Sowing seeds in 'plug' trays

[KK21]

Can you sow carrot seeds in 'plug' trays ? ( the 40 hole mini trays in which I received plug plants in last year)

My wife wants to experiment with carots and maybe beetroot too in large pots, but I thought it would maybe be more sucessful if I sow the seeds in the wee plug trays then put them into the large pots in a couple of weeks time.

Germination would be better.

thanks for any advice provided

[JulieSherris]

I always sow my root veg straight into the ground - they germinate just fine & it means that I'm handling the roots as little as possible. I know that for some folk, it works for them double planting, but for me, well, I'd rather handle the root plants as little as possible so that I'm not in danger of damaging the roots at all.

Hope that helps?

[Odsox]

If you are going to grow them in pots anyway, as Julie says just sow them in situ, unless there is a very good reason why not.
I do start off carrots multiple sown in polystyrene modules, but that is because I'm pestered with woodlice, and they can browse off a whole row of emerging carrot seedlings overnight. They don't touch them after they are about an inch tall.

[KK21]

Thank yuou for the information

I'll tell her just to sow thinly on an even surface in the pot.

Regards !

[JoHunter]

What about beetroot? Recently saw Monty Don sowing beetroot in modules on GW, but always thought they were better straight in the ground?

[JulieSherris]

Well that's my thought as well Jo, anything 'rooty' should be sown in place.
Maybe my reasoning comes from my old Nan who used to say that it's less work & you don't have to do it twice!
But each to their own!

[Odsox]

Yes, I always sow beetroot in modules ... multiple sown, although I aim at three per module, along with early carrots and spring onions.
That way I can totally control the germination process and not be at the whim of the weather, but then I'm just weird.

[JulieSherris]

but then I'm just weird.

[wulf]

I like starting things in modules, small pots, paper pots, trays or whatever else is at hand. I can give them a headstart in the polytunnel, acclimatise them in a cold frame and then plant out the healthy specimens. Typically I'll end up with too many of something, which also gives me a reserve for filling in losses or experimenting with different positions in the garden.

Wulf

[oldjerry]

Well two of us are weird then,I start carrots/parsnips etc in a 3ft V shaped gutter type contraptionsthen when they have made some leaf,plant them in a similar shaped hole in the ground.

[MKG]

Hmm - I've always done that with women.

Oh - I shouldn't have said that, should I?



Mike

[Flo]

The only things that I start off in plugs or pots are peas and beans (to stop the thieving mice and others such who find the seeds so edible), brassicas such as cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts and broccoli to give them a good root start before they go into the ground and things like courgettes and the squash family which need heat to get them going. Roots like carrots, parsnips, beetroot, khol rabi, salad supplies, radicchio, chard, onions, garlic, swedes all go straight in the ground.

[Peggy Sue]

Now I've got a greenhouse (still a novilty, only 2 years) I start quite a lot in pots and plugs, but not roots. I was always told they don't like to be disturbed. That and I love roots so much I couldn't possibly get enough pots on the go. Carrots and beetroot are big favs of mine and we have to dedicate a massive section of the allotment just for them

[red]

i do as much as i can in pots and modules first - as i dont have much luck with direct sowing - slugs, mice birds,, have the lot.

i do carrot direct though.. cos it hates being moved.

always have done beetroot in modules - works great