Seedling flats

Hello all,

I'm looking for a good website to order some seedling planters, preferably ones i can re-use.

couple of questions:

my crop next year includes: leeks, brocolli, cauliflower,carrots,peas,corn, pepper

do they require different kinds of seedling flats?

also, over autumn this year I am planting peas, do i start these in their beds or should i plant them out from seedling flats? in which case, do i need, as i've read, deep root flats for the peas?


the crop rotation on my garden spreadsheet is here:
http://www.editgrid.com/user/davidlittlefair/Garden_Spreadsheet

i'm workign to the principle in a biointensive gardening book i have of:
light feeder, heavy feeder, giver.
although I have no plans for fallow beds in the next three years, and i've tended to put
the givers as an autumn crop of peas or legumes...
i hope that is ok.


thanks as always for your consideration and help!

Davidx

 

I grow all mine in quarter-size seed trays that fit my propagator (I don't use the propagator during the Summer, as its warm enough anyway, and extra heat just tends to make things leggy, but the little clear plastic domes help). There are some pictures on My Blog where I know that things will germinate at the same speed I often plant two varieties per tray (I try to pick things which have leaves that look different!)

I pot-out from the Seed Trays into 3" pots for things that I will pot-on to bigger pots (such as Tomatos) and 9cm pots for anything that will go straight out into the garden (I find that 9cm / 3.5" allows me to "hold" plants a bit longer if I'm not ready, whereas 3" tends to start drying out very quickly once the plants get to planting-out size)

The real problem is that the harvest period for some crops is very short. Perhaps 3 weeks from the first lettuce being ready until the last one is going off. Fruiting crops like Beans, Courgettes, Tomatoes, etc. carry on producing all season, but when each plant only produces one (Beetroot) or a couple (Sweetcorn) you need successional planting. And for them you only want to sow to make enough seeds for the 2 or 3 weeks harvest period - for me that's only 2 or 3 lettuces, and half a dozen beetroot or less. Some others are cut-and-come-again, like Spinach / Chard, but they run to seed after a while, and need fresh plants coming on - I reckon sowing them about once a month is enough, and in fact I have 2 batches still picking, so less than once-a-month might do.

Next problem is that some things won't transplant. That includes roots like Carrots and Parsnips because transplanting breaks the very fine tap root, which then "forks" (although, IME, Beetroot are fine), so you either want to sow those direct in the soil, or sow a few of seeds per-pot and then cut off all-but the strongest, but you will need to use pots that will rot - so you can plant the thing whole, without disturbing the roots. I've used homemade pots made from newspaper this year for Carrots (nit too fiddly for my liking!), Parnsips, a few other roots (like Salsify) and also Sweetcorn. Some details and picutres on My Blog

I grow 2 carrots per paper-pot, and then pull one "thinning" early to extend the crop harvest period. Similarly I grow 3 beetroot per 9cm pot, and pull two of them early.

I don't grow Peas, but I don't think I would sow them direct. If I did grow them I would use 3" pots. I do that for Beans (French & Runner). I have used modules in the past, but each plant gets so little soil, and so much disturbance when I "push" them out of the module, that I have switched to using 3" pots instead. I grow two climbers (i.e. for Climbging French and Runners) per cane, and next year I will grow two plants per 3" pot and then plant one pot per cane.

Finally, you may like to look at my spreadsheet. It has all the crops I could find, timeline for Sow/Plant, and is divided into sections according to crop rotation. Details in another thread or on My Blog

 

thanks so much for that post.
can i clarify a couple of things?

1. you don't use the propagator in summer:
you mean that you don't use it for the seedlings for your autumn crop that are grown in summer, or you mean you don't use it for the summer crop that go in springtime?

2. is there anywhere that delivers online that I could get 3inch pots from?

 

I don't use the electric heater bit after, say, the end of April. I still use the little trays, and their clear plastic covers. (Actually, I still use the propagator base, as its a tidy way to hold the trays, I just don't turn the heating bit on)

I get my pots, in bulk, from http://www.kaysdiscountgarden.co.uk/. Their website is a mess, as is their paper catalogue, and ideally you need to order the number of pots that fits in a carton [for their best price] - otherwise they count them by hand and chuck them in a box, which must take ages!!

Their pots are listed here:
http://www.kaysdiscountgarden.co.uk/cgi-bin/site-editor.pl/14/-ecommerce?action=category;category=Pots%2c%20Planters%20%26%20Trays;eid=556273
but I didn't find any 3" there :(

I did a search on : sankey 3"
which listed them. They are £100.17 for a case, but it doesn't say how many you get - useless! 5.35p each for 100-off, 4.32p @ 500-off, 3.854p @ 1,000-off

Search for : sankey 9cm
to get the 3.5" pots and that gives 5.57p @ 100-off, 3.989p @ 1,000 off, and a case (this time indicated as 1,320 pots) is 3.77p each