Would appreciate some advice please

Hi I am new to gardening and wanted try growing some seeds. I bought the ones which said could be sown indoors in January. I now have 9 trays [7 flower 2 tomato ]that are all coming up but I am now reading that it's far too early.

Would it be best to throw these away and start again in a few weeks?

Tizzy

 

Difficult one to answer Tizzy.
You need space to grow them on,and a greenhouse with some heating is what you want.
Do you have one?

If not its not going to be easy.

 

hi Tizzy,im fairly new to gardening myself(got the bug about 2yrs ago)i wouldnt throw them away,just keep going and see how they fair.you can always sow more in a couple of weeks and think of them as an experiment.if they have right conditions-temp,light theyll probably be ok.anyway,but dont be put off,i think of it as a learning process and just keep at it.let us know how they do wont you.

 

Thank you Pete

I haven't a greenhouse at the moment but i am looking to buying one in the near future.


Tizzy

 

As it's your first try at growing from seeds and you have been succesfull so far why not pot a few of each up and keep them on a widowsill until it's warm enough to harden them off and keep outside? The tomatoes probably won't be perfect and will need to go into a large (bucket sized) pot or growbag (3 plants to a bag) later but that doesn't matter and you will never forget the taste of your first warm sunripened fruit straight off the vine.

The rest you can keep in the trays untill the last frost has gone then they can take their chance outside, perhaps plant some flowers in a hanging basket as well. Again they may not be perfect but you will learn so much and gain a lot of pleasure from them.

If you want to try again later and have the room you can always sow some more.

Just remember that plants don't read gardening books and often succeede despite our best efforts to kill 'em off :D

 

Hi elainefiz

Thanks for the encouragement. Will keep you posted on the outcome.

Tizzy

 

Thanks frogesque.

The advice is wonderful and to think i wasn't going to ask.

Tizzy

 

Hi Tizzy

I agree with the above. You have absolutely nothing to lose by keeping going. They probably need light as much as heat, so put them on the windowsill or as near as possible, and turn them everyday as the plants will grow towards the light. I do not know about tomatoes, but I don't see why you cannot cut the flowers back at a later date if they get too leggy. That is standard practice to make them bush out.

I only ever sow half a packet of seed at a time, in case of a calamity, and keep the rest in an airtight container in the fridge. You usually have far more seed than you need.

 

Hello PeterS

Thank you for the reply,i would never have thought to put seeds in the fridge...how long can they kept like this?

Tizzy

 

Tizzy. If you think about it a seed is in many ways like anything else organic. A loaf of bread lasts only a few days at room temperature, I keep mine in the fridge, where it lasts a week or two. But in the deep freeze it can last a year or more.

Seeds last longer. I have a book on propagation, in which it says that seeds (kept dry) at room temperature can last a few years. The same seeds again kept dry can last tens of years in a fridge and hundreds of years in a deep freeze. Seeds do vary of course, some keep very much better than others, but the principle must be the same in every case. But they will slowly deteriorate and you must expect the germination rate to decrease.

Now if only we could keep ourselves in the deep freeze. :D :D :D

Edit: Thinking about it, they have grown wheat from seed found in King Tutankhamun's tomb - which was in a very dry situation. About 3,500 years old. Your seed could outlive you!

[ 12. February 2006, 02:48 PM: Message edited by: PeterS ]

 

Its often better to sow later as you have now found out Tizzie. They will probabley make the same growth but you dont have to worry about keeping them in good condition and the right environment for the next 3 months if you sow later. They do tend to get leggly when sown too early. Me, I would bin 'em and start again next month.

 

it's always a good idea not to sow all the seeds in the packet - after all, with tomatoes, you're never going to want more than a few plants - they'll give you all the tomatoes your family are going to want in the year. If you grow more you'll be looking around to see who you can give them away to!

I think you may well be surprised to find how well your early seedlings will do - and if you're not, you can always try some more later!

By the way - re seed storage - always do what the others have said - store in the fridge, or other cool place. NEVER in the greenhoouse. Heat kills seeds that haven't been sown - cold keeps them ok for a while (varies, of course, and you need to read individual instructions.) Some seeds will keep for an incredibly long time, but others won't.

to check for viability of seeds, there's a good article in a recent AG - sow a few seeds on moist kitchen roll, and if most come up well in the time-period it says on the packet, you should be ok - if not, ditch the lot and get a new packet.

 

Many thanks for your replys...this question may sound really stupid but i'll ask anyway...I've been looking to buy a greenhouse... the problem being i only have a small garden and even the smallest greenhouse would take almost half my garden.

I am now looking at planthouses...one of these could live on the patio..can someone advise me if that would be a wise move or a waste of money and what is the difference between using [apart from the cost]the cheaper pvc covered ones to the more expensive ones.

Can a heater be used in the cheaper version? and would i get the same results.

Sorry to rabbit on...

Tizzy

 

Tizzy - all good questions.

I had this dilemma. I wanted a summerhouse and a greenhouse, but did not have enough room. So I opted for the summerhouse, which partly acts as a greenhouse as well. I start my seeds off inside the house. It is surprising how much you can accomodate in the house if you really want.

PVC would be virtually as good as glass for a planthouse of the same size. I have considered them. The main problem is the PVC could be ripped in a high wind, even if the planthouse itself was weighted down.

That said the very small ones are very cheap, and if the PVC ripped, you could replace it with transparent polythene, for little cost. a very small one would be little more than a cold frame - how about making one yourself - a few bits of wood and some polythene. How about two large square planters, filled with earth to give them some weight, four foot apart, with a piece of heavy duty polythene draped over to make a tent. You would need some heavy pieces of wood to hold the polythene in place. After the last frost, you could dismantle it and use the planters in their own right. If you put it against a sunny wall of the house, it will keep a bit warmer.