I"ve done that with Cosmos a few years in a row, even if they are leggy I don't throw them out, they are as tough as old boots, I'm not very patient with hardening off either and they survive my tough love. good luck, this year I'm trying my best to be patient and wait...
I was wondering the same but will hold out now. It's all too tempting to get started, isn't it? My Canterbury bells sown as biennials last Summer on the window sill are now looking rather leggy, time for a pinch out I think.
I haven't got a greenhouse. I put my seeds out in the garden in trays late March. If they do, they do. If they don't they weren't meant to be. Most survive, but admittedly, I don't go for the delicate prima donna types.
It seems to me there are 2 problems being found here:
1. Lack of space - the posts here seem to have the problem of where to put seedlings when they've got too big before the last frosts. I approached this from the other direction, in that I wanted to grow a variety of things, and I wouldn't have space for loads and loads of seed trays in March or April. So, I was hoping to sow the ones I could in January and February (per the guidance on seed packets or websites) from which I'd have sorted the 3 or 4 seedlings I'd want to keep and take special care of before the next batch of seeds would be sown.
2. The other problem is them going leggy due to poor light. This may well be my undoing, particularly after this dismal weekend. I'm hoping a burst of sunshine and warmth forecast for next week may help me. But to be honest I don't really know how to tell if they're too leggy to recover and that's part of what I'm learning. I have kept back half a pack of each seeds in case none survive, which I can try and sow outdoors if all the indoor ones fail.
Anyway, that's the logic I try to justify my early sowing with, but truthfully I was a bit miserable in early January and wanted something to brighten me up and seeing little seedlings popping there heads up does make me happy, even if they then get a bit lanky afterwards.
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
I know what you mean. I think we all get a bit twitchy at this time of year. Never mind, we'll all be out there in a few weeks. Maybe a few more weeks for our northern friends
Easy to tempted to start early. What's the best time to sow cosmos indoors? I was going to sow a few indoors at start of March and hope they'd be ok. I've sown only perennials sow far and seems to be doing ok apart from a few that withered and my sweet peas too are looking fine.
I planted annual Lupins and Holyhock in 33/33/33 Coir/Vermiculite/Perlite on Tuesday this week and they have germinated in the propagator already; over an inch tall but still only have the "baby" leaves.
This is my first time growing from seed (apart from growing watercress at primary school a number of decades ago) and the reason i started so early is because it said on the packet that they take two to three weeks to germinate. This should have taken germination to the end of February/start of March when i could have reused the propagator for the next batch of seeds.That is not quite the three days they actually took !
As suggested by Pete8, I'm off to buy a cold light florescent bulb tomorrow, as I've read that chlorophyll's blue absorption spike is good for propagation and bushy growth.
Posts
true punkdoc, apart from those that need a chill, mine are still in the cupboard and likely to stay there for a while.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I"ve done that with Cosmos a few years in a row, even if they are leggy I don't throw them out, they are as tough as old boots, I'm not very patient with hardening off either and they survive my tough love. good luck, this year I'm trying my best to be patient and wait...
I was wondering the same but will hold out now. It's all too tempting to get started, isn't it? My Canterbury bells sown as biennials last Summer on the window sill are now looking rather leggy, time for a pinch out I think.
I haven't got a greenhouse. I put my seeds out in the garden in trays late March. If they do, they do. If they don't they weren't meant to be. Most survive, but admittedly, I don't go for the delicate prima donna types.
It seems to me there are 2 problems being found here:
1. Lack of space - the posts here seem to have the problem of where to put seedlings when they've got too big before the last frosts. I approached this from the other direction, in that I wanted to grow a variety of things, and I wouldn't have space for loads and loads of seed trays in March or April. So, I was hoping to sow the ones I could in January and February (per the guidance on seed packets or websites) from which I'd have sorted the 3 or 4 seedlings I'd want to keep and take special care of before the next batch of seeds would be sown.
2. The other problem is them going leggy due to poor light. This may well be my undoing, particularly after this dismal weekend. I'm hoping a burst of sunshine and warmth forecast for next week may help me. But to be honest I don't really know how to tell if they're too leggy to recover and that's part of what I'm learning. I have kept back half a pack of each seeds in case none survive, which I can try and sow outdoors if all the indoor ones fail.
Anyway, that's the logic I try to justify my early sowing with, but truthfully I was a bit miserable in early January and wanted something to brighten me up and seeing little seedlings popping there heads up does make me happy, even if they then get a bit lanky afterwards.
I know what you mean. I think we all get a bit twitchy at this time of year. Never mind, we'll all be out there in a few weeks. Maybe a few more weeks for our northern friends
Easy to tempted to start early. What's the best time to sow cosmos indoors? I was going to sow a few indoors at start of March and hope they'd be ok. I've sown only perennials sow far and seems to be doing ok apart from a few that withered and my sweet peas too are looking fine.
I have done exactly the same thing sandyv.
I planted annual Lupins and Holyhock in 33/33/33 Coir/Vermiculite/Perlite on Tuesday this week and they have germinated in the propagator already; over an inch tall but still only have the "baby" leaves.
This is my first time growing from seed (apart from growing watercress at primary school a number of decades ago) and the reason i started so early is because it said on the packet that they take two to three weeks to germinate. This should have taken germination to the end of February/start of March when i could have reused the propagator for the next batch of seeds.That is not quite the three days they actually took !
As suggested by Pete8, I'm off to buy a cold light florescent bulb tomorrow, as I've read that chlorophyll's blue absorption spike is good for propagation and bushy growth.
chlorophyll.
Last edited: 12 February 2017 09:19:00
Matts.
IMO you are making it far too complicated. You really do not need a complicated mix for growing seeds.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
"IMO you are making it far too complicated.".
I expect i am
There's much conflicting advice on the net and i am learning from my frequent and many mistakes.
However it's pretty enjoyable and rewarding this gardening lark.