Will my seedlings survive

I have 7 trays of seedlings through. Keeping them upright on the window cill is nigh on impossible (bending to the light) So through the day I've had them in the greenhouse bringing them in at night. Unfortunately, unexpectedly, I will have to go away for the weekend. Will they survive in the greenhouse. Friday night is forecast a min of 7c but Saturday is a minimum of 1c. Is it doom and gloom.

This is my first year so a steep learning curve. I already know I may have been to hasty in my sowing.

harryb

 

Depends what they are Harry. You are doing the right thing by hardening them off like that

I'd put em in the car & take em with you, best way to be sure.

 

"Depends what they are Harry"

All are HHA. Salvias, Pansies, Lobelia, Rudbeckia, Verbena, Asters and Marigolds

harryb

 

Blimey,

Don't know much about flowers Harry, i'm a veg man. But I do think they will be ok apart from the lobelia. I know that one is a bit tender.

 

As it is only for two nights it should be ok to leave them indoors I'd have thought. You can put them back out in the greenhouse when you get home again.
Good luck with them.

 

I would agree with Lea, Harry, and leave them in the house. They'll be safer there.

 

Thanks for the replies.

My daughter's going to look after them for me. Although I'm not sure what is worse, the cold or my daughter

I'll let you know when I get back.

harryb

 

Ideally, you should have left most of the seed sowing till mid March.

 

Put a mirror, or some tinfoil, behind the windowsill (i.e. on the "room side"). I have gaffer-taped some tinfoil to a cardboard box I cut in half.

But I agree, 2 days will be OK. Half-hardy things need a minimum of 10C really, otherwise they will stall - and then they will take ages to get going again :(

 

Things seem to be ok when I've arrived home.

I have noted the point from Kristen about the min. temperature. Very useful.

I also realise that I may have sown the seeds to early but when I see plug plants for sale in the garden centres then that makes me think my seedling have a lot of catching up to do.

So another question. Roughly how long does it take a seedling to grow from the germination to a size large enough to be transplanted out to its next stage of growth.

harryb

 

I prick out almost immediately (but not sure that is your question?)

Most textbooks say to prick-out at the first true leaf, but I think that by then the roots are well developed and more root damage occurs in the pricking out stage (but maybe they recover more quickly?)

Pricking-out at the seed-leaf stage is more intricate and requires more patience / dexterity.

From seedling, (subsequently pricked out into a 3" pot), to being ready to plant out would be about 1 month (some things are slower, of course, but I can't think of much, off hand, that is faster).
[hr]
Ah! My cropping notes say that Sweetcorn is 3 weeks from sowing to planting out (using 6" or 7" tall newspaper pots). That's probably about as fast as it gets (barring rocket-propelled plants of course!)

 

kristen, thanks for your help.

I thought you had to wait until the true leaf stage.

from seedling to plant out size of 1 month seems very fast or have I misunderstood something here. Also for the number of seedlings I already have through I will have to plant them on into trays. There is know way I have enough space or 3" pots for the number of seelings I have.

Looks like I'm going to be busy.

harryb

 

They do generally say prick out at first pair of true leaves .But I must admit I often prick out earlier ,it depends on the type of plant involved .Some seedlings are bigger than others which can be fiddly at an early stage .
Again pricking out into pots is suitable for some plants ie.. Petunias ,salvias ,whereas many will be fine in trays .Depends on available space and quality of plant required .
If I use seed trays I usually prick out 48 per tray (8 x 6) then these will be seperated and bedded out when hardened off .
So many ways to tackle this issue .that's my way ..

Dave

 

Indeed, Petunias and Lobelias would be too small at the seed-lead stage (and won't be ready for planting out in a month from sowing either)

Maybe 6 weeks is a more realistic time interval. From my records Sweetcorn, Beans 3 weeks; Beetroot, Lettuce 6 weeks. Celery and Celeriac (which are small and slower) maybe 8 weeks.