[mikey48]

hi im a new gardener and have a little veg plot and flower bed but i have trouble growing  flowers / veg from seed i used to buy muliti purpose compost but nothing happened so now i buy seed & cutting compost but still out of a packet of seed i got two tomatoe plants no cumbers or melons and as for flowers well her in doors went and brought some from the shops i have a green house what am i doing wrong could i make a good seed compost im losing the will to grow my own please help ?
 

[Geordie Gal]

Hi Mikey48,

I'm sure that one of the fab experienced lottie holders will be able to give you lots of useful advice on this. 
I wonder though if you have a space warm enought to germinate the seeds  I'm in the frozen North but if I want anything to germinate in my greenhouse at this time of year, they will have to be inside a propigator [not sure that's how you spell it!!!].  I've raised most of mine in propigators on the window ledge at home and am using my unheated greenhouse as stage 1 of hardening off.
GG

[mumofstig]

I suspect your problem may not just be your compost, as tomato plants especially are very easy to germinate.

Please can you give a little bit more detail of your seed sowing methods, then we may have more idea of what is going wrong.

Ps , sorry I missed my Welcome to the forums bit

[DavidT]

Good evening Mikey and welcome to the site. My guess is that you are sowing the seeds too deeply.

[min200]

Good evening Mikey and welcome to the site. My guess is that you are sowing the seeds too deeply.

Seems the best place to start.  My daughter planted some herbs and none have come up!!  I asked how deep she put them in the soil and it turnes out they are over an inch down so noooo chance of growing 

Start off on your window sill and then pop them into your greenhouse when they are a bit bigger

[winstonwobble]

Grow them in MPC just keep them damp i cover mine with cling film and put on the window sill unless you heat your greenhouse it's poss it's not warm enough good luck for next time and dont give up

[janette]

Hi and welcome  most of my failures this year are due  to over wet compost because it dries out so quickly on top one is apt to water again when not nesesary so if you put the whole pot or tray onto a plastic bag with just moist compost and only let it out when the seedlings appear youshould be o.k. best of luck

[Runwell-Steve]

I have learnt loads this year about germinating seeds, or how not too, more to the point.

All my seeds were planted in Multi Purpose as it's all I have.

I started all my seeds off in unheated propogaters in an unheated greenhouse and my results are as follows.

Some veg came up, cabbages, broccoli etc.. but not much else, no toms or lettuce.

What have I learnt.

For the Toms it was too cold at night, for the lettuce it was too hot in the day, and I effecively cooked them.

I have now taken all the lids off of the propogaters in the greenhouse, left the window open, and open the door during the day, sowed some toms and lettuce in propogators indoors, all of a sudden it's all started sprouting.

I now have hundreds of lettuce and tomatoes.

The ones I sowed direct down the lotty have also come up as well.

I always thought seeds needed lots and lots of heat, I was wrong, they need some heat, but need it constantly.  I will in future keep my seeds indoors until they have germinated, then straight out to the greenhouse so they can see some light.

Hope my ramblings help.

Steve

[whippersnapper]

I you may well be right there Steve.

A good steady temperature can really help. Then as soon as they pop their heads out get'em in the light - foil to the rescue!

[Hey Jude]

Mikey, when I first started sowing seeds I used to be very heavy handed with the watering until I realized I was drowning the seedlings which then made them rot! You need to tinker about a bit with your sowing methods and something clicks and away you go - keep going, because it will never fails to make you smile when they germinate. Jude,

[Aidy]

There are a few short cuts (if that the word) you can do to help with germination of some seeds you mention. I normal chit certain ones to give them a head start, cucumbers (first time this year), melon, beans, sweetcorn, parsnip and some others. All I do is collect those plastic chinesse take away dishes with lids and place a piece of damp kitchen paper on the base, place your seed and cover with another piece, leave some where warmish but constant temperature and check after a few days, you will start to notice the tiny little shoot appear and then psow in your damp (not wet) compost.