[ROYAL=BD=]

Hi all,
Just been down to the local garden center & brought a discounted electric heated propagator ( £17 ). shes only small, should fit in about 20 medium sized pots.
I am thinking of starting my sweetcorn & cucumbers in mid jan    .
My question to all you green fingered pro`s is do you use them & if so what for and when do you start your seeds off in them and any tips will be apreciated.
john

[goodegg]

i use mine every year in begining of january to sow early toms and my cuccumbers i also start of other seeds in them melons and peppers also others to get them to a good early start i find them very good over several years ive been using them

[mumofstig]

I have one of those window ledge ones with little seed trays and covers, which I use for starting off all the tender seeds ...
I just have to be careful to take them out as soon as they have germinated or the warmth makes the seedlings a bit leggy, but i wouldn't be without it.
Good luck with yours

[madcat]

Mine starts off tomatoes, courgettes, cucs, squashes, flowers ( ), herbs, ...

Even the onion seeds start in there - without the bottom heat - in January.  It is a bit warmer than the utility room and keeps the modules damp so they germinate well.

Watch for damping off as well as getting leggy.

[JayG]

I am thinking of starting my sweetcorn & cucumbers in mid jan    .

That's an awful long time to keep sweetcorn in particular before planting out in mid to late May; don't think they would appreciate that at all; others may have other views.

[madcat]

Fair comment!  I've never grown sweetcorn but cucs, toms, courgettes etc are started off end March/beginning April so they are big enough to go out when the frosts are over mid May, but not stretched or sooooooo big that they have taken over the joint and need mega pots.   :blink:  You could probably be a bit earlier if you were going to move them on to an unheated greenhouse, but not that much as the days would just be too short.

[Yabba]

I'll agree that it waaaay to early to start sweetcorn. I started some of mine in march this year and they ran out of pot space a *long* time before they were due to go out and, eventually, made dodo plants. Seed sown straight in the ground in may did far better

¥

[Kristen]

Yup, I agree don't be in too much of a hurry to start Sweetcorn.

This year the time between Sowing and the plants being ready to plant out was 3 weeks - absolute tops 4 weeks, and they can't go out until after last frost (so, typically, 1st June down South - or early to mid May and "risk it" - prudent folk will plant a second batch in case the first lot gets clobbered.

You don't really want to be too early with Toms either. They get leggy being molly coddled on Windowsills - and then the first truss forms higher up, and in a greenhouse they hit the roof with fewer trusses being formed ... but most folk here sow eagerly-early none the less

The sweetcorn I planted out early were stunted, and not a patch on the slightly later ones. See this thread for the details:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=41968.msg494905#msg494905

in summary:

Sown 01-Apr, Planted 01-May in greenhouse: reached 5', cropped well.
Sown 01-Apr, Planted 01-May outside [under fleece], started forming cobs at 2'6" tall.
Sown 09-May Planted 31-May outside, male flowers formed when they were about 4' tall

Also beware that Sweetcorn doing like being transplanted, so sowing in a propagator may not be ideal. You can see the complete Horlicks I made of it last Spring on my Blog (link below, follow the "Index" link at the bottom of the right pane, then "Sweetcorn Crop Notes". Sorry for detailed directions, but rules here forbid me providing a direct link)

[ROYAL=BD=]

Many Thanks all for the advice & will leave the sweetcorn till later in the spring,
But great to know i can start some cucumbers / toms ect......
and MUST try melons  .. never thought of them .
What to you all mean by " leggy" 
thanks
john

[beansticks]

Spindly weak stems,chasing sunlight

[Ivah]

I use a large home made propagator a lot. It has a rodstat, plenty of height and growing lights. I have a small well insulated greenhouse that I heat from mid-February and a larger unheated greenhouse (cgh) where I have one border with a cloche over it.
I start the propagator at the beginning of February with Aubergines, Tomatoes, Cabbage Primo, Cauliflower Snowball, Basil, Parsley and Lettuce. About a week later in go the Sweet Peas and I start taking cuttings of Chrysants and Surfinias (buy a few plants as soon as they appear in garden centre and 8 can become 80 by planting out time). Middle of the month I start pricking out things into the heated greenhouse (hgh). I sow Onions and Shallots in the hgh but give the trays a few days in turn in the propagator that seems to kick them off. Aubergines and Tomatoes are potted up but stay in the propagator, the lights make this possible. End of the month is the first Cucumber and Courgette, more Tomatoes and the Peppers (they will stay in there as potted up plants as well).
Beginning of March sow salads under cloche in cgh and plant out some of the early raised lettuce there. Dahlia cuttings start going in the propagator (possibly a bit early). A few Cobra beans in propagator that will be potted up in tubs, spend some time in hgh then move to cgh. Later in the month the early raised Cabbage and Cauliflower go into the cgh cloche. First flowers sown in propagator – Bidens, Rudbeckia, Nicotiana. More Tomatoes at the end of the month – I raise a few plants at different times so I can get some away early in the hgh, some later in the cgh and some later still outside.
Not a lot is sown in propagator during April, mainly used for growing on Aubergines, Peppers and Tomatoes and taking more cuttings. There are a few – Tomatillos and a few more flowers.
Beginning of May most of these plants are cleared out and it is given over to Courgettes, Pumpkins, Squashes and Gourds. I don’t use it for Sweet Corn, they go in the hgh first week in May.

[madcat]

Boy are you organised!     Respect!  When do you sleep? 

[Ivah]

I'm a gardener rather than an allotment holder and I'm retired!

[ROYAL=BD=]

that is alot of hard work Ivah, but i bet your results are fantastic 

[madcat]

I'm a gardener rather than an allotment holder and I'm retired!

When I am retired and have more time .......   
Well, a girl can dream, can't she??