Planting Vegetable Seeds

[essexpaul]

I have recently got my hands on an allotment, and I am going to grow (hopefully) a range of vegetables this year. Do any of the green fingered amongst you know if it OK to start of the early crops now (Caulifolwer/Onion seeds) in seed trays indoors. Would these need to be kept in the house to kick start germination or will they be OK in an unheated conservatory?

Thanks

Paul

[SnowBear]

Hiya Paul

I personally dont grow vegetables anymore, soil in my garden is very poor and it just isnt economical to bring it round to be able to grow them.

When I did though I bought two what I found were invaluable books

The Allotment Gardener's Handbook, by Allan Titchmarsh ISBN 1-85051-606-5

The Vegetable Expert, by Dr. D. G. Hessayon ISBN 0-903505-20-7

The first gives lots of handy tips on ground prep, also an A-Z of vegetables and herbs, times to sow etc

The second is more colourful and easier for quick reference, also giving a calendar for each veg type on when to sow and harvest etc

Both include sections on weed control, fertilisers, pests and diseases

Excellent books, I recommend them for someone just starting off in growing veg and herbs etc!

Hope this helps

[essexpaul]

Thanks Snow Bear, I have the book by Hessayon and it's pretty good. I'm really trying to find out about the temperature extremes that the seedlings will be able to handle. I know that frost will kill them off, but Cauliflower for example, can germinate down to about 10C. But I don't know if they will then be OK growing on in a cold room, none of the books seem to tell me that. I'm not sure if I'm tryingto start too early. But when I read the seed packets many of the seeds need to be started off in Jan/Feb.

[SnowBear]

I think probably what they are referencing to is early crops for June, which are started under glass in January, main crop will be more like late Febuary/March which are sowed in a cloche, cold frame or greenhouse, I have just looked up the germination temp for Cauli's as an example and they are quoting a minimum temp of 13c, which probably would not be maintained in an unheated conservatory in January.

I used to start all my early cropping seeds off on cool window sills in the house in small trays with glass over and a piece of paper , usually mid/late January, these would then be big enough to transplant and transfered to an unheated greenhouse pretty much by late Feb/March which is when I would also sow the maincrop seeds into trays in the greenhouse as well, it is by then slightly warmer and temps getting more into double figures and less likelyhood of frosts penetrating the greenhouse to nip the seedlings off, I did have lagging in the greenhouse in the form of industrial bubble wrap, if I did not have this I think I would have had to have heated the greenhouse slightly when I transfered the seedlngs and sowed the maincrop seeds.

I am sure others will have much info on this as I am somewhat out of touch with sowing times etc especially with the changes to the weather we have experienced in recent years lol

Here though are a couple of webpages which have germination temps listed

http://www.heirloomseeds.com/germination.html

http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/horticulture/g503.htm

They are USA sites but the germination temp will still be the same here or there

Hope this helps!

[essexpaul]

Thanks SB, much appreciated.

Paul

[frogesque]

Unless you are into competitions (and even village hall comps are intense!) then I would stick to things that you will actually use. Leeks are always reliable and great for soup, toms are a longtime favourite but need a lot of care and you'll probably end up giving half of them away, you can't beat new spuds straight out the ground and cooked within the hour and if you've ever tasted strawberries on a warm summer's day right from the plant then you'll never want to buy another strawberry again. Mmmm ... delicious. If you like 'em, raddishes are also quick to grow and all you need is a shallow drill, thin 'em out then plant another drill for a sucession throughout the salad season. Repeat for as long as you desire.

Fresh herbs are also much prized by anyone who does the cooking so tyme, rosemary, parsley, dill and chive will aways be uefull. Bay can also be kept outside during summer but provide protection and shelter from cold winds in winter.

For the rest it's hardly worth the effort and I would delay planting 'till the garden soil temperature reaches 7C, even if you are sowing in a cool house or frame. By the time your seedlings are ready to go out the ground should then be nicely warm and they will soon catch up with earlier sowings which are likely to either wilt, bolt or damp off. Seed packets tend to be orientated toward the SE of the country and for the likes of Scotland you can add 4-6weeks to the recommended sowing times, Cornwall you can probably get away with planting earlier than it says on the packet so it does depend on your area. When harvesting, sprouts and root veg like parsnips or neeps they always taste better after they've a hard frost or two in the autumn.

[essexpaul]

Thanks Frogesque, I am in the SE so I should get away with planting on the early side. I have grown most of these things in the garden, but am now moving up the scale to a fairly large allotment, hence wanting to get things going as soon as possible, to give me a bit of a head start.

As for the herbs, (me being the cook at home) I grew quite alot this year in a massive planter that I made in the garden. Some were from seed and I also tried to grow on the potted fresh herbs from the supermarket which grew amazingly well, much to most peoples suprise.

I think I will sow some cauli and onion seeds at the weekend indoors and see what happens. If it all goes wrong, I should still have plenty of time to give it another go.

Thanks for your input.

Paul