.
Everyone's early sowings seem to be coming along nicely
Logan, you've got loads on the go. The light boxes are working well for you.
Here's my update 2 weeks on....
Lobelia growing into nice little plugs. The tiny trays mean I shall pot the clumps on whole without root disturbance into standard size cell trays.
Antirrhinum (snapdragons). A textbook example of "damping off". Hope this image helps any newbies who may encounter this problem. Will try to save some by repotting those not affected into fresh compost/fresh pots and crossing my fingers.
Salvias have germinated in the heated propagator this year?. Last years attempt without the extra heat were a dismal failure.
Chillies, "hot patio sizzle" and "sweet mini red". 2 out of 3 seeds planted have germinated.
I'm now gearing up for some serious sowing in March. The loo roll collection is just about ready to get some sweet peas and Hubby's edible peas started this weekend.
Lesson learnt for me too Pete-T, some of my first batch have survived but the majority were too leggy and even when I planted them deeper they still carried on being leggy. I'm now on my second attempt with some of the seeds and hoping for better luck.
Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.
Patience is the key to successful seed sowing Peter.
It's good to experiment though and as long as you have some seed left you can sow again in March. Another mistake people often make is to use the whole packet all at once, and end up with hundreds if not thousands of seedlings.
Posting about our fails as well as our successes helps us all learn what works best.
Things should be picking up next month?. Prime time for seed sowing
Lesson learnt for me too Pete-T, some of my first batch have survived but the majority were too leggy and even when I planted them deeper they still carried on being leggy. I'm now on my second attempt with some of the seeds and hoping for better luck.
I`m the same. some of my very early ones I potted on and they are a tall gangly mess, think its time to bin.
I`ve 5-6 geraniums that I sowed 4 weeks after that and are still in orginal propagator tray (but off the heat) that look so much healthier and bulkier.
Me to Flowers in the rain going to wait till march - only a week to go, no growing room inside this year so will be the plastic 5 teir green houses have to clean them up and tidy out odd bits yet
Posts
I did already post this photo in the 'Additional Lighting' Topic but I hope you will excuse the repetition.
Since taking the picture I have taken the cover off the tube which has increased the light level. The seeds under the cover are various brassicas and then there are peas shoots, mixed leaves, spring onions and radishes. I have a dozen of these troughs and I will keep the 'salad bar' going throughout the season.
The propagator is in the cellar where the temperature is pretty constant at 15C although there is a heater under the trays if necessary.
This is my favourite thread at this time of year! I love seeing all your seeds springing into life. I've planted some Primrose seeds and they are slowly starting to appear. Still tiny at the moment though.
Everyone's early sowings seem to be coming along nicely
Logan, you've got loads on the go. The light boxes are working well for you.
Here's my update 2 weeks on....
Lobelia growing into nice little plugs. The tiny trays mean I shall pot the clumps on whole without root disturbance into standard size cell trays.
Antirrhinum (snapdragons). A textbook example of "damping off". Hope this image helps any newbies who may encounter this problem. Will try to save some by repotting those not affected into fresh compost/fresh pots and crossing my fingers.
Salvias have germinated in the heated propagator this year?. Last years attempt without the extra heat were a dismal failure.
Chillies, "hot patio sizzle" and "sweet mini red". 2 out of 3 seeds planted have germinated.
I'm now gearing up for some serious sowing in March. The loo roll collection is just about ready to get some sweet peas and Hubby's edible peas started this weekend.
Happy growing ??
I have come to the realisation that I started the propagator way too early, lets chalk that one down to being too inquisitive.
Whilst I have some hardy geraniums that I planted later and some thunbergia that look ok, I`m not sowing anything else until the end of March.
The snapdragons seeds I got from the garden are germinated (as are the asarina I sowed) so fingers crossed they arent too early.
The hours of daylight in scotland just arent enough right now so everythings leggy as mad.
Lessons learnt
Lesson learnt for me too Pete-T, some of my first batch have survived but the majority were too leggy and even when I planted them deeper they still carried on being leggy. I'm now on my second attempt with some of the seeds and hoping for better luck.
It's good to experiment though and as long as you have some seed left you can sow again in March. Another mistake people often make is to use the whole packet all at once, and end up with hundreds if not thousands of seedlings.
Posting about our fails as well as our successes helps us all learn what works best.
Things should be picking up next month?. Prime time for seed sowing
I`m the same. some of my very early ones I potted on and they are a tall gangly mess, think its time to bin.
I`ve 5-6 geraniums that I sowed 4 weeks after that and are still in orginal propagator tray (but off the heat) that look so much healthier and bulkier.
Less leggy but true leaves much bigger
Done that a few times in the past myself.....its hard trying to fight the urge!!
Thankfully have learnt to ignore it for a little while longer now
Me to Flowers in the rain going to wait till march - only a week to go, no growing room inside this year so will be the plastic 5 teir green houses have to clean them up and tidy out odd bits yet