When can I transplant plants into containers outside?

I am new to this forum and quite new to gardening.
About ten days ago I started seeds for Nastutium, Lobelia, sweet pea, stock,petunia, marigold, verbena, convolvulus, bellis perennis pomponette, alyssum ananthirrhinum. They are all in my spare room next to the window and turned into little plants. Since I will evenually run out of space I wondered when I can start planting some of them into containers outside? ( I know that I first have to transplant into individual cells and let them grow bigger )
Do I have to wait as long as May for all or can I start earlier?
Some advice would be much appreciated.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Greenlily. You have started your seeds off rather early. The problem this time of year is lack of light and heat and growing them on indoors is not ideal as the seedlings will tend to grow 'leggy' (to tall). The end of February early March is when most gardeners start them off and most won't plant out before the middle of May when the threat of frost is past. If you put them out before hand a late frost will kill them.

When the young plants are almost ready to go outside they should be hardened off first, in other words put them out during the day and bring in at night for a couple of weeks before planting them in their permanent positions.

 

oh no, just got so excited, and thought it would be alright.
It said on the petunias and lobelia that I can plant in january so I just did them all.
thank you for your advice though. Can I transplant any of the above out in march?
Are they doomed now that they have to be inside for a while (while I have to make space)?

I really should have informed myself first.

 

Sorry, if you plant them out in March you are likely to lose them, it won't be warm enough. As I said, March is usually the month to start them off.

I do most of my germination in an electric propagator indoors from the middle of February. As soon as the seedlings show I then remove them to a window sill until it's time to pot them on. Once potted on I then move them out to my unheated greenhouse until at least the beginning of May. From there I harden them off outside before planting. I have to point out that I'm in a slightly warmer area than yourself.

Petunias, Antirrhinums and Lobelia do take longer to germinate than others which is why the packets say to start them off earlier, but Lobelia in particular does need heat.

The only thing I can suggest now, is to give them as much light as possible but not in direct sunlight and don't over water. I hope they survive, but I think you may have to start again with some of them.

If you have enough 'pennies' to invest in some sort of greenhouse it would help your situation by keeping the frost off until planting out time. But I still wouldn't put them in that before March earliest.

 

Thanks a lot for the advice and your time. I'm just going to have to restart some.

 

Most annuals shouldn't be put out doors untill the end of May/early June depending what part of the country you live. Having said that, with the crazy weather we have been having over the past few years, I reckon even the most experienced of gardeners are at a loss. I used to be envious of a neighbour of mine who used to risk putting his bedding plants out at the beginning of May and always seemed to get away with it. So having a head start on the rest of us. Not over the past few years though ( I'm ashamed to say I gloated, when it didn't pay off in recent years) Nobody likes a smart a*s ..........I put my nastiness down to the womans change in my life. Please forgive me

 

Does one of those plastic covered shelves count as greenhouse?
I don't have too much money, but want to invest to somehow save the plants.
Last year I just bought the plant end of march and put them in the ground and they were beautiful, so this year I was aiming for the same thing but home grown. Must have been lucky. Haha, takemore02withit, you make me laugh. Everybody occaisonally gets a bit evil :-)

 

They start out tiny, and grow slowly, initially, which is why the early start for them as Sheal said.

Affectionately?! known as a "blow-away" ...

... no, they will provide no protection from cold temperatures. You could "heat it", but that would be a waste of money as they have no insulation value at all.

You could use them to put plants outside on warm days (and they would be protected from cold winds etc.) so long as you bring the plants in for the night. They obviosuly don't need light at night, and indeed once they are small-ish plants they will be happy with little light for a few days if the temperatures turn Artic, so an unheated utility room will probably be fine. You ought to try to keep them where the temperature falls NO lower than 10C though, otherwise they'll sulk and may take a while to un-sulk again :(

You might be more mild in Bristol that us lot up here, or even the folk Up North ... worth working out an average date when your night temperatures will be above 10C on the majority of nights (wunderground.com is a useful resource for looking at amateur weather station records for e.g. Mar-May over the previous few years)

 

Thanks so much for all the replies. This is really of help.
Just started looking at proper greenhouses, thinking of getting one. But won't be able to afford heating. If I invest into one of those, do they give the plants a bit of protection, thus enabling me to put some in there in maybe april?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281046138938?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120857686249?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Im so sorry that I keep asking all these questions, just don't know who else to ask...

 

Greenhouse will retain some heat, but not if the outside stays cold, and no sun, for days at a time.

Last couple of sunny days my greenhouse has got up to 15C or so (vents opened, otherwise would have got hotter), and in April what tends to happen is that the Greenhouse gets warm during the day, and as the temperatures fall at night the greenhouse cools down slower, so by the time that the night temperature starts to warm again (6am or so) the greenhouse temperature is still falling and is 3C or 4C above the outside temperature, and thus the plants don't get as cold as they would be outside. Even so the greenhouse is only at that low temperature for an hour or so, so most of the time the temperature is plenty warm enough.

Also, plants are generally happy with a bit of cold if they are then immediately warm again during the day.

So the trouble only really starts if you have a cold, grey, day after a cold frosty night ... when we get a frosty night it is because it was a clear sky, so usually it is sunny the next day.

A greenhouse will also keep the chill of the wind off the plants, and snow, and heavy rain, etc. SIting the greenhouse somewhere sheltered, but in good light, will help [reduce heat loss from wind-chill]. A hedge, or fence/wall, on the North side of the greenhouse will keep a North wind off, and no sunlight coming from the North side of course

However, you still run the risk of a cold night. Worth considering a greenhouse bottle-gas heater - if you already have bottled gas for a BBQ or similar (otherwise you also have the cost of the first "rental" of a gas bottle).

If you can get electricity to the greenhouse that will be cheaper to heat than bottle gas - assuming you only use it on a few nights of the year - as the thermostat will only use it when the night is cold. (Cheap heaters have rubbish thermostats though, so they use more electricity than a heater with a really good, accurate, thermostat)

Don't get a paraffin heater. No longer cheap to run, and lots of hassle as you have to light it if you think a night will be cold, so some nights it will be wasted and if you ever forget, or mis-calculate the low temperature, the plants will be dead! Paraffin heaters also produce the most condensation which is not good for the plants, and if the wick is not properly trimmed they will cover the greenhouse glass and all the plants with soot!

Consider whether you need automatic window vent openers. (They are mechanical so don't need electricity). If you are not there during the day to open / close them then they are pretty essential. You might find that a second hand eBay greenhouse already has them.

 

I forgot to mention Greenlily. If you take a look in the 'Propagation' section you will find threads there that will help you.