Sowing direct.

Hi All,

I have sown some seeds direct into pots and dont know what is a plant and what is a weed. Next year i was going to sow the seeds into modules and plant them as plugs so i know what is a weed and what is what i want in there. Does anyone else do this? And can anyone see any problems wit this?

Rusty

 

I sow almost everything in 1/4 sized seed trays, prick out to 3" or 9cm pots, and then plant out.

A number of reasons:

heavy clay here, hard to get on it early in the year.

Planting out a plant, rather than seed direct, means that there is not weed competition. I how off the weeds before I plant, and by the time the weeds are back they are tiny compared to the plants.

No gaps in my veg garden rows, everything evenly spaced (I used beds, rather than rows, and plant in blocks)

Less waste. For example Cauliflowers only "stand" for 10 days once ready, a whole row is useless to me! so I sow 4 - 6 Cauliflower plants every fortnight, which is about what we use. My beds look like a patchwork quilt! so if you are the sort that likes a nice long straight row then this won't be for you!

Seed sowing, and pricking out, is an early Spring job. I do it indoors, in the warm, after dark, after work. If I had to wait for daylight and the right weather, when I was not working, and when the soil was ready and warm enough before sowing direct my Veg would be very late indeed!

I have no disappointments from seed rows that fail, or slugs munching the lot, or dire weather etc.

Downside is that is it more Faff (although I think its comparable), and you really need a greenhouse / conservatory with enough space - depends how many plants you need to raise; I must raise easily 500, probably nearer 1,000 ... Mad!

 

Same as Kristen and for same reasons. I use 15x and 24x cell trays + 70mm pots (bulb planter size). With clay soil the weather can delay both the planting time + make preparation impossible. They are easier to protect against slugs/snails en masse in coldframes awaiting planting out, + stop mice eating seeds in open ground. If you have covered a prepared area, the sheeting can be lifted and established seedlings/plants can go straight in the ground.

 

Thanks both this is what I shall do next year.

Rusty

 

Another couple of other examples are Freddy's method of sowing parsnips in toilet roll tubes which has worked well for me this year, and sowing spring onions in 70mm pots in a propagator then planting out the whole potfull for a bunch of onions - I hate weeding between tiny seed sown spring onion seedlings!