Topic: Where's my veggies?

[cheddarpaul]

Hi all - I hope you can help me (as a newbie I need alot of help!)

In mid to end of May I planted some carrots, cabbage, swede, cauli, sprouts and brocolli on my lottie.  To date there has been not one single sign of life from any of them!

Am I too early expecting to see something above ground for this lot of vegetables, or, am I already too late and lord knows what happened to them all?

I would appreciate any guidance or advice (or sympathy if so needed)

Ta

[ALAN HOWELL]

Hi....I am at loss to understand why you have not seen anything germinate,I can only suggest that maybe the ground was extremely dry when you sowed them.When sowing seeds it is adviseable to water the seed drill b4 sowing,this gives the seed some immediate moisture to use to germinate.An alternate plan would be to grow your brassicas in cells.then plant out when ready,this is how I ,and most gardeners do it.
Obviously you can't do this with carrots and parsnips,but most of your list you can.
I would go for sowing Swede,Carrots,and try to find a local supplier for Sprout and Savoy cabbage plants,and get them in as soon as pos.Hope this helps............Alan

[Derekthefox]

When you say you have seen no signs, I presume weeds are growing happily?
I ask this because the ground could be sterile due to weedkillers etc.
Assuming that weeds are sprouting ok, then it is worth trying some germinated plants, eg late cabbage to make sure stuff can grow ok

as mentioned above , make sure they are well watered, as lack of water will stop almost anything.

[cheddarpaul]

Dont talk to me about the weeds - they are doing very nicely....

Will try to find some plants to put in......

With what is there now, is it best to dig over and forget about the seeds that were put in?

[AndrewB]

I have had the same problem, especially last year.  I wouldn't be surprised if they did germinate and were eaten before you saw them. Growing in cells and planting out is the best solution.

[plot51A]

My first thought was slugs closely followed by birds! And beware of both when you put plants in too...........

[Moggle]

It isn't just you cheddarpaul, I've sowed nearly a whole packet of carrots since april, and have about 3 small plants to show for it.

I have had a massive slug and bird problem and have had to resort to slug pellets and fleece/netting to help stop the beasties!

[Ed^Chigliak]

Try making a trench about 4" wide. Pull/push the soil with a hoe to form a mound of soil at each side of the trench and also at the ends. Sow your seed in the bottom of the trench and cover the seed with shop bought compost. Your handy work should be lower than the surrounding soil mound so you still have a trench. Water with a fine rose soaking the trench. Finally cover the trench with a length of polycarbonate sheet weighted down with a few stones. Germination will normally be a few days.

In warm/dry weather the polycarbonate sheet traps moisture in the trench so there is a reduced risk of drying out.

In cold/wet weather the cover warms the soil, insulates against heat loss and deflects heavy rainfall.

Remove the cover as soon as  the seedlings have established. Continue to use the trench for watering and use the soil mound to earth up root crops.

I was lucky enough to find some discarded polycarbonate sheeting in a skip.

[fbgrifter]

is the seed fresh?  carrots and parsnips will only germinate from fresh, current year seed, and not seed saved from previous years.  lack of water and pests, particularly slugs won't help either.

[Bill Door]

Only sympathy I am afraid.  I am in the same position in that my carrots, beetroot and parsnips never germinated.

They are all veges that need to be moist until they germinate.  I don't mean drenched but damp and unfortunately I was away in Italy at the critical time.  I will be trying some more seeds soon in little rows and keep them damp during the days. 

I lost my courgettes at the same time ::)

good luck Bill