Who has succumbed to putting first seeds in!!!

Need to know the best time to plant?

Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter

User avatar
Primrose
KG Regular
Posts: 8054
Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:50 pm
Location: Bucks.
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 281 times

No greenhouse (apart from a mini plastic one) so I'm holding back this year. I always sow far too early and regret it so am really trying to be patient this year. Experience has finally taught me that later sown seeds normally catch up and you don't in fact lose out much by sowing a little later. . And for some reason this year I'm finding it difficult to summon up much enthusiasm for getting going. Maybe it's all that gloom & doom in the economy! No doubt I'll feel better once the sun gets a bit higher in the sky and the ground starts drying out.
Monika
KG Regular
Posts: 4546
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:13 pm
Location: Yorkshire Dales

About sliding peas out of guttering: I have always had problems in sliding the whole thing out without getting all the plants mixed up and tumbling over! I even tried spraying the guttering with WD40 before filling it with potting compost and also lining it with a sheet of newspaper first. But it's never really worked. So now I just mix the peas with potting compost, wait until they start sprouting in the greenhouse and then sow them outside in drills.
User avatar
Primrose
KG Regular
Posts: 8054
Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:50 pm
Location: Bucks.
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 281 times

I've not used the guttering method and was wondering whether putting a long sheet of plastic liner in the guttering with ends overhanging at both ends would have solved the problem, enabling the plastic sheeting to be pulled out leaving the guttering in place. Then my brain engaged gear while I visualised myself trying to perform this act and realised that one would still be left with exactly the same problem disengaging the soil from the plastic sheeting. Perhaps this makes me nearly clever enough to be a politician!
User avatar
oldherbaceous
KG Regular
Posts: 13822
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:52 pm
Location: Beautiful Bedfordshire
Has thanked: 254 times
Been thanked: 295 times

Dear Primrose, you're far to honest and nice to even contemplate being a politician. :)
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

There's no fool like an old fool.
User avatar
Primrose
KG Regular
Posts: 8054
Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:50 pm
Location: Bucks.
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 281 times

Dear OH, Right now I'm making it my life's work to be a pebble in the shoe of all politicians (and bankers !).
User avatar
oldherbaceous
KG Regular
Posts: 13822
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:52 pm
Location: Beautiful Bedfordshire
Has thanked: 254 times
Been thanked: 295 times

Dear Primrose, please try and get this task accomplished within the next month, so you will be ready to enjoy the new growing season that eagerly awaits us all.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

There's no fool like an old fool.
goldilox
KG Regular
Posts: 197
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:16 pm
Location: Le Gers, SW France
Contact:

Last time I planted peas in guttering I laid some pieces of mesh (saved from orange bags) in the bottom before putting the compost in. Then if they do stick a bit you can give them a little tug to loosen them.
Monika
KG Regular
Posts: 4546
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:13 pm
Location: Yorkshire Dales

That sounds a great idea, goldilox - and I have just thrown away all the net bags from the seed potatoes! No doubt there'll be other bags before sowing time.
User avatar
penny
KG Regular
Posts: 80
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:48 pm
Location: London

I have planted my 10 aubergine seeds form MoreVeg in 5 jiffy 7s in my new propagator. 3 are up, soo exciting.
Still wondering what to do with potato seeds?
Penny
So far the only thing that's green on my allotment is me.
User avatar
penny
KG Regular
Posts: 80
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:48 pm
Location: London

ps on getting things out of gutters i so it in sections separating with trowel - seems to work for me. Penny
So far the only thing that's green on my allotment is me.
User avatar
Johnboy
KG Regular
Posts: 5824
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2005 1:15 pm
Location: NW Herefordshire

Hi Penny,
When I used guttering for Peas I made a piece of slate to the profile of the guttering and also made a hoe to the same profile to fetch the shallow trench out. By fetching the trench out and laying the gutter filled with Peas and laying that in the trench then placing the slate profile and holding firm pull the guttering away which should leave the Peas in situ.
JB.
User avatar
oldherbaceous
KG Regular
Posts: 13822
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:52 pm
Location: Beautiful Bedfordshire
Has thanked: 254 times
Been thanked: 295 times

Regarding this guttering method, i think it sounds as if the job should be the same as when handling glass, just be confident and keep your mind on the job.
Sounds like a lot of things in life, just grab the Bull by the horns. :)

One more thought, i was wondering if some people are trying to get them out of the gutters before they have made enough root.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

There's no fool like an old fool.
Monika
KG Regular
Posts: 4546
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:13 pm
Location: Yorkshire Dales

I think that could have been my trouble in the past, OH. One lives and learns.
User avatar
Johnboy
KG Regular
Posts: 5824
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2005 1:15 pm
Location: NW Herefordshire

Hi OH,
I feel that you may have hit the nail right on the head. I think that people are too impatient because certainly when the roots are well established they form a very easy sliding medium. People are too eager to get the peas into the trench. It is certainly better to let the Peas get a little root-bound before planting out. They very soon sort themselves out.
As I have said I no longer use the gutter method because of the limitations of my body and arthritis.
I grow in 7cm pots and I always wait for a good root show from the bottom of the pot before I even consider planting out. This really goes for many things grown in pots. Let the roots fill the pot and then plant out.
So many people plant things out so the soil falls away from the roots and really that is the same as planting bare rooted and this puts a check on plant growth. Sow in a module wait until the roots have filled the module
then pot on to the next stage and wait until the roots have filled the pot and then and only then plant out.
JB.
AnneThomas
KG Regular
Posts: 97
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2008 9:57 am
Location: Near Liskeard in Cornwall

Hello Johnboy - I know this question is a bit like how long is a piece of string, but after module sowing, what size pot would you move on to. I have learned over my couple of years of veg growing to sow most things in modules as they resist the mice, slugs etc etc better, but I must admit that I usually plant them out from the modules as I have very limited greenhouse space to be potting everything on. I only have a 3-tiered mini greenhouse.

Thank you.
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic