[chili]

took a trip up my plot yesterday, due to work etc am only a novice part time allotmenteer and the ground is like the surface of the moon so hard etc.

my questions are though about planting seeds etc.

i planted beans etc and only a couple have actually poked through the ground yet further down the way one of my neighbours have hundreds growing, its like they all appeared over night, last week there were none now loads.
my spuds have shown my onions are fine. my beetroot is questionable as is my lettuce. so am thinking next year i may just buy plants for the more fussy stuff and forget the seed growing. i live in in a flat so space is limited.
my weeds are doing fine

[compostqueen]

It is very dry and seed sown before the dry spell are just waiting for a shower before poking their heads out. Hopefully    My parsnips have not shown themselves yet but I have high hopes that they will.  We had a deluge night before last so we'll soon see    My spuds put in an appearance yesterday after the rain so it follows that other stuff will.  You just have to hope. Seeds are programmed to grow after all   

There's nothing wrong with plants though and they will often survive the cut and thrust of the open plot better than tender, delicate seeds which have to face the ravages of the weather and pests.  Also if you lack space and time it makes sense to buy in your plants.  Not all though, as some of the larger seeds such as beans and courgettes are a doddle from seed.  For some of us though seed sowing is an addiction from which there is no release 

[johnfh]

Seeing your  seeds come up is half the joy of gardening.  Also you get to choose the variety you want which you often can't with plants.  I nearly always sow in trays (or similar) first as I find most sown in the open ground get either eaten by slugs or snails or overcome by weeds without ever appearing. At least with seed compost you are pretty sure that what is growing is what you planted - but not always with the budget variety.

[chimaera]

For us in the SE the drought continues- in N London there was some drizzle fri and Sat, but I got only about 2mm of water. Soil yesterday was still bone dry and like concrete;  even after rotovating was like hard rubble.

Charlie

[johnfh]

5mm on Saturday and 15 mm on Sunday in East Devon - water butt nearly full again and plants loving it.

[Kristen]

next year i may just buy plants for the more fussy stuff and forget the seed growing. i live in in a flat so space is limited.

I start pretty much everything off in modules / pots. It avoids the variability of weather, plus my soil is heavy clay so cold and wet early in the season ... and then sets like concrete as soon as good weather arrives (well, its not quite that bad, after several years of adding manure the soil is in reasonable shape, but its usually to wet to be workable in March).

A half-way-house might be to sow seed direct, as you have done, and then buy in plants if germination is poor?

It takes about a month for the seeds I sow in modules / pots to be ready for planting outdoors, so I would suggest that you have about a month from sowing to decide "Nothing happening" and then buy plants, and you will not lose any time.

I bought a few plants this year (for some failures I had) and was surprised how expensive they were ...

[mumofstig]

I share your pain chili    

Only one of my french beans have made it through, so I shall now start more at home.
I'm even going to sow my swede in paper pots for the first time....it is just too dry for germination on the plot.

If you do buy plants visit several stores because quality varies considerably from place to place.

[chili]

i actually like to buy my plants off the old folks at boot fairs, gives them a few bob extra in their pockets.
small consolation i have 6 courgette plants on my balcony in pots they are like blooming trifids lol

[LittleRedHen]

I've just planted my seeds for runner beans, pumpkins, etc.  I watered the soil well before planting, then afterwards, put a layer of hen house bedding on top and watered that well too.  It keeps the moisture in the ground, as well as insulates the dirt from temperature changes and will rot fairly quickly.  Works a treat every time!

[compostqueen]

I do the same with manure. Where the manure has been overwintered on the beds the soil underneath is very moist and ready for planting in whereas the soil left exposed is like concrete

We've had rain though and it's made it workable again so I got a lot of planting done yesterday before it had the chance to get hard again   

[stompy]

I plant most of my seeds in trays/modules at home.
I only plant beetroot direct on the plot after soaking them overnight.
I used to do swedes too but had total failures, so i'll be planting them in modules to.

[Christine]

How do you have failures with swedes? 

[azubah]

How do you have failures with swedes? 

It's really easy. Mine fail every year.