[sharky]

Hello,

New poster here and I must say this forum was exactly what I was looking for. I am a first time grower and I shall be using the forum to my advantage over the coming season! Also please forgive me if my questions sound a little odd, I am learning from scratch. :oops:

OK, at the side of my garden is an unused patch of earth, it was overgrown with weeds and it took a lot of time to clear, I finally cleared the last of the weeds and broke the soil up in preparation for this years grow. In the plot I will be growing onions, carrots, beetroot, potatoes and seedless beans. In January I planted 42 alisa craig onion seeds, eventually 35 onion shoots sprouted, also last week I planted the stringless bean seeds as I thought it would be best to start them indoors, all the other veg will be sown into the ground as seed. Also I will be planting my chili peppers (and sweet peppers) and my tomato plants in large containers.


The plot:




Onions:


Cayenne pepper seedlings:



I am worried about the onions as they appear to be on the smallish side and I'm thinking that perhaps I should plant onion sets rather than plant these seedlings grown from seed (as I want a guaranteed crop). Do they seem the right size for their age? Are onions from seed as successful as onions planted as pre grown sets?

The chili seedlings will have to be separated into individual pots soon. As there are two per plug I may have to damage the roots (cut them) to separate them, will this affect them or kill them?

The stringless beans I planted were fresh out of the pod and still green, will they still germinate if they are still fresh, or should they have been dried?

How long does it take for potatoes to start sprouting/chitting?

Appreciate it if someone can help, thanks.

[gobs]

Phew. Are you really counting onion seeds?

What are seedless beans, please?

Any beans (other than broad/fava) would be sown way too early this time of year, wherever you are (England is quite biggish and varied for growing reasons).

You can grow very good onions from seed, those pictured, look weaklings for whatever reason, I suspect fast growth in too much heat as one possible reason.

You don't cut seedling roots, please be as gentle as you can to ease them apart.

Unripe seed won't germinate.

Potatoes are sprouted for about 6-8 weeks, but it does not really matter, they will grow anyhow, just plant them when soil is all right, depending on your location.

[sharky]

Phew. Are you really counting onion seeds?

What are seedless beans, please?

Any beans (other than broad/fava) would be sown way too early this time of year, wherever you are (England is quite biggish and varied for growing reasons).

You can grow very good onions from seed, those pictured, look weaklings for whatever reason, I suspect fast growth in too much heat as one possible reason.

You don't cut seedling roots, please be as gentle as you can to ease them apart.

Unripe seed won't germinate.

Potatoes are sprouted for about 6-8 weeks, but it does not really matter, they will grow anyhow, just plant them when soil is all right, depending on your location.

Thanks for a swift reply.

Yes I am counting them already,  though you confirmed my concern with the onion seedlings, as they are just too small and I doubt these will fatten up in time. I will be planting some sets regardless now (although I do consider this as cheating in a way!).

Also I will be re potting the chili seedlings tomorrow, if the roots are already tangled, I will thin them and sacrifice the weakest one so I don't damage the roots.

When time of year is the best time to sow beans? Could you suggest a variety would be easiest to grow? Would dried beans from the supermarket work?
 
Will it be OK to sow the tomato seeds in the next two weeks?

Also, do potatoes from the supermarket grow well? Can you suggest a variety?

Many Q's I know, sorry.  

[gobs]

French climbing and runner beans are best sown just 2-3 weeks prior to going out, if started indoors.

 You can start tomatoes, if they are greenhouse or you have room to keep them till June.

I'm not a big fan of supie this and that. Potatoes spell a lot of disease, you better of with certified seed.

[Zak the Rabbit]

firstly, welcome aboard mate,

ok, you've made a start, thats further than most people get! and you've plenty of enthusiasm, which is good, but dont try to do too much. I think what your going with at the moment is a good start

Invest in a book, like the veg and herb expert (most garden centers will have it), that will give you basic sowing, planting and care info. Its hardly worth trying to grow saved seed when packets of seed are so cheap, and really not worth the bother with supermarket veg! go to wilkinsons (wilkos) and lidl and you will get all the seed you can want.

yes, those onions do seem a little weak. I would use sets, wilkos have them very cheap, as they do seed 'tatoes. I wouldnt bother with shop taties, although that said i have some Marfona that im chitting. again, wilkos have several varieties of seed spud, get a 1st early and a maincrop. about £6 will get you so many you wont have space for them all!

above all, keep us posted with how you get on, post plenty of pictures, and keep asking! we dont mind questions, and theres no such thing as a stupid question. Your on a learning curve, just enjoy it and dont worry too  much if things go wrong we all have disasters! but just wait 'till you taste your first home grown veg

oh, and narrow down your location, England accounts for about 95% of us on here! put your nearest large town. It helps us help you, the seasons start earlier dah'n sarf than up't north

[compostqueen]

my onions look like that but I'm not worried. I don't care if they don't make monsters as long as they're edible, which they will be  

[Celtic Eagle]

The onions are fine might be worth sowing some more outside in a seed bed beginning of next month for a later crop. Let 'em get going the transplant to a final bed

[compostqueen]

oh, speaking of hunnions, it's about now when you can begin to sow pickling onions (the seed is described in the catalogues as "brown pickling onions", eg from Marshalls etc)

[yorky]

Nothing wrong with the onions. I think the people saying they look a bit weak are probably comparing them with the strong shoots you get from onion sets. When you consider that your seedlings have started from a seed no bigger than a pin head, then they are bound to take time to make big plants. Just keep them growing with plenty of light and by planting out time in late April they should be well worth the effort. The only other advice I can give is to only have one seedling in each module, otherwise you will have to split the root ball at planting out time.
Brian