Sow Direct seeds Vs Potting and potting on

I was hoping people could shed light on the advantages / disadvantages of both.

When in the year is it possible to get reasonable sized plants and flowers from sow direct seeds.

My sow direct seeds are making nice 1" tall plants now after I guess 1-2 months after planting but I dont know if I will see flowers before winter.

 

I know how you feel! I made a new 'annuals' bed, and liberally flung seeds around, and waited! The nasturtiums are doing really well, but I bought some potted cosmos at a car-boot-sale, and they are a good 3 times the size of my wee direct sown seedling!

I used to grow a lot more from seed - but my dining room did closely resemble a greenhouse. I got my kitchen and dining room 'done' a year or so ago, and will only put plant on the kitchen window sill now - so just don't have the space anymore. The seeds I've planted indoors in pots, and looked after accordingly have tended to do a lot better than those left to their own devices outside. You can check on the ones indoors and prickout and pot on and generally look after your little ones, whereas outdoors, they are left to their own devices to a much greater extent, and in this instance, i'm sure I haven't even seen any sign of growth atall (could be the birds got their first?!)

But you've got to have space to sow early in pots!

 

hi
i never have any luck with seeds, they seem to take ages to sprout, then only a few,and they soon die off,i`m hoping for better next year when i will be asking in march for the best ways to sow :thumb: all the seeds i`ve bought 1/2 price at wilkos
i have had a few freebie seeds off mags earlier this year,which i sowed directly into soil,the one type i forget name but i do remember they were azalia type,they came up well and i thinned out ,but no flowers yet,
the marigolds i scattered a few seeds 5/6 in between perrenials to fill in and i can only see one group, no flowers.
so i personally favour buying sturdy plants from garden centres

 

When I was a youngster my Mother and I used to do loads of seed trays of annuals - pricked out, planted out, etc. FAR too much work! I still grow from seed, but only Perennials now

 

Hi men8ifr

Seeds...read what it says on the packet, is the first thing. As you are in the Midlands bear in mind that a lot of data on seed packets is based on the south...so you will be about 15 days later.

You can sow direct as others say, but I have generally found that during weeding you haven't a clue which are weeds and which are new seedlings, unless you sow in squares and mark them. I always sow seeds (sp.aresly) in seed trays to begin with and then plant out. However with sweet peas for instance, I plant a couple in the old toilet roll way during late autumn for the following year. You can sow them earlier indoors so they are more mature when following planting rules. If you haven't got a greenhouse...take up space in the house...sod the visitors or partner. Gardening is a way of life, not a hobby. heh,heh.

Just a thought. My Auntie once asked me, could I plant up the front border of her garden with various plants. She really didn't know what she wanted, just something colourful. So I bought a couple of those strips which have a mixture of seed impregnated in them. To my surprize, it worked. Loads of different flowers all summer.

:thumb:

Had to put the full stop in spa.resly as for some silly reason the swear filter edited it. Any mods reading this, please get this silly filter audited.

 

the $wear filter i$ al$o no u$e if your keyboard i$ broken even if you u$e the key$ $par$ely ...

 

Misread the Q..........Im busy seeding from this years Verbena and Foxgloves......great stuff. Raised bed will be stuffed over winter by this years seedlings from this years flowers....raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Sorry to be so happy............

 

In my experience the only things that are really reliable for direct sowing outside are nasturtiums, californian poppies, love-in-a-mist and pot marigolds (Calendula). All the rest is much better off if planted in pots and transplanted. If you think that pricking out and potting on and planting out in the end is too much of a hassle you can use jiffy pots, or toilette rolls, as Tweaky said, or make pots from newspaper. All these you can plant in the ground along with the plant.

Most cultivated plants just don't have the vigour for competing with weeds (and snails, ants, sparrows, and carelless hoeing) at a seedling stage, and benefit a lot from a bit of a head start.

 

Well said Ivory! I forgot about the toilet roll tube trick, used to use that all the time - especially for sweet peas and sunflowers. I 'repotted' the sunflowers into 2litre juice bottles, which I had pre cut with the upper edge zig-zaggy to deter slugs and snails. Worked really well. Just don't have the space...

 

I too would go with the sowing in pots first - though it is more work. You have a lot more control and if you use steralised compost (they all should be sterilised) you shouldn't get any weeds growing. Also you can start the seeds off inside the house or in a propagator etc, which should allow for earlier sowing. The soil outside can take a long time to warm up, especially if it's clay, which holds a lot of water. Hence its name - cold clay.

 

My direct sow seeds this year, by accident , are what Ivory suggested. I sowed Pot marigolds and nasturtiums also a packet of flax my sister gave me as a present. All are doing really well ! Sowed on the 3rd of May ( yes I am one of those sad people who record things on an excel sheet ) and the marigolds are just about to flower. Weeding is not a problem , as soon as the seedlings have developed you can easily recognise them from the weeds.

 

Tweaky what are those strips you mentioned? Also are there any seed packets that are pre-mixed maybe for a good combination of flowers all year long?

 

You would need to look it up my friend, it was a few years ago. As regards seed mixes, I know you can purchase wild flower mixes, but I haven't looked for any others to be honest.:thumb:

Here are two examples though http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/...1&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=seedtape

http://www.suttons.co.uk/h_Groweasy.htm