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I've finally got my 2006 seeds underway, with a tray of tomato and lettuce set up last night (more on my blog).



As in previous years, I'm using plastic (food packaging) trays to do this. However, this time round, I've given each seed it's own individual "carpet" to sit on. It's just a square of kitchen towel but I'm hoping this will make it easier to move the seedlings into pots rather than trying to break the kitchen towel apart without damaging them.

We'll see how that turns out - how do the rest of you get your seeds underway?

Wulf

That's really interesting Wulf... Must confess that we've just put ours straight into potting compost and into the propogator.. looking good so far too YAY!!

Will be interested to see pics of yours as they germinate!!

Lettuce I just sow straight into the ground. Tomatoes I'd do like Shirlz but it's a lot easier without a greenhouse buying little plants from the garden centre!

Hopefully I'll get some good germination so I'll be able to take some more pictures demonstrating my success! Seeds are relatively cheap so it only needs a few to make it for a packet to more than pay for itself.

Wulf

Your picture looks like a germination trial I once worked in! (Germination rates at different temperatures...) Very scientific. And with each having its own compartment, there won't be any trouble with entangled and broken roots.

I am trying something similar with my squash seeds at the moment. Had put a whole bunch into little pots already, but only one of them germinated (they were saved from a butternut squash, so I can't complain about bad germination rates); and that one then died when it was about 5cm tall. So now I thought I'd try germinating them just in moisture before I go to the trouble of cleaning/filling all those pots!

The lettuce seeds are already starting to sprout - I need to get a move on to ensure I've got somewhere ready when the time comes to plant them on!

Wulf

I've got basil seeds sprouting well in compost, in a cardboard egg box, sat inside a plastic food tray with the whole caboodle inside a plastic bag. I was planning on removing the bag, but the sun seems to have disappeared & I don't want to leave my seedlings too exposed on a dull windowsill.

Really need to get the lettuce seeds in, but have been wrapped up in a new kitchen. As with everything in a victorian terrace, this turned into a much bigger job than it first appeared. Another pressing need, therefore, is to clean the garden. Plasterers are not the cleanest of workmen & there are plaster splashes over pots, plants & slabs... shouldn't really be sat here at all.

You have to look on the organisation challenges as part of the fun! I definitely want to get some basil growing again this year - enough plants so I can use generously (I love the taste but, with only three or four smallish plants last year I ended up being cautious about picking for fear of ruining the whole crop).

But, before I do that, I need to construct the "vertical growing space" I'm planning on using... and before I do that, I need to get the mini-greenhouse up... and before I do that... .... ...

Wulf

Looks great Wulf!

Nev

wulf wrote: But, before I do that, I need to construct the "vertical growing space" I'm planning on using... and before I do that, I need to get the mini-greenhouse up... and before I do that... .... ...

Wulf

You sound like me! I still don't have my cold frame and hotbed up, because there's so much else I need to do before that... Good to know I'm not the only one with that problem.

And now, before I do anything else, I've got to go and feed those little lambs again...

Hi all
My herbs, chilis, sweet peppers, tomatoes and aubergines have all been started in pots charged with compost. Today, I carefully transplanted my garlic plants into a 55L pot ... don't know how they'll do but I've treated the compost with bonemeal and doused the foilage with seaweed extract solution ... everything crossed... I have finally got some carrots and spring onion underway, straight into the soil mind, where they have joined my maincrop onions. Never thought of sprouting, though, until I read Wulf's post.
This afternoon, my six-year-old niece and I have given the chitting method a go ... plum tomatoes, lettuce, aubergine and dwarf beans. I'll experiment with peppers later in the year.

sobs...

My darling grrr fizzzz &^%*% cat decided to scratch a load of tomato seedlings this morning. She is not popular at all. Got to find a way of deterring her from doing it - any suggestions?? Saved some, but not all.

Shirlz2005 wrote:

My darling grrr fizzzz &^%*% cat decided to scratch a load of tomato seedlings this morning. She is not popular at all. Got to find a way of deterring her from doing it - any suggestions??

Nightmare.
Can't think of anything that doesn't involve pain but if someone can suggests a solution that also works on dogs I'm sure Gunners would like to know!

Chilli powder, maybe? Both animals are very scent sensitive...

A fence. I no longer have cat problems. However I kind of think that Ina's tomatoes are indoors.......... A cover over them? Bread bag propagator?