Marshalls seed growing guide

[Stonecoloured]

I've just received some seeds from Marshalls and they have included a "Vegetable seed growing guide". It's a very useful rotating circle (like a pin wheel). However from looking at some of the timings, they seem to be off.

They say tomatoes can be sown under cover or outside (undercover) from Feb - where as a lot of other sources say March.

Has anyone else received one and what are peoples views about sowing seeds earlier?

[Beryl]

I seem to remember having one of these guides a year or two back with an order. I think like the planting instruction dates on seed packets you have to take them as only a guide and use your own common sense as to the conditions at the time in your area. Planting under glass too early when the light levels are low, you will end up with leggy seedlings. Most seeds/plants will catch up when it is warmer and will be the stronger for it. We are all itching to get started again for the new season but patience will be rewarded. I'm on the south coast and never start anything in the greenhouse before the beginning of March.

Beryl.

[Primrose]

The only indoor seeds I ever sow as early as February are peppers and chillies whixh need a long growing season. I have sowed tomatoes indoor in March but it was a mistake and they ended up very leggy. I now restrain myself and don,t sow them until first or second week of April which is still ing good time for an outdoor crop.

[Ricard with an H]

I've just received some seeds from Marshalls and they have included a "Vegetable seed growing guide".

The cynic in me says, "Marketing". These people aren't concerned with our failure, just regular purchasing and our money up-front if at all possible.

[Primrose]

It's rather like the garden centres who sell tender bedding plants way before the last forecast frost date knowing full well that customers who can't store them in greenhouses are destined to lose them all........ And then have to come back and buy more.

[Ricard with an H]

I'm not going to name-names on this matter, I have been told by a source within that us gardeners are relied upon as a throwaway group based on the throwaway-society theory.

As Primrose pointed out, in the past I have gone and bought flowering plants from garden centres to loose them within weeks because of my inexperience.

This inexperience is to some extent relied apon to sell stuff rather than giving good advise though there are exceptions to that if you are lucky enough to buy from small owner-fronted garden centres, even then, they'll rather say nothing and let you take stuff that looks good but isn't going to survive unless you have a greenhouse or tunnel.

UK weather changes so quickly and from one extreme to another, then we have the differences of a city garden sheltered from everything but the rain to a garden like mine.

Right now it feels like oiver 10 degrees, zero wind. When I took my car to the garage at 8.30 it was 4 degrees and 25 knots. The slates on my westerly aspects have a covering of white in some place. It's salt and it's all over the windows.

Window cleaning again-again-again and again. I hate dirty windows, makes the whole inside of the barn look scruffy.

[PLUMPUDDING]

I like Marshall's seeds and products and as you say it is only a guide, you have to use your gumption.

Saying that, tomatoes are surprisingly resilient. One decided to germinate in a tub of bedding plants I had brought into the greenhouse in December with no heat. It is about 5 inches tall now and still alive if a little bluish after the recent cold snap. I still wouldn't risk growing them outside undercover so early we get keen frosts into May here and it would be a waste of time trying.
Most things do better if they are planted later in more favourable weather when they don't have to struggle with cold or low light levels.

I'm also trying to save money on electricity by not having lots of early seedlings in the heated propagator with the grow light on.

We are all itching to get sowing after the new year aren't we.

[Beryl]

Richard with an H made me smile. I had not heard of us gardeners being a throw away lot before. I had always thought we were very good at recycling and making good use of pots etc. Although I do appreciate we all get caught out with buying plants that seem to die on us for no reason.

On a day when I have been having 'words' with our local council after asking for 2 small wheelie bins instead of using plastic sacks and being told they don't do them any more, only the large ones I decided to purchase 2 myself. Now they refuse to empty them because they do not have the council logo on. Thank you to Richard with an H, your posting brought a ray of sunshine to my day.

Beryl.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Our council doesn't do collections of garden waste unless you phone up and pay for it. They used to supply thin green plastic bags that you could get from the library and then if you phoned up they would take up to six bag fulls free. It was a waste of time as the bags were so thin they split if you put anything twiggy in.
So now people have to take stuff to the dumpit site, on the few days it is open, or hide stuff among the household waste and try to disguise it.

The only garden waste I have is diseased or prickly things that I can't compost anyway.

[Beryl]

Sorry for the confusion but it wasn't garden waste I was referring to Plumpudding but wheelie bins for ordinary household waste and recyclable paper, plastic etc. I do compost just about everything else or take it to the tip. I think our council charge £1.50 for a green sack for garden waste.

Beryl.

[Monika]

Stonecololoured, coming back to the Marshalls sowing guide, I think you must have misunderstood the information for the tomatoes. I have just looked at mine (I have two, one received in 2013 and one in 2014) and it suggests that you can sow tomatoes in February or March for onward indoor cultivation, and in March or April for onward outdoor cultivation. That seems about right to me, especially if you live in kinder climes. I used to live in the Lea Valley and that is the timing I would have used. Up here in the Yorkshire Dales, everything is about a month later, so I would obviously adjust the sowing time accordingly.

That Marshalls sowing guide is actually a very clever nifty thing for a quick check on spacings especially.

[Stonecoloured]

Fair point on the mis-selling of plants. It happens a lot.

Sounds like I've mis-read it, will dig it out and re-look at it (I've packed away my seed box, so it doesn't keep calling to me in Jan and Feb).

I've learnt a lot from this topic... Although I've planted *some* chillis, toms and physalis already, indoors - I'll leave all the others until the *real* time... it's difficult, but it sounds like sowing early indoor is not *really* a shortcut!

[FelixLeiter]

I sowed my indoor tomatoes (Gardener's Delight and Alicante) at the end of February last year and they were excellent. They were leggy at first, on a windowsill, but soon beefed up with increasing light levels when moved to the greenhouse and stole a march on later sowings, which were of value in providing a crop later into the season when the earliest had finished. The greenhouse is unheated, I should add. Tomatoes are very malleable in this regard, but I hold back on sowing other crops too early, even when conditions can appear to be ideal unseasonably early — so easy to get caught out.

[Ricard with an H]

Richard with an H made me smile. I had not heard of us gardeners being a throw away lot before. yl.

Ahh Beryl, I think that was aimed at the type who buys perennials whilst they are in flower then bins them when the flower heads die. Possibly don't even know or are unconcerned about the difference between annuals and perennials.

[Beryl]

More money than sense I think Richard. I can understand buying annuals and getting caught out but to spend money on perennials which are usually much more expensive. well !!!

Beryl.