Despite being astonished at how early many people are this year with their sowings and plantings ( .. my Guava is reaching the bedroom ceiling can I plant it out yet... etc!) I have also fallen prey to over exuberance.
I sowed some sweetcorn plants a couple of weeks ago and they are now circa 10" high, their roots are escaping the roottrainers. I can imagine that with another month, at least, indoors the roots will become so pot bound that the plants will be pretty useless when planted out. I have moved them to a cooler spot and am toying with the idea of moving each one into a 6" pot, but there are over 70 of them.
Other options are,
take a risk and plant them out in a couple of weeks - we are in surrey.
Throw them and sow another batch - cant bring myself to do this really!
What would you do?
PS can I also plant my Paw Paws out?
Corn? Here we go again!!
Hedge your bets? Put half out under such cover as you can muster & re-pot the others?
But if you can muster enough cover, to Hell with it - get them all out. You have better things to do than fill more pots with expensive compost?
In sunny Surrey you will probably be okayish....but I would have fleece on standby so if we have a cold snap, you can wrap them up. I have been chatting to the lovely John Miller, a poster of days past who is in the states, and they are having freak cold weather at the moment, and usually what he gets, we seem to get a milder dose of about 10 days later so I am still keeping my heater handy in my greenhouse.
Are they in a greenhouse?? If they are then maybe open the doors and windows in the day to keep the house cooler and slow their progress, or move them out during the day, then in at night - toughen them up a bit. If they are indoors, then I would put them out against a south facing wall if you have one, tight to the house, and again, keep the fleece handy.
So right about 'hardening off', Emma!
Yes good advice thanks, they have been moved to a cold frame away from the sunny windowsill they were on.
To be honest it was actually my OH who sowed them and he is very proud of them, as its the only thing he's ever grown I didnt like to say 'about a month too early!'
Thanks and fingers crossed!