Kitchen Garden Forum

i live in the north west - wirral penisula am knew to growing veg have planted some seedlings that started on kitchen windowsill carrots, red onion and lettuce - the carrots look ok , the onions not too bad, the lettuce looked like it was going to die when i first planted it out (Last sunday) but some I think is actually growing, although pretty limp looking, some have been eaten - they are in plastic raised beds with a cloche with fleece over. Is it still to cold to start sowing seed direct?

It really depends what you want to sow and the condition of your soil.

thanks
soil is top soil, mixed with compost and manure in the shallow part of raised bed I'm not an expert but the guy i bought soil from says he sells it to all the local allotments however it does appear quite stony (small stones) and a bit clay ish but not too bad have had a few small weeds appear since filling beds but am howing the empty beds regularly to try and get rid of them. the beds are on a sheltered patio that has a brick shed to one side ahigh brick wall to the back of the beds and a wooden shed on the 3rd side don't know if that helps i really do know nothing!!!

iknownothing wrote:i live in the north west - wirral penisula am knew to growing veg have planted some seedlings that started on kitchen windowsill carrots, red onion and lettuce - the carrots look ok , the onions not too bad, the lettuce looked like it was going to die when i first planted it out (Last sunday) but some I think is actually growing, although pretty limp looking, some have been eaten - they are in plastic raised beds with a cloche with fleece over. Is it still to cold to start sowing seed direct?

I have asked the same question, one is also very new to 'dirty finger nails' The answer was generally wait until April. Listening in bed to the garden Q&A session on local 'Radio Suffolk' this morning. The same question, the answer; mid April on wards, sow in greenhouse, on windowsill, the lady said, "it sounds late, but, trust me, everything will catch up and could do better" . . . thats what the 'pro' says.

I'm certainly holding on to my direct sow seeds for another week or two, although I have done some in the green house! . . . I know you should not do things like carrots, beetroot, parsnips, and then plant out!!! However, I did it last year in my ignorance, with beetroot, and got away with it so I thought, try again, see if I can buck the system? We do have very light sandy soil.

Of course . . . I don't want to encourage anyone into bad habits . . .
CJS

It's more to do with the warmth of the soil and whether or not it is waterlogged. We sow many of our seeds in pots/trays/modules etc to plant out later as we garden on clay soil and this way things get a better start.

As CJS says we wait until April to sow anything but it is April now. Some seeds such as broad beans, parsnips, carrots, peas germinate at lower temperatures so can be sown earlier. We will be sowing carrots and parsnips soon but sow in a trench of moist compost.

See this thread http://www.kitchengarden.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8093&hilit=parsnips+sowing

BY the way we have had good success sowing beetroot in modules - it's the longer rooting type of veg that can suffer when planted as if the main tap root is damaged then this root which is the bit you eat can be stunted and hardly worth the effort digging it up. You can be lucky and get away with it.

I start a lot of my stuff in modules,peat pots and trays,Lettuce,Cabbage,Beans,Peas etc but not Carrots or Parsnips as this was not very successful. I normally start 2nd week in March to 2nd week in April and always indoors ,then transfer to the Greenhouse for growing on,moving outside during the day to acclimatise for a few weeks,weather permitting. I am not a master gardener,but will try anything once,maybe twice,so a few years ago I started Beetroot in modules,both round and cylindrical eventhough I was advised against this,low and behold I have been very successful with this method,it also saves a lot of time thinning out.

there are guidelines that give good results for most situations most of the time, but you can experiment outside those guidelines.. and often you will find methods that work for you in your garden.. and will do so for a lot of other people but not for everyone... for example the transplanting of beetroot probably depends on the size of the planting module, the personal decision of when its ready for transplant , how you look after them both prior to and just after transplanting.... there are very few rules that cannot be bent.

As Richard says gardening is never an exact science and as you beome more experienced you learn what works for you which may not work for everyone else.

We have really good success with carrots but know of people who use exactly the same technique and fail!

After losing many seeds (rotten) and seedlings (killed by the cold, damp or pests) when sowing direct, I start almost all the vegetables in modules, mainly roottrainers, now. They are expensive to buy initially but by buying one or two trays a year, I have now amassed about 20 and they are all used in turn every spring. Many of the tall ones are used several times each year: first with sweet peas, when they are planted they are used for broad beans and when they are planted, in go the runner beans and French beans. The same applies to the short ones: beetroot and kohlrabi etc, followed by the bulk of the brassicas. The only things I sow direct are carrots but I won't be doing that until early May.