How long will these seeds take to grow?

I have sown some chive seeds around 10 days ago, how long should it be before they start producing shoots? I can see no signs of life yet. The spinach seeds that were sown at the same time are already 1.5" tall!! Or are they just quick to grow and therefore making it look as if the chives are really behind? Also, when do i 'prick out'? (if thats correct terminology?! :o) and how do i go about doing it? Into what size pots?

Thanks!

 

Spinach grows well fast. I don't know about chives specifically but I usually found that anything perennial (like chives) seem to take ages to get started.

 

Ah, thats handy, thanks clueless.

You see, the other sunday i was bored so decided to sow the seeds, but realised i didn't have much seedling compost. So i've used regular compost to see what happens and then sprinkled what seedling compost i had over the top to lightly cover them. I have sinced found out that regular multi-purpose compost will prob be too rich for the seeds but i'll see what happens. Will it be a big disaster??!!

 

Oddly enough, I've never bought a bag of seedling compost in my life, and yet I get about 50% success rate with stuff I plant. The wife uses the same compost, the same pots and trays, the same windowsills etc, and she gets close to 100% success rate.

 

Hmmm

 

Hadn't finished THAT post!! lol

Hmmmm...thats interesting, maybe its down to technique (and i'm not sure i have much of that) lol! My spinach are doing ok although a couple of them have kinda 'fallen over' in the tray whereas all the rest are still standing up properly. Is it just a case of some of them are stronger than others?

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the chives Busybee. In my experience they are weeds and once you get them started they will seed all over the place. Into the gravel paths is where they like to put themselves. Be patient and I'm sure they will be along. If all else fails I will send you some seed and you can through it on the gravel.

 

I think it is more down to the fact that the wife treasure every single one, and they feed off her love, while I'm more systematic and methodical about it and just expect them to grow.

Seedlings are very vulnerable beasties, too much or too little water can upset them, not enough light, or if they are too warm they will shoot up tall before their stems have developed enough strength to take their weight. It is tempting to keep them nice and warm because the results are more immediate, but doing so makes them weak. Are they indoors or outside? Indoors I'd say to warm and not enough light, outside maybe the wind, rain and/or slugs have harassed them.

Oh and I forget to pick up on the 'pricking out' thing you mentioned. I've never bothered for years. Nowadays I tend to use biodegradable pots stood in a plastic tray. If you keep a couple of millimeters of water in the bottom of the tray and just stand the biodegradable pots in it, they will suck up the moisture they need without getting soaked, and you don't need to water from above (you add water to the tray as it dries out) so the seedlings themselves don't get wet (which can promote fungal problems), and you always know that they've got just enough moisture.

I also tend to put a few too many seeds in each one, and simply nip off all but the strongest one if more than one seedling appears in a pot. It is a waste of seeds but seeds are cheap and it makes it less hassle.

When the seedlings are ready to go onto their next destination, either a bigger pot or straight in the ground, you just sink the whole thing, pot and all. The biodegradable pot won't restrict the roots, as they can just grow through it, and the pot just breaks down into compost after a few months. All it means is that you can transplant the seedlings to their new home without disturbing their roots at all.

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention, the biodegradable pots are sometimes made of peat. I'm trying to move away from them and towards coir instead because peat has a bit of a bad press these days because we keep nicking it from ancient peat bogs apparently. I haven't tried the coir ones yet, so can't comment about their characteristics.

 

"I have sinced found out that regular multi-purpose compost will prob be too rich for the seeds but i'll see what happens. Will it be a big disaster??!!"

I don't think the "too rich" argument is important. Seeds don't need extra nutrients, the seed itself contains all the energy they need to germinate, and get started. If you provide more nutrients you are, at worst, just wasting your money as they would manage by themselves. (At best it makes no difference, the seedlings take advantage of the extra nutrients and have a head start).

The issue for me is much more to do with the composition of the compost. The Multi Purpose compost I use is full of twigs, bits of carpet underlay and goodness knows what else.

Seed Compost is much finer (but still full of gravel!) and, IME, is much more suitable for getting seeds to grow. For Runner Beans, or similar, it makes no difference, but for finer seeds and seeds that take a while to germinate, IME it helps to give them their best chance.

 

We use New Horizon peat-free multi-purpose compost for our business and our own garden. It is not perfect for all plants but good enough for most - we have used Westlands similar peat-free too and that was ok as well. Good results with the coir plant pots - if you can buy in large quantities you get a better price - maybe worth getting together with a local gardening group to do this.

 

Well thank you everyone for all your helpful tips and advice!! I may well try the biodegradable pots so i don't have to worry about transplanting seedlings. However, at the mo i'm just growing all my plants in pots until my garden is ready for plants. I bought seedling compost today as i'm quite new to growing from seed so i want to know i'm doing things the 'correct' way so that if something goes wrong, at least i know its not the compost!!
Its a good idea standing the pots in a tray and just having water in the tray. I'm never quite sure if the compost is moist enough. I soaked the compost when i sowed the seeds and haven't watered tham since as the soil is still moist. I am growing the seeds in the shed so its not as warm as the house and they're out of the wind/rain/direct sun.

 

Thanks for that offer alice! I will see how i go but otherwise i may hold you to that lovely offer!!

 

never tried chives yet but my success with what i have tried has been pretty high.
i put compost into a polystyrene cup with drainage holes(reusable),water,sow then cover and add more water and then place into my propogator.
i usually see signs of life within a week to 10 days:thumb:

 

maybe i should invest in a propagator? Do they really help or are they only helpful in colder times? How do they help?