[hereshoping]

Hi
I notice a lot of people on here saying that they are getting seeds ready in greenhouses, what do you do if you dont have a greenhouse? Last year a lot of the things I grew were from plants from Homebase and B&Q, I did use a few packets of seeds but I put them straight in to the ground at the allotment, are all seeds ok to do this too? I would prefer to use seeds than plants as obv its cheaper! I could get a greenhouse but I rent my house so would have to ask permission (which I dont fancy doing!) And then there is the cost of it too, so hoping I can put all seeds straight in to the ground!
Please help!!

[mumofstig]

I start most things on the windowledges  it just gives you a few weeks head start with the tender stuff and is usually more reliable than sowing seeds direct.

The hardier stuff like cabbage and leeks can be started in a seed bed on the allotment, or sown direct where you want them to grow.

You could treat yourself to a Coldframe, which comes in handy as it's a bit warmer than the open

[Kenilworth]

We tend to use a fold away camping table next to a window and another table in the conservatory.............. works a treat.

[shokkyy]

My seeds start their lives on the worktop in the utility room. If they need heat I can pop them right next to the boiler, and if they don't they can go on the windowsill. And if they really, really don't like heat much (like onions) they start off in my spare bedroom, with the radiator on the frost setting.

About the only seeds I sow direct in the ground are peas, spring onion, radish, turnip, sometimes lettuce.

[PurplePixie]

We have one of them annoying 70's built houses with no window sills so I use a small bit of kitchen worktop thats under the window, theres not much room there so I have a cheap pine slatted 2 layer shoe rack with seed trays on and I rotate them round every day. I can get 6 full size trays on it and it gets light and warmth most of the day.

A cold frame or even one of those 4 tier mini greenhouses would be good if you haven't got much space to use at home or don't fancy asking your landlord if you can put up a big greenhouse  

[Totty]

I have two greenhouses, a cold frame and a growhouse and i still sow seeds inside and have them on a windowsill. The weather at this time of year is so changeable that only the very serious grower can accept the cost of heating a greenhouse in jan/feb. If you could get yourself a growhouse (sort of cross between a small greenhouse and a coldframe) and maybe a small coldframe heater, i see no reason why you cant grow any type of veg seed at all with no problem at all so long as you time it all right (unlike me)........

Totty

[heloise]

Many things can be sown straight into the ground, just at a later date than those with the ability to sow them under cover. It all catches up! If you read the back of the seed packet of whatever it is you want to grow it may well have a set of instructions for both indoor and outdoor sowing. So I wouldn't worry too much.

Of course it depends what it is you want to grow and I'm sure others would be able to advise you on specific things. For tomatoes i use pots on an indoor windowsill.

[gobs]

Hi
I notice a lot of people on here saying that they are getting seeds ready in greenhouses, what do you do if you dont have a greenhouse? Last year a lot of the things I grew were from plants from Homebase and B&Q, I did use a few packets of seeds but I put them straight in to the ground at the allotment, are all seeds ok to do this too? I would prefer to use seeds than plants as obv its cheaper! I could get a greenhouse but I rent my house so would have to ask permission (which I dont fancy doing!) And then there is the cost of it too, so hoping I can put all seeds straight in to the ground!
Please help!!

While all seeds can go straight into the ground, with a lot of them it's not worth it. Yo can grow them anywhere, you find room for.

If you do not want to invest much on your allotment either, could a transportable greenhouse be a solution? I know these can be flimsy flying objects, but some do indeed work and can be secured.

[Yorkie]

I have no greenhouse or cold frame.

The things I grow are divided into two types: the hardy stuff and the non-hardy stuff.

Peas are sown in situ; onion sets I started off in modules outdoors before planting out.  I always start leeks and red cabbage off outdoors but then have to buy plants because for some reason they never get very big or get eaten by slugs!

For non-hardy stuff, I don't start them off until early May.  The last frost date up here is generally said to be early June, and if I start things off in April indoors then they get very leggy and weak irrespective of what I've done.

They go in trays on windowsills and then are hardened off in one of those 4-tier little plastic greenhouses before being planted out.  I like the idea of the cheap pine shoe rack for extra shelves indoors to start with.

I've never had a problem with my 4-tier greenhouse blowing away because I always put it next to something solid - a drainpipe or an upright for the bike shed.  Tie round it and the drainpipe, not far from its top, with indestructible string and it doesn't move far in even the strongest of winds.  It's not permanent and takes up the floor space of 3 seed trays.

[hereshoping]

Wow thank you so much for your ideas, of course I never thought about the actual heating of a greenhouse!!
I could get one of those plastic ones I guess.
Silly question but do you just plant the seeds in to a seed tray with compost and then add them to the ground at a certain time?
I could keep them in my conservatory (freezing in there though) would that not work? Lots of windows so light?
Thanks for your advice I really appreciate it

[gobs]

Wow thank you so much for your ideas, of course I never thought about the actual heating of a greenhouse!!
I could get one of those plastic ones I guess.
Silly question but do you just plant the seeds in to a seed tray with compost and then add them to the ground at a certain time?
I could keep them in my conservatory (freezing in there though) would that not work? Lots of windows so light?
Thanks for your advice I really appreciate it

Just the place. Some might need extra heat, depending on the time of year, DD is your man with sandwich bags , foils and whatnot.

[Yorkie]

There are no silly questions on here, repeat after me!!  

Some people start seeds off in seed trays, then transplant them to bigger pots as soon as they develop their second pair of leaves (if you do this, always hold them by the leaves and never ever the stem).

However that's a bit of a faff and I'm a lazy wotsit, so I always start seeds off in 3" pots in a watertight seed tray (i.e. no drainage holes).  I then plant out at the start of June - this is for things like tomatoes, beans, courgettes, squash.

Your planting out date will depend where you are - if you add your location to your profile (click your username to edit your forum profile) it will help us to advise.

The conservatory could count as an unheated greenhouse if the plants are near enough to the window - they get very leggy if they don't get enough light - but I wouldn't put the more tender stuff in there until May.  Things like tomatoes sulk below a certain temperature, and many of the seeds need 20 degrees C to germinate.

[DD.]

As others have touched on, you can't generalise, there's such a wide range out there.

Pop your location in, ask about a specific variety and we'll be in a better position to give a definitive answer.

[JayG]

This could be the right time to again post THIS link to the vegetable germination temperature chart - note in particular which seeds have a germination rate of nearly zero if the temperature is too low (or in some cases, too high.)

I find either the kitchen windowsill (warm) or my bedroom windowsill (less warm) very useful for providing the right temperatures to germinate different seeds, and so far have managed without a propagator, either heated or otherwise, but it's probably also true to say that around half of what I grow is sown directly into the ground when the time is right.

[stompy]

I start all my tender stuff (tomato's, peppers, chillies, cucumbers, mellons, squashes, courgettes) off in a heated propagator £13 from B&Q a few years back.
I find the heat gives a stronger germination than no heat and the seeling sheds the seed shell better so not scorching the leaves.

I sow the chillies, peppers, and tomato's in shallow seed trays and then prick them out into 24 cell trays and place them in a foil light box on the windowsill until the temprature is stable enough outside to put them in the flimsy but useful minni GH in the back garden to get ready to go into the main GH on the allotment.

The cucumbers, mellons, squashes and courgettes also go in the heated propogator but i sow these in a 3inch pot 2 or 3 seeds to the pot.
When these germinate i prick out into individual 3inch pots and they go through the same procedure as the chilli's tom's (etc) but i lso harden the squash and courgettes off before they go out onto the plot usually the second week in May (depending on the weather)

If i didn't have the minni greenhouse they would just stay on the windowsill in the foil light box for longer but those minni greenhouses are very useful if used carefully, they can be built and dismantled very quickly and are very cheap at around £10 to £15 from places like Wilkinsons or Home Bargains.

I wouldn't be without one and i have a large GH on the allotment



Andy