new to grow your own

Rapished

I've brought a house recently where the previous but one, owner was a keen grow his own and the last owners left it all over grow, i've cutt it all back to reval two nbice raised beds and other areas to grow veg along wiht a lot of tubs and pots,

I've since 6 days ago planted some veg seeds in trays and popped them in a small tiered covered green house thingy,

I have dug and raked the beds and broken the soil and recovered for the time being, i plan to add afresh top layer of compost before transfering the seedlings,

My main question is this,

At what point do i transfer them over, and once the trays are empty do i plant more seeds and keep it ticking over or just tend to the crop 1?

Linda32

Its a good start I would be inclined to bring them in doors though and put them on your windowsills for the time being. Its a tad cold out there just to be in a plastic green house.


Could you tell us what the seeds are as well please. I makes a difference to the answers.


Depending on what your growing will depend on whether you just tend the crop or sow some more.


If only gardening was that straight forward

Rapished

Hi Linda32 There hasyet to be a frost where i am, not sure if this makes any difference, i can move the whole unit to sit by the window in my garage if that would help?

I have planted the following in seed trays

brocholli
cauliflower
carrots
baby gem lettuce
beetroot
leek

I will also be doing some cucumber but believe i can do these in grow bags a little later on?

the seeds as i say are in the trays and i followed just about every you tube video on how to do that right, and have added water when required and i assume it takers a few weeks for them to sprout, but its very much a wait and see with weather conditions?

Rapished

I have 2 raised baeds now next to each other on a slight slop to the back one and aim to plant them in rows according to size, and its at the tip of my garden which see's the most sun light, one bed is deeper than the other so plan for root veg in the deeper option and so on in the other.

forgotmyname

Bit early for some of those. A frosty night may kill them.

Although today was lovely here it soon went cold when not in the sun.

I started a few seeds inside and in a heated propogator but nothing outside for a while yet.

garlic and onion sets maybe OK though?

Linda32

It would make a difference if you were to have a frost. No need to move your unit to the garage. It won't make much difference for various reasons.


However, now that you have sowed the seeds it would be worth making notes so that you know what to do, or what not to do next year. It will be a valuable source of information next year.


You asked about whether you tend the crops or sow some more.

brocholli - I've never grown these but AFAIK you wouldn't sow any more of these. You would grow these on and tend the crop.

cauliflower - As above, each seedling (with a bit of luck) will produce one cauliflower, so again you tend the one crop. When you plant out the seedlings (but not yet it is far too early) it is very important to firm these in. Which means that once you have planted the seedlings its important to really firm the soil around the plant. Make a ball with your fist and press the soil hard around the plants. Hope that makes sense.

carrots - You usually sow these direct, which means that you would sow them directly into the position where they will grow rather than in seed trays as you have done. However, its worth making a note just to see if it does work. These are a crop which you sow every few weeks rather than tending the crop as above. This is so that you have a succession of crops.



baby gem lettuce - I sow 'cut and come again' lettuce where you cut a few leaves as you want them rather than a 'lettuce' which you will get with these. I believe you would need to keep sowing these rather than tending the crop.

beetroot - Instruction as per carrots. These freeze very well btw.

leek - These will grow like blades of grass which need pr-icking out into small plant pots. Each 'blade of grass' needs to go into one plant pot to 'grow on' In due course you can plant these out. These a special way of doing this. You take the whole plant out of the pot with the roots and make a hole in the soil with a dibber. You need something about the diameter of a brush stale. A stick or twig will do you just need to make a hole. You then drop the plant in the hole. Then fill the hole with water and leave alone. It looks odd but that's the way the leek likes it.


Very best of luck and most importantly, whatever you do please write everything down.

Regarding cucumbers, I buy one plant much later on in the year and grow one plant in a growbag and put this in my plastic greenhouse. I live in the East Midlands and wouldn't put this out until June. One plant will produce a few cucumbers in a good summer in the Midlands, with a bit of luck. When it comes to watering cucumbers, you water the leaves rather than the soil. I've learnt the hard way with this.


Hope that helps.

Rapished

Thats fantastic information and very handy to know, i have good news as today the seedlings on a few of the trays are establishing themselves so pretty chuffed about that, I'd be more than happy for trail year one, to just get these growing and see how well i can get them along, then do a winter patch and learn from as you said the mistakes for a bumper load next year,

I will certainly pay attention to the leek aspect and split the grass like blades, as from next weekedn weather permitting the actual raised beds will have been fully comp[osted and ready in the future to accept the veg, then i have built a mesh like cover system to deter birds but allow the sun through in droves.

I will have to pay particular attention to the slugs etc, but never spotted any yet, but once they have some juicy greens to go for i'm sure they'll be about, i may run the tops of the raised bed wall with something to stop them on approach.

Many thanks for the advice i shall continue to ask for the support throughout the summer i'm sure.

Ectophile

One thought on your original question - before you get too keen to plant the next lot of seeds, make sure you know where you will put them.

For example, perhaps a particular plant takes 1 month to go from seed to seedling, then 3 months to go from seedling to food. If that's the case, then you don't want to just keep planting more seeds in trays, because you'll run out of space to plant them all.

All the growing information should be on the back of the packet.

Cally_Smart

Welcome to the world of grow your own! Grow things that are expensive in the shops like different coloured varieties.I've bought burgundy coloured spring onions I saw some in a stirfry pack and thought I'd grow my own to save money.My garden space is so limited I dont bother with things that are cheap in aldi like carrots and onions. Grow runner beans and tomatoes for the most prolific crops and I like to go in the garden to get herbs for cooking as nothing improves the flavour of food like herbs do! The thrill for me is picking the things from the garden & using them to eat that day!