Topic: starting sowing

[campanula]

well.i have sweet peppers, something nardello, which, according to the seed packets, should be started, with heat, in December!
Trouble is, i cannot quite bring myself to believe that it all starts again RIGHT NOW! Is anyone else about to start sowing for next year?
I did broad beans back in october and garlic and onion sets plus fruit but they didn't seem 'to count' as being part of next years crops - still warm and mild when sowed for a start.
So, should I start soaking my jiffies right now, this weekend. How exciting.
cheers suzy

[tim]

With only a cold 'house, I can't start my peppers etc till late March, so cool it!! = Tim

PS But if you plan to have them in a warm home, then February?

[Palustris]

December 21st for Onions.?

[Mrs Ava]

I am always far to keen to get things started early, impatient or what!  But, I have found that later sowings do seem to catch up. Mind you, earlier sowings that have had to suffer a colder spell do seem to make tougher wee plants, or is that my wishful thinking and excuse for getting out there and sowing!   Even tho my greenhouse is heated, I shall be a little bit more patient this/next year and wait until February before I get things going.

[tim]

- another quick thought - it's not just even warmth that they need, but , importantly, LIGHT (after emergence).

I think it's correct to say that chillies & aubs need the earliest treatment? But even putting out into the cold 'house in late April, I still get things knocked by frost. Keep forgetting  to 'fleece' them!

And EJ, do you heat yours right through the year? Or are you just 'frost free'? = Tim

[ina]

Peppers I sow indoors in the beginning of februari, if I do them any earlier I end up with very long, thin and leggy seedlings. Even on the windowsill, they are reaching for light. The hot peppers I use need to germinate in warmth and dark.

[cleo]

March is plenty soon enough to sow peppers, even with a slightly heated greenhouse. Too early can result in plants that just `sit there and sulk`rather than growing on strongly.

stephan.

[tim]

I KNEW he'd come in with it!! = Tim

[cleo]

Of course Tim ;D-I may never get rich but at least my customers get a plant I am proud of.

Stephan

[tim]

- and there's a professional speaking.

Meanwhile, trying to protect your logo! = Tim

[teresa]

I use St Davids Day March 1st,
thats my cue to get going when I have a bunch of daffs in the house.
Teresa

[Mrs Ava]

Well Tim, Ava, my trusters do'er, goes and puts my heater on when he feels a nip in the air.  I don't heat it every night through the winter, am yet to win the lottery!  However, my garden isn't huge and is very well sheltered and things do seem to survive really cold spells.  I still have annuals looking okay, and huge echiums which I am hoping will leap skywards next year are looking great and everyone told me they will drop the first signs of frost.  Plus, the old greeny is well insulated and all my babies are huddled together.  Me finks I am just lucky  :)