Can I sow EVERYTHING straight where I want it to grow? In the past, tiny seedlings transplanted never survived in my garden! Too much of a bloomin' faff.......
It worked with kale and greens last year....... I plan to sow a month later than it says on the packet, 'cos its colder up here.
Gen in Outer Northumberland
Well that's how nature does it... :-X
That's what I generally do!
I now start most things off in modules, things are bigger when I plant them out so can resist the local slug population a bit better, plus I can sow things earlier indoors and plant them out to grow on when the weather is hopefully more favourable (or keep them a bit longer in a cold greenhouse if not).
Carrots are about the only things I sow direct on the plot now, and they will be mostly in containers this year! ;D
I will definately sow my lettuce in modules. Last year sowed direct and ended up with too many of one type all at once!! I will sow different varieties in modules so I get a variety!
Hope it works :)
Duke
Interesting range of replies...think I will take my chance with sowing direct. I am not interested in ordinary veggies.... I'll only eat lettuce when its chocolate flavoured!
I plan on courgettes, eggplants, asparagus, hanging basket tomatos, Chinese gooseberries and maybe some French beans.
Can I grow beans up my rose arch?
I have a source of alpaca manure from a stud nearby, that worked a treat last year wherever I threw it!
Gen in Outer Northumberland (same latitude as Moscow!)
While there are arguments for and against sowing direct I want to address the problem being experienced with the transplanting process. This fear or inability of seed sowing/transplanting is becoming a serious 21st century problem largely because nobody sees it done anymore.
Brassica are the perfect plants for sowing in pots for transplanting as they take the disturbance in their stride. The whole process is so easy to do yet difficult to talk about in a post.
I am guessing here but I suspect the problems experienced by genlistlass were caused in part at least by holding the seedlings by the stem. There are few absolute rules in gardening but rule no.1 is Hold seedlings by the seed leaf, never the stem.
Cabbage seed is cheap and germinates quickly so anyone new to the transplanting business should grow a few just for the practice. Young plants can always be eaten if not required for growing on.
all cabbages commercially are transplants, for several reasons, these include.
cabbages are a long time from seed to harvest and would occupy too much land for too long.
they actually get a better root system if under-cut once. ;)
French beans are either Climbing or dwarf... as the name implies some climb. If there is a rose on the arch wear strong gloves when picking!! ;D
Oh and French bean seeds are notorious for rotting in the ground so I'd sow them in modules first especially in "Moscow" ::)
direct sowing of courgettes, it can work, but very young seedlings are prone to slug attack
(transplants are by nature larger plants and can stand some damage)
by the time you start eating them, the rest of us will be getting fed up with them!! ;D ;D ;D
I presume you are growing your eggplants and tomatoes inside or in a heated greenhouse?I don't think you would ever be able to grow them direct from seed outside in Northumberland- or anywhere else in the UK.
Quote from: caroline7758 on February 06, 2009, 09:11:50
I presume you are growing your eggplants and tomatoes inside or in a heated greenhouse?I don't think you would ever be able to grow them direct from seed outside in Northumberland- or anywhere else in the UK.
don't forget tomatoes do germinate from homemade compost that has discarded seeds in it but although they germinate when conditions are right the growing season would by then be considerably shorter, so you may not get anything to harvest by the time the seasons are ready to change again :-\.
I never plant anything out when it's really small. I prick them out into pots when they've got 2-3-4 true leaves (I'd be very reluctant to touch anything without true leaves), and then grow them on to a reasonable size before they go out.
Quote from: Eristic on February 05, 2009, 19:14:43
I am guessing here but I suspect the problems experienced by genlistlass were caused in part at least by holding the seedlings by the stem. There are few absolute rules in gardening but rule no.1 is Hold seedlings by the seed leaf, never the stem.
I never knew THAT..probs where I am going wrong!
Wassa module? My dad used to plant seeds into squashed composty thingeys, that swelled when watered....what are they called....then they could go straight into the soil without me mashing the roots????
Gen in Northumberland
Quote from: caroline7758 on February 06, 2009, 09:11:50
I presume you are growing your eggplants and tomatoes inside or in a heated greenhouse?I don't think you would ever be able to grow them direct from seed outside in Northumberland- or anywhere else in the UK.
>:( >:( >:(
OK, I'll do the greenhouse bit, do I use very large pots or growbags or what???
Gen in freeeeeezing Northumberland
Hiya, gen..squashy thingies, jiffy 7s..swell in water, I use them for cabbage,etc..means I can grow them bigger and they have more chance against slugs ;D
The bit I did wrong when I first tried transplanting seedlings was trying to put them in at the same depth as they were in the original pot. And then wondering why they flopped around or fell over.
I think it was probably someone on here who said to bury them to the base of the seed leaves. It's gone much better since ;D
Sally
Quote from: timnsal on February 07, 2009, 10:43:02
The bit I did wrong when I first tried transplanting seedlings was trying to put them in at the same depth as they were in the original pot. And then wondering why they flopped around or fell over.
I think it was probably someone on here who said to bury them to the base of the seed leaves. It's gone much better since ;D
Sally
that is gonna be the most usefull thing i read today
lbb
;D That's exactly what I thought when I first learnt it
Yes, it's great for any seedlings that have gone a bit leggy due to lack of light.
GEN, someone must have told you that you live in the coldest place in England and planting direct into the soil will never give you great results.
Last year the North East had very few days where the temperature exceeded 18 deg and if you are say you live in outer NH your near the coast so you have a chill factor which reduces the temperature even more.
You really need a greenhouse with heat to be successful, setting your seeds away in trays or modules then potting them on till its warm enough to plant them out.
These Tomatoes where planted at the beginning of January
[attachment=1]
Then potted on the day after the picture was taken. They will be potted on again when i see the roots coming out of the bottom till its warm enough for them to go into their final spot
[attachment=2]
This method applies to all my plants.
Davy
p.p.p gives p.p.p and its a fact
Glad to see those mushroom boxes come in handy davy
Quoteyour near the coast so you have a chill factor which reduces the temperature even more.
May I just point out that gardeners suffer from wind chill but plants do not. To lose heat due to wind implies that there is extra heat there in the first place. A plant can either hande the current air temperature or it cannot depending on the species, and will live or die accordingly.
Getting great help on here from you all...now I can see where I've gone wrong in the past!
Jiffy 7's, bury them deeper, hold them by their leaves.... all good stuff.
Thanks people
Gen in Northumberland where it is presently -4C
Things I've sowed outside with succes have included:
Tomatoes (real seed catalogue have great outdoors varieties)
courgette
dwarf beans
beetroot
calabrese
sweetcorn
Actually they were all real seed catalogue (no I'm not an employee at real seed, just really like their seed and the fact that most things can be sown outside...)
Quote from: Eristic on February 07, 2009, 23:06:06
Quoteyour near the coast so you have a chill factor which reduces the temperature even more.
May I just point out that gardeners suffer from wind chill but plants do not. To lose heat due to wind implies that there is extra heat there in the first place. A plant can either hande the current air temperature or it cannot depending on the species, and will live or die accordingly.
Yes i agree with you that only us are affected by wind chill and not plants but i was refering to the ground warming up to a tempreture where the seeds would germinate.
It's not really the wind that chills the coast, it's the buffering effect of the sea, which takes a long time to change temperature. So you get mild winters, and cool summers.
Quote from: davyw1 on February 07, 2009, 21:56:32
GEN, someone must have told you that you live in the coldest place in England and planting direct into the soil will never give you great results.
Last year the North East had very few days where the temperature exceeded 18 deg and if you are say you live in outer NH your near the coast so you have a chill factor which reduces the temperature even more.
You really need a greenhouse with heat to be successful, setting your seeds away in trays or modules then potting them on till its warm enough to plant them out.
Stop Swanking with your tomatoes Davy ::)
Yes I do live near the coast - about 2 miles as the seagull flies....... but my garden is quite sheltered due to neighbours BIG trees and hedges.
Very depressed that I cannot do a decent veggie patch up here....I lived for 20 years in South Africa where no-one had a GREENHOUSE, we had poinsettia trees in the garden as well as avocados, mangos, pawpaws, oranges, bananas, macadamia nuts.............
Not interested in growing potatos, cabbages, carrots etc....wanna do interesting veggies like I said in my first mailing.
thewoodles list looked good but where does thewoodle live???
Gen in balmy Northumberland now 3C this afternoon ;D
GEN, There is nothing stopping you from growing any of the veg Thewoodies listed and more all you need is some where warm with plenty of light to set your seed away to be potted on to give them a good start before planting them out.
If you are not willing to phaf on transplanting you wont get good results. If i lived 30 miles further north i would walk and give you all the plants you would would like to grow. lol
I dont know what your soil/slug population is like, but I was warned by a old timer on our site not to put anything straight in the ground, as the clay soil was too harsh for seedlings and the slugs would eat everything before it matured.
Tried growing veg straight from seed in a mates garden a couple of years ago and only the runner beans survived (albeit rather stringy). Cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts, and those posh brassicas that look like fractals all ended up as scabby slug-eaten stalks, the leeks and carrots never got as far as poking their heads out, and the courgettes grew lush leaves while the slugs snacked on anything edible underneath. >:(
I'd add that lots of people on here manage to grow 'interesting' stuff but it's not usually by sticking the seeds straight in the ground a month later than the seed packet says ;) Some things need early heat to get them going, some need a long growing season, some need both. Most will need transplanting. That's the challenge of growing in the UK!
Yes, take a chance,you learn by your mistakes !!!
QuoteYes, take a chance
Germinating seeds and transplanting for growing on is not something to leave to chance. these are fundamental basic gardening skills that used to be tought at school.
If you don't have the skill, Get the skill. It will only cost a few packets of seed.
Quote from: ceres on February 10, 2009, 21:20:17
I'd add that lots of people on here manage to grow 'interesting' stuff but it's not usually by sticking the seeds straight in the ground a month later than the seed packet says ;) Some things need early heat to get them going, some need a long growing season, some need both. Most will need transplanting. That's the challenge of growing in the UK!
Yes Ceres, now in my innocence, I realise I was being a tad optimistic (and probably lazy) to believe I could stick the seeds in the veggie patch, allbeit very well garnished with alpaca manure, and get good results up here in Northumberland.
Also I thought all seeds could be treated the same except some that need to go through fire or birds guts etc..... :)
I do appreciate all the advice I am getting on this forum, and I will take it on board!
Gen in Northumberland
Quote from: davyw1 on February 10, 2009, 18:34:33
GEN, There is nothing stopping you from growing any of the veg Thewoodies listed and more all you need is some where warm with plenty of light to set your seed away to be potted on to give them a good start before planting them out.
If you are not willing to phaf on transplanting you wont get good results. If i lived 30 miles further north i would walk and give you all the plants you would would like to grow. lol
Well I was a very obedient gardener yesterday, I raided Wilkinsons for a tray and transparent cover for seedlings, lots and lots of compost and seeds, seeds, seeds. The Jiffy 7's are coming from eBay today(?) As my greenhouse isnt heated I think I can start my seedlings off in the utility room, then put them in the greenhouse when they look up to it.
I threw in a roll of weed prevention membrane too for good measure.
Hoping for grand results after all this FAFF. I love the flavour of home grown veg and fruit, so much better than supermarkets, so.........................
Davy - you not up to walking +/-30 miles with some seedlingsfor me ::) I'll let you off this time :)
Gen in outer Northumberland
Davy - you not up to walking +/-30 miles with some seedlingsfor me Roll Eyes I'll let you off this time Smiley
GEN, Walking the 30 miles is not a problem its my wheel barrow.... it has a fat
Quote from: davyw1 on February 11, 2009, 18:08:50
Davy - you not up to walking +/-30 miles with some seedlingsfor me Roll Eyes I'll let you off this time Smiley
GEN, Walking the 30 miles is not a problem its my wheel barrow.... it has a fat
A fat?? ;D ;D ;D
A Fat Controller maybe. :P
Davy, sorry to hear your wheelbarrow has a "fat" Been putting too many potatos in it ;D
Gen in Northumberland
0C at 6:30am