Kitchen Garden Forum

Thank you Sally

Just come back in from looking at mine, the upcoming seedlings don't look right to me, very dark. Growth is slow. Just moved them in the greenhouse.

I sow my tomatoes in individual 3" pots to avoid the work of transplanting and every second pot I will sow two seeds instead of one.althiugh invariably with tomatoes aI always seem to get a high germination rate so I don,t over sow the more expensive F1 Ferline Seeds.

I always over sow beans by 50% because despite the years I've been growing them I always get a low germination rate and last year had to completely resow them all. I suspect I overwatered too enthusiastically in their loo paper tubes because they dry out unevenly and they all rotted. I may try sowing them in damp tissue paper first this year and only transfer them to the loo rolls once they start germinating. Am trying to find the most effortless way of germinating stuff first time round these days.and having to repeat sow because of failures is losing its novelty.

Dear Primrose,
I have tried the loo roll method but quite frankly it is too much like hard work and pays no dividends as far as I am concerned. The rolls are hard to fill, they fall apart when they are moved, they can mould up like nobodies business which gets onto the seeds and they are hard to keep watered.

I use cells and pots for all my peas and beans and find that if they are grown on to the stage where they have a decent root ball, then there is no problems on planting out. The roots really are not as delicate as the books would have us believe. Perhaps this was a problem when all we had were clay pots and wooden seed trays but now we have plastic it is not.

This is how many I sow per cell. The trays are the 1/2 seed tray size and can be bought in many places.
French beans - climbing three per cell. (12 cell tray)
French beans - dwarf four per cell. (12 cell tray)
Peas - four per cell. (12 cell tray)
Runners - three per cell. (9 cell tray)
Broad beans two per cell. (9 cell tray)
Sweet peas are sown in a seed tray and when they are at the two true leaf stage they are carefully patched out 5 at a time into three inch pots where they are left to grow on for about a month. Being pinched out at the 4 leaf stage on the way.
Regards Sally Wright.

Having pricked out the tomatoes that did appear, since disturbing the compost in the pots, lots more of the seeds have germinated, so I have a few more than I thought!

Dear RP,
did you cover the seeds with compost or vermiculite? I find that I have a much better and more even germination with a covering of vermiculite. Vermiculite allows more air and light to the seeds; it also does not "cap" the seeds.
I planted my tomato seeds on the 7th and some are through already.
Regards Sally Wright.

During my first two years I was so lacking in confidence due to damping-off that I often ended up with a glut of seedlings in the case of successful sowing and I hate throwing seedlings away.

Now I'm more confident and have less failures I only sow what I'm likely to use though kitchen-gardening is more a hobby for me than a way of sustaining myself.

Garlic has been my only real success, I use all the garlic I grow and always have garlic to plant for the following season.

Sally, I have done in the past, but not found any difference over the years, so have stuck to compost, only a light sprinkling though!

That's interesting, thanks Sally.

I used vermiculite for the first time last year and had absolutely no failures so I'm using it again this year.

Having said that the cause for my failures was probably more to do with either far too many seeds, over-watering or both.

Now I need to increase my success for direct sowing.

Johnboy. I put mine on the floor of the airing cupboard on moist kitchen roll in an old take away plastic container.. Have to keep a daily eye on them though.

Dear All,
gardeners delight tomato seeds do take longer to germinate than other varieties, by about a week to pricking out size compared to the others. Just thought you all ought to know; nice healthy seedlings nevertheless though.
Regards Sally Wright.

sally wright wrote:Dear All,
gardeners delight tomato seeds do take longer to germinate than other varieties, by about a week to pricking out size compared to the others. Just thought you all ought to know; nice healthy seedlings nevertheless though.
Regards Sally Wright.

Good piece of info, thanks Sally
Had noticed a time lag on those sown on April 4th, certainly was a few days difference.

Really struggled to get chilli seeds to germinate this year and it's getting a little late. I have a few which look ok. I haven't had to use my heated propergator for a couple years but thinks it's needed now if I want any more. Unfortunately it's in the attic and I have no chance in finding it. I hate buying plants when I have soooo many seeds.

Sally that's really interesting about the longer time taken by Gardeners Delight to germinate.

I wish I had known that yesterday! All my other tomato seeds are about two inches tall but none of the GDs had germinated so I assumed failure or old seed and resowed them !

Don't worry too much Primrose, cherry tomatoes make great soup (when sieved) and freeze very well whole.
Sally Wright.

The hotter the Chilli the slower they germinate and grow. Agree??