Despite a broken arm and a wet weekend I have started the major sowing season...
4 types of sweet pepper, 5 chilli's and 6 different aubergines... oh and a few Jicama yesterday, another 15 varieties of HSL tomatoes... now all safely tucked up in the heated propagator in the spare bedroom... :wave:
Best of Luck!
Wet weekends are for sewing and sowing but how did you get a broken arm??
Planned surgery... once this one is healed they are going to do the other one...
Best of luck with all hat then and I hope you get some good physiotherapy sessions.
Still peering hopefully into the heated propagator....
Shouldn't need much, still able to take OH coffee and toast in the mornings, from day one... :wave:
Still peering hopefully into the heated propagator....
Shouldn't need much, still able to take OH coffee and toast in the mornings, from day one... :wave:
Good luck with the surgery. Hope Physio goes well. Season starting. Seeds coming up in the propagator. soon everywidnowsill will be full of trays. Your arms should be healed well up for the early summer stint. Hope you get help with the watering if you are porting. XXX
I've had great germination of my tomatoes including some new HSL ones, but my chillies and peppers have been pretty slow and patchy after three weeks in my Vitopod propagator with some FTG so far....that's slower than usual. Might risk a resow or buy a few baby plants if I have to......
Will you do a few tom spares for the Open Day?
We may have some spare chillis :wave:
Saddad - Hope you are feeling more comfortable very soon . 🌿🌿🌿
Quote from: saddad on March 15, 2024, 23:03:43
Will you do a few tom spares for the Open Day?
We may have some spare chillis :wave:
Yes I've done some spare toms, not quite as many as last year though as I'm not going to be around for the 28th May plant sale as it clashes with Bearded Theory so we're away.
A few more of my peppers have shown themselves but there are still much slower than usual despite being in a thermostatically controlled propagator...🙄
Following a good week of germination a weekend of pricking out ahead, unless the weather turns too cold. Only cold greenhouses to bring them on in and it looks dodgy.... probably just running up and down to the greenhouse in the mornings and evenings to stop them getting too leggy!
Started tomatoes and peppers off two weeks ago in a Vitopod with LED lights. Tomatoes came through first and peppers now starting to come up. They are always later! Still a couple of weeks at least before I can prick them out.
Haven't started mine yet as it's been so grey and dark here with interminable grey clouds and rain and cold.
Bit busy this weelend but hope to get some swon on Monday.
I've resown some of my Bush tomatoes as they were too leggy when I transplanted them and I'm struggling to find enough room in the cold greenhouse with so much waiting to be hardened off outside.
Just as I was thinking I was ahead of my scheduled sowing list for the first time!
Al., spent hours pricking out yesterday, so we are off to get some more compost today! :wave:
Monday was so horrid here I declined getting soaked going down to the polytunnel.
Home alone today so I brought compost and coir pots etc into the kitchen and have sown 20 varieties of chilli, tomatoes, squashes and a cucumber. They're all now on a heat mat in a bright window in the annex. I've watered them with a solutio of aloe vera and baking soda to see if it helps withe germination and subsequent growth.
Quote; I've watered them with a solutio of aloe vera and baking soda
That's a new one on me. I would be interested to hear what you expect to achieve by it ?
The only time. I have been involved with baking soda in the garden was for soil testing.
The other ingredient was Vinegar which I also used for soil testing.
I look forward to learning something new.
I read a post online in another forum about aloe vera helping seeds germinate and another where baking soda is beneficial in dealing with fungi such as the one that causes damping off. It's also supposed to make tomatoes sweeter if added to teh soil when planting so I'll be trying that too.
I'll let you know how I get on.
Hi TeeGee. Re the aloe vera and baking soda solution, of the 11 tomato seeds sown on the 2nd, 5 are already thru plus 3 out of 4 curcubits. No chillies yet but, even so, I'm imprssed.
Thanks for getting back to me Obelixx
My germination times were; Cucumber 4 days, Tomatoes 5 Days, and Chillis 8 days.
Looks very similar! They were germinated in my homemade seed compost on a hotbed holding around 65-70° F (18-20°C)
I've never noted germination times TeeGee but have a feeling tomatoes usually take a week to 10 days for me and chillies a bit more. Other than the cucumbers, none of the ones I've sown this year were fresh seed, hence the experiment with the aloe vera. The last of the curcubits are now thru too.
Parsnips and carrots I planted at the start of the month are finally coming through...
Despite the cool weather the soil is warming up...
Nearly all my tomato seeds popped between 4 and 11 days after sowing but are growing very slowly now as it's so cool.
All the squashes and courgettes popped in 4 days and have been rpicked out but the 2 out of 4 cucumber seedlings which germinated got eaten. i've bought a plant to get ahead of the game.
Cavolo nero, PSB, garlic kale, 2 basils and some coriander, little gem, ruby chard and choggia beets have all done well and I'll finish pricking those out today and tomorrow but have no shelf space left and it's too cold for babies to go outside.
Not one of my chillies has appeared, despite bottom heat.
Didn't get my potatoes planted till this week but now they've been generously watered by unexpected rain they should grow away quickly. The beds we'd cleared for them and other veg had to be tickled again as they'd developed a crust. Hard to make head or tail of this weather and these temperatures.
Now planted out my broad beans, mangetouts and peas, the potatoes are showing and the onions and garlic look good. Waiting nervously for the tomatoes, courgettes and squash to germinate. I was going to sow brassicas and cucumbers this weekend, but it's still cold and other things have got in the way.