[Ethel]

Hi, I've put some seeds - sweetcorn, squash and courgette - in pots inside a basic window sill propagator in my conservatory. I know squash needs to be nice and warm to germinate but do I need to worry about it getting too hot? We've had a few sunny days and it's been getting very warm under their plastic cover. Thanks in advance for any comments.

[JayG]

Both your propagator and conservatory will be acting as greenhouses on sunny days, so I reckon there's every chance your seeds will suffer (not many seeds will germinate above around 30C)

I suggest you monitor the conservatory temperature if possible and remove the propagator cover on sunny days if necessary.

[Ethel]

Thanks for that - it's good to know what temp is too much. They had some £1 thermometers in aldi today so I've put one inside the propagator to keep an eye on it. Fortunately only 10 seeds in there so far so not too many will have been wasted if I've over cooked them.

[Goosegirl]

I have a mini-greenhouse with a plastic shaded zipped cover with a max-min thermometer inside, and it's surprising how warm that can get when the sun's out even if there's a cool breeze that keeps the main g-house just ok. I nip out early morning to open the cover and also check if they need watering by lifting up the pots.

[mjg000]

You only really need the intense heat until they poke through the soil then better to be cool and LIGHT to grow strong.

[Ethel]

Thanks for all the comments - really helpful.