Topic: How should I start my plants?

[Crystalmoon]

Hi everyone, I am very new to having an allotment & have never grown vegetables before. I was hoping to keep things simple by sowing my crops directly into the soil (starting this month) but the weather has been so bad & with frosts still predicted would it be a better idea to start some plants off indoors instead? Or should I just wait for a couple of weeks longer & sow outside? Thanks

[betula]

I put my beans peas and carrots directly into the soil but later when the soil has warmed up a bit. :)

[Zoglet]

I like to start as much as I can in modules as this seems to increase their survival rate once released into the great outdoors. The only limit to this is the amount of window sill space available. But I also agree bigger seed like beans and peas, onion sets and garlic are more than able to cope on their own ( assuming you don't have mice/ pigeons etc).

Good luck!

Z

[Plot69]

How should I start my plants?

I put all mine in straight lines in seed trays, cover them with a little soil and then shout...

Ready........ Steady........ GO!

Seriously though, I'm trying an experiment this year. Rather than planting my seeds in compost I've sieved a trugfull of soil from my allotment and I'm sowing them in my greenhouse in that.

The theory is they won't check or suffer a shock when they're planted out when their roots find a totally different soil to what they've been used to.

Wether it will work or not is another thing.

[caroline7758]

I haven't had much luck sowing direct, so i start most things off inside. That way I can keep an eye on them, whereas I can't guarantee I'll get down to check them at the allotment.  It also depends whether you've got the space inside. I have sown direct later in the season- e.g. carrots and parsnips, when germination is quicker but then you have to remember about watering more often.

[Pickle]

Hi , If you do sow direct into the soil you could use cloches to help warm the soil and aid germination  ;) you can of course put up your cloches and put plant plugs under as they are ready.

   Pickle ;D

[Crystalmoon]

Thanks everyone for your replies. As it snowed here today I am going to start some stuff off indoors & look into buying some cloches to use on the allotment later on. Hope this years weather starts to get better for us all very soon.

[Tee Gee]

My first piece of advice would be; be patient to sow too early might mean you lose all you hoped to achieve and put you further behind.

Meanwhile have a look at this it might help; http://tinyurl.com/yv9u3h

[Trevor_D]

Like a number of the others here, I sow as much as possible in modules then plant out. It started when I had just a garden to grow things in - but five cats to rake up the soil just after I'd sown seed in it!

And on the allotment, I've got mice, rats, foxes & pigeons to contend with as well!

[sawfish]

The main advantage I've found of growing inside in seed trays is that you dont mix up the baby seedlings with the baby weeds and have to hoe the whole lot away in frustration.

[green sleeves]

Starting in November I put My garlic in and cover the bed with fleice takeing  it off in January when the shoots are  about 3" , this month  I have put the oinion and shallots in in the same way . This keeps the birds away from picking the new  shoots. I use   plastic  water or  mineral bottles  with the bottom cut off for the corn and peas ( it's taken a while to collect up  enough of these) I grow them  in the shed to start them and plant them out the bottles acts as a colish and allows them to grow to 6-8" and dont  have any trouble from mice or birds, if the weather get's cold put the fleece over the bottles.  I tend to use the fleece  for most of the plants in the early stages to stop the birds and the bottles  I store in a  large bin  for the next year. Tesco are doing  fleece for £4 but later in the summer it comes down in price and I tend to buy a few more, you should get a few years out of it if you look after ir and roll it up properley.