Protecting veg from wheather and pests

New to gardening.Will plant out my veg in a few weeks as advised by everyone. Got tom,carrots,courgettes,cucumber,leek,onions,beet,sweetpea,broccoli,cabbage,lettuce and more,grown indoors under propogators to start. All surviving & growing although i have a feeling they should not be looking so thin looking.Anything i can do to "fatten"them up so they're robust for the big wide world? Plan to cut the top and bottom of plastic mineral water bottles to act as cloches for each plant once they go out. Also shall i start sowing straight into the ground (from seed) now? could i do this and place "clohes" to protect from late frost? Also,we are growing miscanthus 10acres in other fields. Not had any problems yet, but rabbits rather like the stuff.I've heard lion dung will keep rabbits out of a county. Anyone know how one can source rather a lot rather cheaply?And from one big cat to another, how do you keep cats off the veg patches. I've heard citrus peels can help thanks!

 

lion roar is available from most nurseries garden centres, or online, you can buy various remedies, try carrying a water gun with you at all times, they dont like gorse clippings, which is very uncomfortable to lie on, lots of people tried plastic bottles filled with water lying around, i ve not seen that working.
regards you r plants looking straggly / leggy, i d assume they were short of light, or overcrowded, even in a greenhouse it can be difficult to get all the plants growing strongly, in a house it is even less likely.

 

You could sow into the ground now Greentoes, but unless the soil is warm the seeds won't germinate and some could rot. If you are going to use cloches it would be worthwhile using them to heat the soil for a week or ten days before sowing.
With regard to your leggy plants you may be giving them too much heat. I remove mine from the propagator within two or three days of germination and then grow them on in a frost free greenhouse or the conservatory and try to shade them from direct sun which can scorch them when immature. (Just lost a tray of brussel sprouts due to then being over cooked!) When I prick out into pots I usually keep the pots under the greenhouse staging and out of direct sunlight for two or three days. And when planting out brassicas in hot weather I cover the plants with flower pots for a day or so.
Your idea for using plastic bottles for cloches is a good one, but ensure you have holes in the tops or you'll cook the plants before they are ready for eating.
Your root crops - carrots and beetroot do not transplant well unless you've grown them in individual fibre pots or toilet roll tubes.
With regard to cats (bane of my life - seems to be a new one in the neighbourhood each year) the best solution I've found is chicken wire tunnels when the plants are young. The pump-up water pistol is an added deterrent.

Happy gardening

 

Thanks Lady Gardener and Dave W. I shall try gorse clippings as we have an abundance of that here. I think the wilting is down to access to light- not enough at the begining, (Germinate somewhere warm and dark i had read somewhere),then in a panic, placed them all in a room that recieves the early morning sun- they dont look scorched though.Some seeds were planted 'open planned' in large trays,(overcrowding?) some of them are in small cells. could they be needing more space to grow hence the size? The room is not that warm once the sun passes. Radiator doen't work in there. Oh dear. Will place ground sheet over prepared soil. Some were grown in fibre pots so there's still hope,eh Dave. Dave....?