Dismal failure trying to start with seeds

twiglet98

Last year I sowed various veg seeds, either raising them in the little plastic 'tardis' growhouse or straight into a raised bed. Nothing was sown before the end of May and most of them worked, except cucumbers.

This year I thought I'd be organised and sowed them around Easter, to raise indoors. I don't have many windowsills wide enough for seed trays so some of the trays are lined up inside the west-facing patio door. Hardly anything has succeeded.

29 March sowings:
Tomatoes: 30 bush toms on north windowsill = 18 seedlings, now 1" high
30 Sungella toms = 20 seedlings, 3" high and going floppy.

Courgettes: 6 yellow 'Soleil' on same sill = 2 seedlings, they look ok
6 green 'Defender = 1 seedling

3 April sowings:
Sweetcorn: 15 'Lark' inside west patio door = 8 seedlings now 3" high.

Sweet Peas: Nine 5" pots with 5 seeds to a pot, inside west patio door, sown 3 April, absolutely nothing happening.

I bought the sweetpeas last autumn, the others this spring, so the seeds are fresh.

They went into Westland seed compost, wetted before sowing, I put plastic bags or clingfilm over them all, which I've taken off the trays that have shoots.

The heating is on for 1.5 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening, set at 17 C. Is the house just too cold?

I have a west facing windowsill with a radiator beneath it, is it worth moving anything onto there - I thought they'd get too hot?

Am I right to think nothing else will come through now, in the trays where just a few seeds are shooting, so the seedlings should be potted on but left in the same spot indoors?

If I fish out the seeds that haven't germinated, can I try something else in the same trays/pots of compost?

Maybe I should have waited until later and just sowed them all outside

Zazen999

Take them all off the windowsills and put them on a light table somewhere. Now, they do not need extra heat and the difference in day and night temps will be too much for them. It's still only a couple of weeks; just leave them be, make sure that the compost doesn't dry out but don't overwater.

Your sungellas will need pricking out, and putting into single pots of compost up to their seed leaves. Then they will need hardening off and getting outside once Mid May comes.

twiglet98

Thank you, I'll put the bigger tomatoes into separate pots tomorrow - eventually they're destined for growbags - and leave the rest to get a bit stronger. Best not to fish the 'dead' seeds out just yet, then? I wondered about trying more of the same (failed) seeds, in the same compost, or maybe try marigold seeds in it - I really could do without buying more compost.

Maybe a daft question, but should seed trays/pots be watered from the top or the bottom?

This house has black beams and is quite gloomy, except by the patio door, I thought it would be a good place for sweet pea seeds. Looks as if I'll be buying plants again from the gate stall in the next village, his hanging baskets are fab too (though mine are passable, I won't buy his!).

Zazen999

a - water into trays and let the pots soak up the water.
b - they aren't yet dead! It's only been a fortnight. To be a gardener you have to have patience. What makes you think they have failed? Just because they haven't popped up overnight does not mean failure.