[titch]

This might be a totally silly question but going to ask anyway, cos dont know the answer myself (always a good reason for a question )

Does it make a difference to germination what time of day you plant?
I am struggling to get things done during the day cos busy at work so wondered if i could plant in the evening and then pop the trays in the plastic greenhouse (one of those cheap jobs)?
Or will it be too cold for them?
Should i bring the compost indoors?
Or is that going too far?
thanks

[mumofstig]

I can only say what i used to do when i worked
Bring compost indoors to keep warmish....don't want to frighten the seeds straight away Sow in the evening but don't put them out in g/house till the morning.
Obviously once weather warms up you can put them and compost outside, but just for now i think they merit a little TLC
Good luck with them

[titch]

Thanks, will try that, i didnt want to shock the poor seeds, they have enought to contend with just belonging to me 

[Paul Plots]

My father-in-law told me recently that he has been sticking his seed trays in the microwave for a minute to warm the compost before he sticks the seeds in!

I'm not sure my mother-in-law knows yet

[sunshineband]

I keep a big bag of soil behind a chair in my office (our plot is where I work) as it stays lovely and warm in doors..... get's some funny looks but who cares, it works for me  use the theory that warm soil and warm trays mean less of shock to the system. Keep the whole lot inside for a couple of days too, when planted, before putting them outside in the shed by the window (greenhouse still not built yet!)

[Stripey_cat]

When the summer comes around, some things prefer to be planted in the evenings - lettuces, for instance, don't germinate well in hot soil, so the cooler night temp lets them get started.

[Paul Plots]

When the summer comes around, some things prefer to be planted in the evenings - lettuces, for instance, don't germinate well in hot soil, so the cooler night temp lets them get started.

I'd forgotten that..... transplanting lettuce onto the plot is best done in the evening too, I think. Gives them a few hours to recover before the heat of the day.

[sunshineband]

Looking at the time of your email Learner, I guess you do a lot of your gardening late a :nowink:t night then?

[scabs]

Not really time of day, but...

My father (who lives in France and does a fair bit of growing) just told me that "you can plant any time, but you only sow on the full moon and for 15 days after..." He reckons the villagers stick to this religiously and that it really works.

I'm fairly new to all this so it's news to me, has anyone else heard this?

[sunshineband]

My dad always maintained that you planted seeds of veg that grew down into the soil when the moon was waxing and leafy ones when it was waning -- something to do with gravitational pull of the moon, he reckoned. 

[nicchick]

I keep my compost in the kitchen, there's only me and my son and he doesn't care! I also do my seed sowing on the kitchen table so I can spread out and see what I'm doing in the warm and dry. I find I only really have time in the evening, then stick them outside in the morning. Nic.

[Paul Plots]

Looking at the time of your email Learner, I guess you do a lot of your gardening late a :nowink:t night then?

I tried gardening after dark - no problems but finding the key-hole in the main gate on the way out of the plot was murder!

I like working on the plot as the sun goes down in warmer weather... the light has a wonderful property, yellows and oranges almost pulse in the summer and even more so at summer's end. The site is quiet and soooo relaxing. Planting out into soil warmed by a day of sunshine is just lovely.

On-line late as a break from working when I'd really sooner just switch off!

[sunshineband]

Interesting how many folk are on this forum late a night!

I agree with you Learner about gardening late into the evening --- you don't realise how dark it is until you go indoors and then back out for one last look around.

[Paul Plots]

Interesting how many folk are on this forum late a night!

I agree with you Learner about gardening late into the evening --- you don't realise how dark it is until you go indoors and then back out for one last look around.

Now, at last..... someone who agrees with me!!!

Out on the plot I really don't notice how the light is failing when there's something I want to finish. As you so very rightly say, it's not until I go in the shed to put something away that I realise I have just mintues to find the gate / the key / my junk and flee as it's really getting hard to see. I think eyes adjust so well to gradually failing light it is just plainly hard to notice.

Then I arrive home and..... "What made you stay so late? Didn't you realise how late it was? How can you see in the dark?"

"Carrots of course!"  (Daft question - I can't see in the dark ...that's why I had to come home!!)

[titch]

 
well the my broad beans (chitted first) got planted at night but are in the kitchen in front of the window, will move them to the cooler room once the little shoots are established, hoping to get plenty done this weekend in the daytime
thanks everyone