never grown things before...few Qs pls!

brians_daughter

Hi guys, My son has been shopping with Nan and has come home with some seeds, he is really keen on starting to grow veg etc(he's 11).

He has brought home trailing tomatoes, leeks,onions, beetroot, lettuce and carrots (from Aldi i understand)

Hes also got a 'chilli starter kit' that his Nan has bought him from homebase and the instructions are quite self-explainitory. However... they state to place the pots on a sunny windowsill or conservatory. We have a conservatory but it is freezing so i fear thats a no no at the minute.. would we be better to place the pots in a window at the front of the house that gets sun from sunrise to around 1 lunchtime or at the rear where we get sun from 2ish onwards?

See, told you we are beginners lol

Also, he has spied a small 3 tier plastic type greenhouse whilst shopping (again with Nan!) and he wants to buy one with his pocket money for the garden. They are only £10 or so, but are they actually going to help him growing things come spring/summertime? I dont want to dampen his enthusiasm by saying no, but then again i dont want him to be wasting his money either


Thanks!

Wookey

Warmth is far more important than light for germination, a window sill that gets some or a little sun but has plenty of heat within the room will be the best place, most seed packets will state the ideal temp needed for germination. A small propagator that fits on your sill is usually the best place to start, the likes of the tomatoes if there an outdoor variety can be started like this prior to planting out. Sunlight becomes more important once the seedlings start to develop leaves, having seed trays or propagators will allow you to move them about a lot easier to catch the sun as they start to grow. Generally follow the advice on the seed packets and use commonsense and you shouldn't go to far wrong.

Linda32

Yes, windowsills are great for seedlings. I use mine You can sow leeks now in trays which can be bought from Wilkinsons, pocket money prices as well :money: You can use the greenhouse to harden off plants, thats sort of inbetween them being indoors and completely outside IYSWIM.

But please hanchor (sp?) the greenhouse down, bricks if you have any around, maybe a growbag in the bottom. The can and do blow away in the wind :mad:

Jake'sGran

The only trouble with window sills is the change in temperature between night and day. The last twodays here in Manchester have been really sunny and great for seeds but when he has the little seedlings coming up tell hime to bring them into the room overnight.

Aren't you lucky to have a son of that age who wants to grow things? If he keeps it up he will have a great hobby for life.

I always started seeds in February but have noticed that the really expert gardeners leave it a bit later .(Have a look at BBC Talk-Gardening). You can have many then you don't know where to put them all. The tomatoes will be easy, also the peppers and lettuce. I love growing tomatoes and for the last couple of years have grown lots of chillies for my son. He said the small ones with many different colours are the best. Remind your son to come on here for tips etc. When the tomatoes get taller he can put them in those cheap flower buckets the supermarkets sell but they definitely prefer to grow inside, not outside in soil.

Farway

The chillies can be started in the airing cupboard now [if you have one] as warmth is needed, keep an eye on them as once they germinate they need moving to warm / light window sill

He could try sowing just a pinch of lettuce seed now on warm window, [you get loads, so be careful here], they will at least give him leaves for sandwiches [and encouragement]

The others can wait, all a bit too early for any meaningful results, do not be tempted to sow the toms until late March or April, they will only get leggy

PS my chillies are now about 1 inch high having started them as above

Amarillo

If you don't have an airing cupboard you could try popping a hot water bottle in a cool bag/box (or a microwave wheat bag) it will need changing at least once a day and have a thick cover/wrapped in a towel so as not to be too hot.

I can't guaranteeit will work for chilli's but my pumpkin seeds germinated overnight last year doing this.