How do you keep a check on seeds & when to sow

[Catherine]

I have just got all my seeds out and checked their dates to make sure none are out of sowing date. I have several questions which I hope can be answered. (I know I have had my allotment for 11 years but I still struggle to remember dates and times ) Some years it works but last year it didn't.
1. Should I throw the out of date seeds away? I dont want to waste time sowing seeds that don't germinate. But you dont know that until ? weeks down the line.
2. How can I keep a check on when to sow seeds (bearing in mind I frequently forget to sow in the month that they should be sown and then find it is too late. I want list the seeds and months that they should grow as a quick memory aid. Last year I had all the seeds in plastic boxes with dividers between in month order. Then move them to the next month if they can be sown again. It seemed to work reasonably well but I would like a better method, what does everyone else do?

3. I need my OH to build a cold frame to put the cabbages and caulis in to stop root fly. When they are in the polytunnel there is no protection and every year we have suffered. Any suggestions on designs that dont cost a lot to make, what has worked for you?

I have never had success with tomatoes, or aubergines, I would like some suggestions on the best way to grow these.

[Westi]

Hi Catherine

I go through my seeds around now and put them into zip bags marked for the appropriate month, which I then re-use each year. Works better than dividers for me as I can take the bag down to lottie for direct sow stuff. I am also saving up any silicone gel sachets I find and putting one of them in the bag in case it is damp.

The only one I take notice of with use by date is parsnips. If seed is a really old I sow a little more thickly in case germination isn't so good. No problem if doesn't come up too well and I can thin if it does. I even have surprise seeds that have no info or picture left on the packet and that can be fun - firstly trying to id from the seed then the leaf etc.

Help with growing good aubergines & toms would be good for me also. OK with cherry toms and can grow perfect aubergines about the same size - not much you can do with them!

Westi

[sally wright]

Dear All,
try a chart tacked to the back of the shed door or to keep in your seed box. It is easy to make up one on the computer using the excell programme.

Along the top; the months (or fortnights esp for lettuce etc)
Down the side; write in the varieties you are sowing and shade the boxes that you wish to sow in.
Cross them off as you sow them.
If you want cut out a little arrow for the top that you can blu-tak on and move as necessary to keep an eye on the time of year.
There is also the option of using symbols for sowing in the greenhouse or under cloches and for planting out.

Don't think I thought this one upall on my own, it is paritally cribbed from the veg expert book. If you make up the blank it can be used to print a new sheet each year and the old one can go into your archives or the compost bin, depending on how good a season you had! It might also help you plan the best use of cloches and other protection methods. I think I would print it out landscape rather than portrait as it will give more space to write in each month.
Regards sally Wright.
ps I would also get fresh sweetcorn seed each year unless you have an unopened packet to use (the inner foil packet that is)

[John]

Hello Catherine
As far as sowing times go, most if not all of the big seed companies have sowing charts on their websites which you can print out. As an example there is the link for the T&M one:

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/vegetabl ... wing-guide

Like Westi I never use old parsnip seed and buy fresh each year. For other seeds though I take sell by/sow by dates as a very rough guide. If you have stored your seed somewhere cool and dry you can easily add a couple of years to the dates on the packets.

If you are having probs growing tomatoes why not just buy a few plants at the garden centre. With tom seeds packets often around the £2+ mark I do this as I only grow a few plants each year.

John

[Geoff]

I just keep all my seeds in old shoe boxes, sections for salad, herbs, greenhouse, peas/beans, main veg; alphabetical within sections. Each year I buy a cheap desk diary, double page to a week. I keep the old diaries. I look at each packet in turn and look at what I have done other years and put a plan in the diary on Fridays in pencil. As I go through the year I enter what I do in pen with the odd comment about weather and when I remember advice for the next year. The entries include quantities like 2 sets of rootrainers or 15 small pots 5 seeds per pot. Each week I just follow the plan with some delays or bringing forward depending on weather and how things are doing.

[Catherine]

Thanks for your suggestions I will put things in place now and see how things go.

[FelixLeiter]

I would also get fresh sweetcorn seed each year unless you have an unopened packet to use (the inner foil packet that is)

Sweetcorn seed will keep its viability for many years, much longer than most other veg: 5-10 years on average.
If you're not sure about a seed's vitality, do a germination test on moist kitchen towel. Do your tests now so that you have an idea about your stored seeds' vitality before the season begins.
As far as not missing sowing dates is concerned, if you have a smart phone it's probably possible to set up text reminders when sowing dates are imminent. There must be an app for that.*


*Unfortunately I can only find this for American gardeners, who talk about planting seeds, to my considerable irritation: plants are planted, seeds are sown. But maybe that's just me.

[PLUMPUDDING]

I've tried all sorts of lists in the past, but find the easiest is to have a spare plastic box with the label TO SOW NEXT on it and at the beginning of each month I just put in it the fruit, veg or flowers that need sowing and get them in over the next few weeks. Replace them at the back of their appropriate seed box if I'm not doing follow on sowings, or near the front if they will be needed again.

There is lots of information about seed viability, but if you aren't sure sow a bit and see what happens.