pots or straight in

i was just wandering how you start your plants off .i start mine off in the greenhouse ans then plant out but the problem ive got is that i tend to have a seed tray full of plants and i end up composting or losing a lot of them . this is only my 3 year of having an allotment. and a, ll i seem to grow is a few potatoes runner beans and loads and loads of weeds  any advice please

Thanks for the advice at the moment I've.got a seed tray full off beetroot. Seedtray of sprouts. Seedtray. Of carrots. Spring onoins, leeks. Ive also started making  raised  beds on the plot but with work its a slow process. As i work for myself i have to put in a lot of hours but the plot is my only escape and keeps me sale

Don't know everything that you want to grow, but the only thing I start off in a seed tray are leeks. Everything else goes in modules or small pots. I grow them all in my GH until the weather warms up, then I prick out and pot on brassicas, broad beans, French beans and parsely into individual pots. I'm just about to pot on my leeks in a 6" pot, nine to a pot, then they will go outside until ready for planting.

Brassica's and lettuce are started in modules.  Beans and courgettes are started off in pots.  Everything else is direct sown - the first couple of years I was like you and started everything off in seed trays and had little or no success.  We all fight the weed battle, I find though that if I dig the beds early and leave them ready to plant that the weed seeds germinate and then I hoe them off before I sow seeds / plant the plants and then I just have to stay on top of the newly emerged seedlings with the hoe and hand weeding.

The first  year  i done everything.in pots and lost the lot, second year a biy of both pots and trays. Trays did better this year everything's  in trays all ok so far managed to put some  cabbages  out about 20 of em and so far lost about 12 they just went yellow and shrivelled  up so no cabbage this year i had a tray full and put the rest of the cabbage plants in the compost bin. Would love to know what im doing wrong

Firstly bear in mind that most seeds will keep until next year, so, with that in mind, you don't have to sow the entire packet in one year. That is how you end up with loads of seedlings that you end up throwing away because you don't have anywhere to put them or you get overwhelmed with trying to pot everything on.

Secondly, try sowing just a few seeds at first early in the season, effectively taking a chance that the spring will be mild. Sow a few more later in the spring. This way, if the weather is kind you will have a head start. If it is not (e.g. 2013) you will only lose the few early sowings, and will still have the later sowings or still have seeds left to start again with. Don't worry if it seems late to start over, seeds sown later benefit from the extra warmth and longer daylight hours over earlier sowings and will get going a lot quicker, making up for lost time.