Topic: module sowing

[Ricado]

sorry if its been covered before, but i thought it may be useful to list crops that can successfully be raised in modules, i.e to avoid pricking out from seed trays

i find this very usefull for lettuce (sow 2 and then thin to 1)

and bunches of spring onions, now ready to go out

what else is everyone growing in modules ?

[supersprout]

Only scorzonera at the moment, but will do lettuce and early French beans next month. Your avatar is lovely ricado!

[derbex]

I sow lots in modules, onions have just come out, as have some tomatos, did some broad bean earlier on and I start cabbages in them. Beetroot and chard too.

[moonbells]

I currently have modules in the conservatory with coriander, rocket, corn salad, lettuce, tomatoes, beetroot, rudbeckia, busy lizzies, helipterum, cosmos and cabbages in. Oh and loads of onions :) (Also had chillies but they got promoted to large modules which are effectively 3" square pots, just joined together in a 3x5 array.)

I will pot a lot of them on (the tender stuff) but the hardier things will get put straight out after hardening off in the cold frame. 

I did try direct-sowing beetroot last year to see whether it was better. The modules stormed past the direct sown despite being sown some 3 weeks later.  Figure that was a no :)

moonbells

[Doris_Pinks]

Everything I can!!!   lettuce, beetroot, artichokes, cabbages, swedes, broccoli, etc etc, anything big enough to sort, goes into a module for me, saves on pricking out!!!! (which I HATE with a passion)

[Mrs Ava]

I second that DP!  Everything in modules for this allotmenteer!

[dandelion]

:( I wish I had the space! I have no greenhouse or conservatory, and the only indoor space suitable for raising plants is in the porch and on the study windowsill. So I sow everything in small pots or trays, then prick out, repot and repot again if necessary.
At the moment I have growing in the study: Peppers, artichokes, pumpkins, tomatoes, French marigolds and Dahlia cuttings. And in the porch I'm overwintering: Aeonium arboreum (2 massive ones), Dahlias, Geranium tomentosum, Geranium Maderense, sweet peas, an echeveria, an agave and some other succulunt. I've been putting these plants outside during the daytime and am hoping to move them into a pop-up greenhouse (sort of like a tall cloche) in the garden soon, so I can make space for French beans in the porch.

Picture of the jungly porch:

[Gadfium]

Black kale, earlier purple sprouting broccoli, spring onions, cabbage, chard, tomatoes, onions, peppers, grain amaranth, tomatillos, peppers, aubergines, chilli peppers.... some of them have been potted up into 3" pots.

Will be module-sowing oriental greens and lettuces. And beetroot now (thanks to Moonbells & derbex).

[Larkspur]

Lots of summer bedding sown in modules but so far as veg is concerned I have beetroot, onion seed, spring onions, summer cabbage, mixed cut and come again salad leaves at the moment. Earlier on started shallots in modules. With a large seed sowing programme I find it saves loads of work with pricking out.

[tilts]

Although I understand that this is planting seed and just putting the module into the soil once established, what are you using as the modules? Do I have the principle correct, if not please let me know.

[Larkspur]

tilts, yes you do have the principle correct. I am using cellular seed trays but you could use plant pots, coir or fibre pots which you can plant together with the seedlings or root trainers. I don't have the facility to do so, but perhaps someone could upload some pictures to make it clearer?.

[moonbells]

These are last year's cabbages, just poking their heads above the parapet. The tray is a standard size seed tray, the module is a 40-hole (8x5) (which is quite fragile and hard to wash!)
You can also buy 24s (6x4) which are really quite large modules and then 15s (5x3) which are just 3" square pots stuck together!

You can get *really* tiny plugs but they always need potting on very fast, so I don't bother with those.



moonbells

[jennym]

I bought some 7cm square pots and trays from H.Smith Plastics, the mixed gardeners case option K on the attached link. Some years back, for about £30, I got 1,000 pots and 54 carry trays. Maybe too many for most people, but worth buying if you can share with friends.
http://www.plantcell.demon.co.uk/single%20pots.htm

[caroline7758]

I planted garlic in modules, but when I came to plant them out yesterday, the compost fell off every one as I pushed it out, so I should think it was a bit of a shock for the plants hitting the cold soil. Any idea why this happened? The compost was pretty moist.

Jenny, those look good. Do the carry trays have holes in, or would they replace a tray for windowsill use?

[DJEM]

I sow most veg in modules, except root veg. I like to enter my produce in the village horticultural show, and found that my module sown beetroot last year had multiple apical tap roots, rather than the single tapered point that wins you prizes.
I put this down to being coiled up in a module prior to being planted out.
Other than that, however, I agree that module sowing gives you bigger plants sooner, and probably better yields.

Dave

[jennym]

....Jenny, those look good. Do the carry trays have holes in, or would they replace a tray for windowsill use?

The trays have holes in to allow for drainage. They fit neatly into standard seed trays for windowsill use. I have 2 types of tray, green ones from Homebase about £1 each and black ones from Wilko about 45p each. Sold as gravel trays I think, or seed trays without holes, something like that.

[caroline7758]

Never seem to have enough of the ones without holes- must get down to Wilko's!

[Ricado]

Dont worry caroline, garlic doesnt like being too deep.  I found this this year in rootrainers, the garlic makes its own mind up where to call the surface, and i also found the top inch and a half of compost fell off on planting out.

I often do this anyway when re potting, to get rid of the top layer of compost, which is often, dry green and crusty !

[supersprout]

[I have 2 types of tray, green ones from Homebase about £1 each

I found those green Homebase ones last month jenny, perfect depth/type for loo rolls :D

[jennym]

Good aren't they?  ;D  Look quite nice too...