FAO LITTLEBABYBIRD!

[Grandma]

Helen - Whoops! I've just given you some really stooopid advice - obviously didn't have my thinking head on! I've sent you a pm correcting what I put before.

Sorry!  :-[ :-[ :-[ :-*

[Grandma]

[littlebabybird]

thank you Grandma ((hug))
lbb

[Grandma]

Hello Helen,

Pics of sweet pea seedlings - taken today as promised.

Ready to have their tops pinched out - hopefully tomorrow! Then it's outside for the winter!

[thifasmom]

hey! i didn't know they were frost hardy, can i still sow mine? does it mean an earlier flowering time ???

[lorna]

Wow those seedlings look brilliant Grandma. Can I ask when they were sown? I am about to sow my self collected seeds, Idid sow in October last year and got good results so hope it works again this year.

[Grandma]

lorna - Thank you! They were sown on September 4th in my greenhouse. I didn't pre-soak them or anything and I couldn't believe how quickly they germinated - perhaps being freshly harvested helped!  :)

thifasmom - Oh, yes! Sow them now! Autumn-sown seeds seems to produce much more vigorous plants and earlier flowers in my experience. They seem to be really tough things. Once I've pinched out the tops they go out into what I laughingly call my cold frames - (just boxes, really - the glass tops went years ago - but at least they get a little protection from the wind!) - and they stay there until I plant them out in the open in March - as long as the ground isn't frozen!

I do live on the south coast where we don't usually have very severe winters so I don't know if this would work everywhere although the plants stood up to 4" of snow in early April this year! :o Perhaps someone from 'oop north' can say whether this sort of treatment is advisable countrywide. Best of luck!   

[littlebabybird]

thankyou grandma
wow they are looking great
i hope we can do them justice when we plant ours :)
lbb

[thifasmom]

thanks grandma for all the info will be sowing them later today  :D