Seed packet instructions?

Hi ive always followed seed packets instructions but now im wondering if i should as it said on my seeds sow Jan so i have but now people are telling me its too early to sow yet so i was wondering do you just sow everything about march time or do you follow instructions on packets. also i have seeds which i want for my garden this year could you tell me when would be the best time to sow these please-

Cosmidium
nasturtuim
aquilegia
linum
schizanthus
calendula
californian poppy
tagetes
lupin
nicotiana affinis
clarkia pulchella
french marigold

thankyou

 

Hello Natty, I think everything you have on your list there I would sow in March and that would be plenty of time for them to flower this year.

As for sowing in January - some things do benefit from an early sowing if they need a long growing season. I sow my chillies in January. I have sown tomatoes in january to get a very early crop. But sowing in January requires specialist growing conditions for light and heat and a bit of knowledge and experience. I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner unless it was just for learning purposes ie sow early and see what happens and learn how to deal with those problems.
Good luck with all your seeds.

 

Christopher Lloyd always used to sow his seeds on 1st March, commenting that a lot of people try to sow them too early. Tender perennials like Cleome, Cosmos and Tithonia he said to sow on May 1st.

The reason, is that it is failrly easy to get seeds to germinate with the warmth inside a house, especially if you have a heated propagator. But then what do you do if you have sown them very early - its too cold to put them outside and inside they will only grow spindley with too much heat and too little light. You sow tender perennials even later, because if you put them outside too early, even if you don't get a frost, a spell of cold weather will seriously effect things like Cosmos. And if they get knocked back by the early cold, they often sulk and never grow well afterwards.

The other point is that light levels are very low early in the year, but get much higher as the months progress. So three weeks in January are only worth one week or less in March.

As Alice said, somethings may benefit from an early sowing if they take a long time to reach maturity. So the exception to all this is if you have somewhere to put them after they have germinated - like a heated greenhouse or conservatory.

 

There are two on that list that will not flower this year. Aquilegia and lupins are perennial and will flower the following year and every year after that. You can sow those as late as June July but I normally sow May, after the rush of annual sowing is over. Some dwarf lupins, such as the Gallery series you can get to flower the first year but you have to sow early in heat. I have 120 Gallery lupins that have just germinated and I expect them to make flowering size plants this summer. You can also do it with dwarf Delphiniums, Coreopsis and some Gaillardias.

 

Goeff, I agree that lupins and aquilegia will not flower until their second year if sown June/July but I have always found they will flower in their first year if sown in March - and so will many other perennials.