I was the reason for a large reduction in oxygen in my neighbourhood at the weekend when a couple of the more mature & experienced allotment members saw me sowing carrot seeds...their intake of breath almost dislodged their dentures!
Has anyone else been so adventurous in their lives recently?... I did sow them under a cloche and live in south essex... am I too much of an optimistic/eager first season lottie idiot?
TD
I'm not in the pampered south, and I'm thinking of it... ::)
welll......i consulted the elders about this very issue and got a resounding no,wait till april.APRIL!!!!!! but ive got 4 different varieties and its only our second year!!!!!
one of the elders asked why do you want to sow now,of course i replied it was cos i was too excited to wait,which they understood,but still,april,ages away.will content myself with my window sill sowing, soon to be greenhouse sowing for now.
rach
x
Does an early sowing fend of the root fly?
No but early and late sowings aren't being thinned when the fly are most active, so can avoid most of the damage, esp if you have earthed them up a bit... just so no root is showing... :-\
i have had carrots in for 2 weeks lol, just couldnt stop myself. they are in huge tubs with fleece wrapped round them ;D
i have 2 lots under fleece 16 days ago and 2 days ago
lbb
oh i'm in the pampered south ;D
I have one lot of earlies in a pot in the polytunnel and one lot of earlies in the ground - under cover. :) :)
we're on our second sowing,started in Feb. Last year I started in Jan. I think carrots need a bit more warmth than most things to germinate, so I keep the tubs indoors til they're up, and move them into the greenhouse. They'll stay in there until I need the space for toms and beans. Works a treat
i put some carrots in a tub in back garden 2 weeks ago and we have seedlings growing (Yeah) and we in the miserable midlands!!!!!!! ;D
I was strongly "tutted" at a couple of years ago for sowing in early March, and I did have to resow as had gappy rows. I wait now until late March/early April (until my patience gives out) and have much better germination - but am still by far the earliest to sow carrots.
Luckily they haven't found out about my late Feb sown parsnips yet - which always do fairly well, and which we are all putting down to beginners luck. (I have been sowing these the same way for 5 years - so hoping it doesn't give out soon) ::)
PS Loved the metal piccy re the intake of breath - I was on the receiving end of some of those "moments" for a fair few years. ;D
I work to this rule of thumb for outdoor sowings;
First I find out when I can expect my last frost, which in my case is mid to end of May.
Then lets say I want to plant my early potatoes and knowing that they can take 4-5 weeks to emerge (as this is when most frost damage occurs) I count back 4-5 weeks from then and plant out. e.g. last frost Week 20 planting Week 15 (mid April)
Meaning (hopefully) when my lot emerge the frosts for this year are all but over.
Similarly with seeds the earliest I would sow out doors is 1-2 weeks before mid may.
It generally works for me.
Although I have loads of fleece available to use I don't rely on it too much particularly if it is wet!
Fleece is at its optimum use when it is dry and wavering in the breeze, but not if it is soaking wet.
I look at it this way; think of wearing a tee shirt on the beach and it is a bit breezy.........would I be correct in saying that while your Tee shirt is dry you feel relatively warm. Then you have a dip leaving your tee shirt on, when you come out of the water are you as warm as when your tee shirt was dry??............I doubt it!
And thats my point ::) ;)
Is it a crew or v neck TG. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
sowed some about a week ago to hopefully get an early starter crop as the main batch will go in next month.
crew!! ;D