aubrieta deltoidea royal blue

On my quest to work out when to sow the seeds I have purchased, these are one of the seed packets I have purchased and the sowing instructions read ....

The thing that confuses me is that if I sow indoors now (feb) with a heat mat the instructions then say keep in an unheated greenhouse with no instructions as to whether to harden off or not. If they take 12-21 days to germinate it will be end feb by the time they are ready for hardening off if I need to do it.

Do I harden off or not? Are aubrieta ok in an unheated greenhouse even though we are still likely to get frosts?

 

Unfortunately you have to read between the lines with most seed packets Auntpol. The instructions are general and don't account for things like which part of the country we live in. Those like me living more northerly tend to start ours slightly later than the southern parts of Britain as the weather is cooler here.

Your packet says sow from February to June. To be on the safe side most gardeners won't start sowing before March unless germination is long. Having said that I have taken the chance and started Lupins, Lavender and Antirrhinum as they take a while to put on growth. I'm hoping they don't get leggy. If I put them in a greenhouse this early they will almost certainly die, but I may risk it in a couple of weeks and probably put a cloche over them at night.

When sowing seeds indoors you can't put them straight out into a greenhouse, you would probably lose them from the shock of going from hot to cold. Once they have germinated I suggest you put them in a cool light area for a couple of weeks before putting them out. I have two unheated porches where I keep mine.

Hardening off is usually done for a couple of weeks before they go into the ground or pots. Bring them out during the day and put them back in the greenhouse at night, then for the last few days leave them outside, assuming there's no frost. This is the routine for most plants.