[Yana]

Okiedokie DD. 

[Pimento]

I have never, in many years of growing, had any problems at all with peas - just popped them in a shallow trench at the end of March and waited - until last year.

The ground was so sodden that nothing at all happened. Same went for my broad beans.

So I sowed second and third batches on a north-facing windowsill, moved them into the greenhouse as soon as they germinated, and planted them out once they had a couple of pairs of leaves.

All was fine in the end, and I had the best and longest crop of broad beans I've ever grown.

That was saying something in a season like the one we had last year!

Pim.

[hubballi]

Well I did plant more in the greenhouse a few days ago as well as broad beans. It's ten degrees in there at the moment but i dug them out and they are damp in the soil and have showed no signs of sprouting. Of course I have covered them over again.

[hubballi]

Well I did plant more in the greenhouse a few days ago as well as broad beans. It's ten degrees in there at the moment but i dug them out and they are damp in the soil and have showed no signs of sprouting. Of course I have covered them over again.

[ilan]

Yes I tried a few peas in the poly tunnel a week or so ago , no sign of them yet and with this cold snap they will rot off before sprouting  a bit to early yet its another odd start to the year

[hubballi]

When the sun comes out the greenhouse gets to 30oc. Then it goes and and drops like a stone. This is not consistent for growing.

[allot2learn]

I think you need a bit more patience with them. Give them time.
I've just had one of my tomato's germinate after 32 days.

[JayG]

At a constant soil temperature of 5C, peas will take about 5 weeks to germinate, at 15C it's 9 days, the optimum being a rather unlikely-to-achieve 25C (6 days.)

Soil temperature here is currently 2C, at which pea germination is unlikely to happen at all.

The longer they remain ungerminated in very cold soil the more likely they are to get nobbled by pests and/or just rot.

I know I keep going on about it  but there would be fewer people posting about "no-shows" if they studied the table of germination times at different soil temperatures available via Growing FAQ's > Very useful Internet links > Germination temperatures.

The choices are essentially either more patience, or usually more warmth (supplied more consistently than Hubballi is achieving at the moment!)

[angelavdavis]

Well I did plant more in the greenhouse a few days ago as well as broad beans. It's ten degrees in there at the moment but i dug them out and they are damp in the soil and have showed no signs of sprouting. Of course I have covered them over again.

My experience of starting peas off earlier, is that they appear just as that thought is cropping up in your mind that they might have rotted off!  Digging them up to check on them is a bit like watching a kettle boil - it will take twice as long.  Try to find something else to busy yourself with and they will pop up in their own time.

By the way, I am as far South as you can get (without getting your feet wet) and I haven't sown any peas yet either!

[DD.]

And I've still only sown 6! 

[GrannieAnnie]

My peas are fine!.................They are still in the packet!   

[mumofstig]

Let's face it any early sowings are a risk, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

The return of winter must have scuppered a lot of attempts at earliness this year 
My early sown toms are deffo struggling, despite my best efforts, and don't mention onion seedlings  :blink: .........they'll either make it - or the other option   


If you don't like taking any risks - then wait til the weather is right - rather than follow the earliest sowing date on the packets   

[GrannieAnnie]

Brian keeps telling me to put my tomato seedlings in the greenhouse, but with this weather they are better off where they are in the kitchen.

It isn't too warm out there most of the day.

They were an experiment, but if they don't make it, plenty more will in a couple of weeks!

[hubballi]

At a constant soil temperature of 5C, peas will take about 5 weeks to germinate, at 15C it's 9 days, the optimum being a rather unlikely-to-achieve 25C (6 days.)

Soil temperature here is currently 2C, at which pea germination is unlikely to happen at all.

The longer they remain ungerminated in very cold soil the more likely they are to get nobbled by pests and/or just rot.

I know I keep going on about it  but there would be fewer people posting about "no-shows" if they studied the table of germination times at different soil temperatures available via Growing FAQ's > Very useful Internet links > Germination temperatures.

The choices are essentially either more patience, or usually more warmth (supplied more consistently than Hubballi is achieving at the moment!)

But I did first sow them in the house with. A decent temp and I was told the reason why was because it was too warm.

[JayG]

The chart is a guide to optimum soil temperatures for germination, but also the sort of temperatures (too low or too high) at which they will probably fail, but soil temperature is not the only thing that can go wrong, excessive dryness or wetness being two possibilties, unviable seed another.

Try pre-germinating a few between two sheets of wet kitchen paper in a box in a warm place - they should show signs of germination within 2-3 days. You will then know whether the seeds are viable (and you could plant them in soil if you wanted to, but don't leave them until they have grown distinct shoots and roots.)

I might sow my sugarsnaps direct in the garden in a couple of weeks, but not if the conditions are still anything like they are now.