Germinating seed and new plants with no rain

[emma h]

I'm having real troubles with the baking heat and lack of rain. None of my seeds seem to be germinating (mainly brassica recently) and any young plants I'm putting in are frying....a neighbour gave me 30 lovely young spinach plants and by the next day they were shrivelled.

I'm watering the ground copiously when I add seeds, but it's usually evaporated by the time I leave a couple of hours later.  My neighbour suggested dousing an old plank with water and laying this over the top of any seeds to retain water until they germinate...do you think this might work?

[emma h]

[supersprout]

Hi emma, I'm sowing in modules for the first time this year, instead of sowing direct, to get over the problem. Even beet and carrots. And watering in the holes before putting the plugs in, then mulching straight away.
Except for bean seeds, which I soak overnight, then pop into copiously watered watering holes - they are doing fine.
I have read - but haven't tried - that wet newspaper over the top for a while can keep them moist enough to germinate :-\
See also Tee Gee at http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,57/topic,20899.0/topicseen,topicseen

[emma h]

Thanks Supersprout :D.

If I do them at home first how big should they be before I transplant them...should I wait until they have several true leaves or can I do it when they are smaller? My windosills are bursting!!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

Make a seed drill, and water copiusly along it. Add the seed, and rake dry soil back over the top. It gives them a good start, and you could also try using chitted seed to get them a bit further before they dry out.

[supersprout]

Hi emma, I snapped these up as soon as I saw them cos loads of them fit on windowsills, solve the watering problem, and are soo neat and tidy ::)
http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2037
If you wait until a couple of true leaves, that should be fine. Mine often wait longer until I dig something up to make room! :-[ ;)