The ups, the downs and the insides out of growing your own in 2024!

alicef

@kiss_me_now9 I wouldn't worry too much about it.  I tend towards sowing early because a) we have a village plant sale end April time, which I grow as much as I can for, and folks pay more for a bigger plant!  and b) I have a polytunnel so can plant out undercover earlier than planting out in the open.

I invested in some fibre long pots and potted on the peppers & chillies - these will have to survive now on the windowsill.  Have a bowl of early peas soaking and I think I'll  soak some more broad bean seed. Tomorrow I shall renew my annual £1 membership at the village gardening club and buy some onion sets.  

Sweetbriarrose

Thanks, Kiss_me_now9 & alicef for your advice. I bought some black beauty seeds to try and I noticed a few other people on the boards have said they have already sown their aubergines. I will sow some tomorrow in a small propagator. I read germination takes 14 days, they need a long growing season, and lots of heat and water. I have nothing to lose.

sammy_kaye18

@alicef can I ask why you soak all your seeds? Do you find they germinate better? 

I have always just put my peas straight into the ground but havent has a great crop last year and Im wondering if this will encourage them more. 

I also saw someone do it with sweet peas too. 

Farway

sammy_kaye18 said:

@alicef can I ask why you soak all your seeds? Do you find they germinate better? 

I have always just put my peas straight into the ground but havent has a great crop last year and Im wondering if this will encourage them more. 

I also saw someone do it with sweet peas too. 

Soaking softens the outer shell & gets moisture into the seed. 

With very hard shelled seeds, like sweet peas, it is sometime recommanded to knick / cut / scuff through the outer shell to let water inside.

Depending on the amount of peas you have, you could try starting them off on damp tissues, wait until they germinate & then sow them

OK for a couple of pots maybe but PIA for allotment rows

-taff

I haven't sown anything yet, the earliest I'll start will be the beginning of March and that will be toms, chillies, soem flowers but not tender stuff like beans or pumpkin type things until May.. I don't want to put a downer on your aubergine aspirations but definitely pick a smaller variety which will ripen sooner. The weather here is not conducive to them, they need it hot.I did buy a lot of compost yesterday though in readiness. And I have to say, I dont buy seed compost, no matter they don't need much nutrients etc, it all goes into multipurpose type stuff and it stays there...

KajiKita

Started potting up onion seedlings this morning …. and ran out of compost!! 😳😢

Trip to garden centre on the return from this afternoon’s tip run is pending … <must not buy anything else, must not buy anything else…..>

KK

alicef

Hi @sammy_kaye18 - I pre-soak  peas & beans for the reasons mentioned by @Farway.  I also soak any larger seed, say globe artichoke or asparagus and parsnip seed, (though with the latter I let some parsnip self seed so I may never have to sow parsnip again)!.

Some of my broad bean seed is ancient and I pot up into either loo roll inners or fibre pots, (in the case of sweet pea), and I don't have huge numbers of loo roll inners and fibre pots are a cost, as is the compost, whereas seed is, relatively, cheap.  So with these early sowings, that go individually or in small numbers into my fibre/cardboard inners, I want to know that I'm not wasting an inner/pot plus compost on a seed/seeds that do not germinate.  

With the peas - I used to sow into guttering and hang them up in the polytunnel until planting out, but I just don't have time to do the watering.  So I pre-germinate and then sow direct, in the hope that the plants might get going before the voles find the seeds!

Farway

alicef said:

Hi @sammy_kaye18 - I pre-soak  peas & beans for the reasons mentioned by @Farway.  I also soak any larger seed, say globe artichoke or asparagus and parsnip seed, (though with the latter I let some parsnip self seed so I may never have to sow parsnip again)!.

Because shop bought parsnip seed often fails to germinate, self sown / fresh is ideal. To get some, buy an old manky wonky cheap parsnip from a shop and plant it, pointy end down up to the shoulders.

Sit back and wait, it will grow a tall flat topped white flower head which is loved by hover flies and other insects. Once the seeds set, either let them fall where they will or sow them then fresh where you want them

bluesooz

KajiKita said:

Trip to garden centre on the return from this afternoon’s tip run is pending … <must not buy anything else, must not buy anything else…..>

KK

 I say that to myself every time - and then I visit the reduced section where there s always something that jumps in the trolley

I've sown peppers, spring onions and some herbs this week to satisfy that need to get some seeds started 😁

KajiKita

bluesooz said:

 I say that to myself every time - and then I visit the reduced section where there s always something that jumps in the trolley

I've sown peppers, spring onions and some herbs this week to satisfy that need to get some seeds started 😁

Compost and chipped bark ONLY! purchased 😊 And just dug out sweet pepper, parsley, sweet pea and nicotiana seeds out from my craft cupboard for indoor sowing tomorrow 😊

KK