I have read throuhg all teh brilliant advice given to me, but everytime I plant something it grows to fast gets too long even when repotted, and then dies, can I start my tomatoes off in my cold greenhouse cause I think they don't like my house when its hot cause they grow then die, same with all veg planted now. Any Advice Please
How wonderful that you have a greenhouse, warm OR cold! I don't have one but have learned that you can germinate the seeds indoors ( using a medical "bad back" type heating pad speeded the process markedly this year! ) then move the seedlings out to the greenhouse. I'm just moving them into a cold frame and many seem to do fine. That said though, I have not moved the heat loving tomatoes out but am thinking of moving only one out to see if it can survive below freezing nights in a cold frame.
it's still quite early so no problem with the toms. It's only things like chilis that need a long season that need to be sown early
It's still to cold to germinate toms in a greenhouse. Germinate them indoors like you have been doing, and pot them on as soon as the leaves open out. If they're all leggy either lay them flat and cover with soil (apart from the leaves!) or poke a deep hole in the compost and drop them in. By the way, when handling seedlings - don't hold them by the stem.
I have my seedling in the cold greenhouse, and move them back in the house at night if frost is forecast (like in a couple of days). Maybe people think that's a bit too soon to have them outside, but I don't have much choice. They may grow slowly, but the won't get all lanky either
we've had our tommy seedlings, golden sunrise, tigerella and gardener's delight, in the cold poly for a week now, just put some fleece over them :)
QuoteI plant something it grows too fast gets too long even when repotted, and then dies,
If it is growing too fast that is mainly a light problem or should I say too little light.
Where do you store them after potting on?
The dying is I guess too much water!! ( more plants die from drowning than the cold.)
Always remember when a plant gets thirsty it will tell you........i.e. the leaves will droop.
Because the surface of the compost is dry this does not mean that it is dry around the root area.
Then when you consider light and watering together you will find the plants take up less moisture if the light is poor i.e. photosynthsis action is low due to lack of light.
If light is a problem rig up a table lamp over them. This won't replace 'sunlight' but it will be an improvement on shade.
Forget about magnesium lamps etc as this is only a temporary measure there is no point going to the expense of these unless you are going to go commercial.
I hope this helps!
ps. a word of advice for next year; buy a packet of patience and sow your stuff later i.e. when the days are longer and there is more available light.
By doing this you will lose a lot less stuff plus your plants will grow better.
Thanks everyone, I have sown stuff a bit late the packets all say sow in feb/beginning march but I will sow some more now and put in the greenhouse with a fleece over it and see how it goes
The sowing times on the packets are always a little early - they would have me sowing parsnips in early Feb if I followed their instructions - mid March seems to be the right date for my area. The experienced growers on this site can tell you the best time to sow and TeeGees sowing guide is excellent.
Also I would keep a note of when you have sown seeds in a journal and what the results were in both seedlng vigour and eventual crop yield.
If you start to make a note of last frost dates as well this will be a grest help as often you can time sowing to the number of weeks before last known frost date for your area, e.g. I sow my beans 4-5 weeks before the last frost date so they are good sturdy plants when I transplant them and not to leggy.
Hope this helps :)
Our greenhouse can be 45F well into June - so never any hurry. Nothing likes growing in that temperature.
And we get there!
I might just replant all the tomatoes and chillies cause on checking them again they have all gone to a better place lol. I might wait till april will that be enough time for the tomatoes to grow and give fruit, and what about peppers will that be to late
I sowed my pepper on the 26 Feb.......yeah it was early! I put them into mini cloches made of lemonade bottles. Cut around the bottle leaving an inch of plastic as a hinge. Poke holes in the bottom and tape silver foil to the bottom of the bottle.
You can open the top for watering and to let air through, then close at night or if its cold. My peppers are doing quite well. I cut through the hinges today as they took too much room up on the windowsill.
(http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z220/lillymoon_photos/Picture023.jpg)
The pot in front are tomatoes
(http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z220/lillymoon_photos/Picture026.jpg)
The foil helps to stop them growing leggy. also they grow straight :)
I like the hinged-bottle idea!
Quote from: star on March 14, 2008, 22:11:50
The foil helps to stop them growing leggy. also they grow straight :)
What an excellent idea!!!!
What a brilliant idea Star - am now going to go and try that one! I had been saving plastic bottles, intending them for deep-watering my tomato plants when they are planted out - looks like some of them are going for this now. :)