[Cheshire Phill]

Hi all, getting a bit frustrated with not much growing (few swede, parsnip and cabbage left for me) and want to plant stuff!!

Have got cat litter trays and leek seed ready to go, how early can I sow them in a cold greenhouse insulated with bubble wrap (but still -2C last night!)? I have Musselburgh, Zermatt, Toledo and Tornado, most of which suggest March sowing...can I go earlier?

What else can I sow early (Dec/Jan) - I have garlic and winter onions in already outside.

When I can I start in greenhouse for cabbages (Hispi, Greyhound, Altess)?...Feb?

Can I really not sow anything now until Jan or so??!! Winter spring onions (lisbon)?

I'm impatient and also a bit "Bah Humbug!" so was just wondering...

Cheers,

Phill 

P.S. Plot all good, mostly under a nice few inches of well rotted manure, so not much to do there..

[Yorkie]

Have you looked at the monthly growing guides?

http://www.allotment-garden.org/growing_information.php

[mumofstig]

No don't do it!!!!
You will only waste (nearly said your seed ) veg seed  

The seed pkts don't tell you the dates for sowing so that you can ignore them
The winter spring onions are to stand over winter, that means they have already grown but wait for you to pick them.
I won't say nothing, cos then someone would have to prove me wrong, but nothing that I know of will germinate in the very coldest bit of the year. The earliest cabbages can be started in the greenhouse in Feb.
See if this site helps a bit ....linky

[Cheshire Phill]

Haha, LOL etc.....MoS, very good..!

Anyway, since I've never been one to waste seed, I'll take some advice, and a bit of a chill pill and I consider myself chastised for even thinking it...Feb it is then!!

Phill

So much seed, and nowhere yet to sow it....until warmer weather...

[mumofstig]

  a chill pill...for Phill!

[DavidT]

No don't do it!!!!
You will only waste (nearly said your seed ) veg seed  

The seed pkts don't tell you the dates for sowing so that you can ignore them
The winter spring onions are to stand over winter, that means they have already grown but wait for you to pick them.
I won't say nothing, cos then someone would have to prove me wrong, but nothing that I know of will germinate in the very coldest bit of the year. The earliest cabbages can be started in the greenhouse in Feb.
See if this site helps a bit ....linky

Mum, you just saved me a lot of time typing, thank you.

[sunshineband]

I know you are raring to go but

it is not time yet :blink:

I never ever sow cabbages in even a cold greenhouse as they are tough hardy sorts that relish the wide outdoors ie sow them outside at the time it says on the packet as you will save yourself a lot of heartache (and seeds too   like MoS said) but some do with the earliest I know  

Browse those seed catalogues and drool

[sion01]

forget sowning now .I tried it a few years ago.i will never do it again.

[zazen999]

I do an early sowing thread on another forum; onions get sown just after the shortest day and some of us sow a tomato/pepper or two to get a couple of the go - but these are looked after indoors - they certainly aren't mass sowings. After that; I start to sow onions and peppers during Jan and Feb; and then match everyone else's sowings which start March time.

[noshed]

The short days and cold weather are Geoff Hamilton's way of saying: "Hang on until Feb at the earliest".

[L 11OBS]

I tried some leeks last winter - DON'T BOTHER  

Saying that, if your desperate to get something you'll just about get away with squeezing a few onion sets and garlic in if your quick.

[Cheshire Phill]

OK, I get the message, onions and garlic already in since October, and so I wait through the long, dark, cold evenings that are December and January, and then you try and stop me in Feb!!!

P'raps watch some re-runs of Garners World or summat....I'm bored!!

Phill

[Elcie]

I have heard of people sowing chilli seed, indoors, in Jan so this might be a possibility if you are desperate to grow something!

[viettaclark]

I know what you mean, Phil! I'm pacing around in boredom and frustration because I've done everything I can do now.
Aquadulce bb and Meteor pea were in and germinated Oct/Nov., onions, shallots and garlic are in and spring onions (Lisbon),hardy lettuce and Lamb's lettuce are all growing now. I'm harvesting parsnips, pakchoi, start of the psb, kale, and the last of the cloched lettuce. Swede, beetroot and celeriac I've left in because they're tiny  , but leeks, Tundra and Savoy cabbage are looking good.
I've got my seeds for next year (except spuds), done a planting plan (Feb/Mar are going to be HECTIC!) and all the raised beds are weeded, fed and netted.
Just have to sit in front of the computer replying to posts!!!!!(And maybe get ready for Crimble........love the festive site!!)

[sunshineband]

I have heard of people sowing chilli seed, indoors, in Jan so this might be a possibility if you are desperate to grow something!

end of Jan for me this year, but they do need good light