Allotments 4 All

Help...  ???

Can I leave all of these in the airing cupboard to germinate - or do they need light as well as heat?

Sowed them at the weekend (plus three cucumber seeds), then had a first-timer's panic, ransacked the books... and couldn't find an answer to the dark/light quandry.

I don't have a propagator, so they are currently in nicely dampened compost in small pots/small seed trays and swaddled in clingfilm in the airing cupboard. Will they be happy, or have I condemned them to the sleep of the damned...?!

Hey, look at that, two '**' in damned appeared automatically! I was using it as a noun, not a verb... didn't mean anything naughty, honest  :o

That's how I germinated mine and it only took a few days. As soon as they pop up through the soil put them in a light sunny place.

have I got any hope trying to get them to germinate in an unheated greenouse.  They are in a seed tray with a propergator lid on too.   Does the lid double the heat or insulate against it ?  Now there's a quandry.

Thank-you... I'll leave them there and keep checking for germination.

Baggy - the books I've got say that best germination temps are:

a) peppers = 21C/70F
b) Aubergines = 20C/68F
c) Melons = ??
d) Cucumbers = 20C/70F (minimum)

...so I don't think you'll have much germination success in an unheated greenhouse  :(

My peppers planted a week ago in an unheated greenhouse have germinated nicely.  ;D But I am in a the South West where it's mild.

Jesse - you've done well - aubs can often take 3 weeks to germinate. So, for those not so fortunate, don't panic!!

It`s just about safe to sow seeds in an unheated greenhouse,they will germinate OK-but keep an eye on the weather reports,if a chilly night is expected bring them into the house and pop them back them back the next day when the greenhouse has warmed up a bit

Stephan

Just checked my sowing diary, the peppers took 14 days to germinate, the aubegines took 10 days to germinate and the melons took 3 days to germinate. All done in the airing cupboard.

Diaries are good!

Melons & Aubergines still dozing,...

but success...   :)

Peppers - 6 days & germinated.
Cucumbers - 5 days & germinated.

Is the sense of 'wow' as in 'wonder', going to wear off as I become used to all of this? Hope not.

No, the wonder never wears off, funny thing is though it's impossible to explain it to someone who doesn't get it

Caveat!  Speedy germination can mean lots of heat?

If so, get them off it & into full light, with some bottom warmth if you can.

Some of my aubs have been in the compost for a month and are only just poking their noses through.  I am not worried, they are here now and hopefully they will provide me with fruit when the quick starters have gone to that compost heap in the sky.

Have whisked the seedtrays, as soon as the first seedling has poked its head out, straight onto a south-facing windowsill above a radiator.

I am now 'stroking' them twice daily  :-* as per advice in another thread!

Thanks all....

All my warm temp seeds (tomatoes, peppers cucumbers etc) go in a window-sill propagator on top of a cheap hotpad (a kind of flat pillow for sore backs you buy in the departent store) on the lowest setting, this keeps it between 20 and 30 C.  Use a thermometer and if it's too hot you can put newspapers in between the pad and the propagator. This set-up costs about a third of the small 'heated propagators' you buy at the garden center but works the same.

Have just shifted the peppers and aubs into the downstairs loo.  They will not be dicing with death as the cat used the window as an escape route.  But it's warmer in there.  I'm in kent and it was flippin cold last night.

Nice one ina: Your advice should also go in the 'Tips' section.

Nice idea, but I would be a little worried about electrical safety with watering??

At least you should have a trip switch??

i use the airing cupboard for germinating but teenage son not happy as it's in his room ;D and he doesn't appreciate me checking on them every so often including 7 am! Plus 2 shelves worth of cupboard contents now stored on his bedroom floor. I wish he'd learn to appreciate vegetables more! ;D

Quote from: tim on March 30, 2005, 13:14:59
Nice idea, but I would be a little worried about electrical safety with watering??

At least you should have a trip switch??

Thanks for your concern Tim. I think I'm safe. The pad is made of plastic with a cotton cover, it lays flat in a plastic shopping bag (to keep it clean) that's open on the side  where the cord comes out and it has an earthed (do you call it that?) plug which is plugged into an earthed socket in the kitchen. On top of that, the propagator fits nicely on it and in the three years I've used it, never any water got on it. Actually, I never water the seeds, they go in moist soil, covered with the hood and they are taken off the pad as soon as they germinated. Don't you think that's safe enough?

I also put it in the top tips section as Kenkew suggested.