Is it too soon?

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Kathie

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Is it too soon?
« on: January 27, 2011, 11:53 »
Hi all,
This is the second year of growing for me, never grown anything apart from hair and nails before.
This time last year, full of enthusiasm I planted tomatoes, peppers and various flowers seeds in pots on window sill, flowers eventually were great but most of the toms and peppers although fruited were not really successful, they were moved from house to plastic greenhouse when weather warmed up.  Did I plant them too soon? I'm itching to start again but want to do it right and not go at it like a bull in a china shop  :D

Any advice will be more than welcome
Thanks in advance
3 dogs now, 2 passed RIP Poppy and Paige, one wonderful husband and a new adventure on this wonderful island

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Jamie Butterworth

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2011, 11:59 »
When you put them out last year did a frost get to them?

I know its very tempting to start early and does work for some people but if your putting them out into a unheated greenhouse then a surprise late frost can catch you offguard and your back where you started :(

If I was you Id hold on a little bit first :)
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mumofstig

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2011, 12:04 »
I think you need to wait for a bit longer as well.

The plastic greenhouses are useful, but do not give much in the way of frost protection, so you need to put your plants out into them quite late in the season, so a delay in sowing does no harm.

This time of year is frustrating when you've got itchy fingers, but later sowings are usually stronger in the long run  ;)

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Jamie Butterworth

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2011, 12:07 »
I got a bit exited last year and sowed a lot of my crops way too early, needless to say I regretted it and my later sowings soon overtook them and produced a better crop, be patient and you will be rewarded :D :D :D :D

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Kristen

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2011, 13:10 »
Any advice will be more than welcome

Here's my 2p-worth then!

Patience!

Not enough light yet, so plants will become tall (leggy / drawn) and weak.

Plants sown now (even if heat and supplementary light etc are available) will be very large by the time they can safely go out - so a windowsill isn't going to be enough space.

(The info on the back of the seed packet is usually helpful when working out times to sow, but be careful if the info is for both greenhouse and outdoor planting)
« Last Edit: January 27, 2011, 13:26 by Kristen »

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noshed

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2011, 14:04 »
I would leave it until at least March before sowing most things - but as a poster above says, the back of the seed packet is a good guide. If you're on an exposed site, add on a week or two.
You can amuse yourself by covering beds with fleece, whcih will warm the soil up slightly quicker bit to be honest things seem to catch up in the end. And as somebody else has said, the day length is important too.
Tidy up your pots and seed trays for now and get your labels ready.
Self-sufficient in rasberries and bindweed. Slug pellets can be handy.

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bigben

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #6 on: January 27, 2011, 14:20 »
Is all your digging done ( assuming you do digging)? Any weeds, Any hedges need cutting, tools need cleaning pots need washing etc.

Get the boring stuff done now before the rush of planting starts in earnest. In a month or so you will be able to plant peas, put out leeks in trays, plant parsnips etc. If you plant stuff now then you risk having problems as others have said.

Do a search for Richies paper pots and make some batches ready to start stuff of in. Get onto you tube and watch the vids made by Claires allotments for anything you fancy trying this year. Basically do anything to tick over for another month at least.

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Kate and her Ducks

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #7 on: January 27, 2011, 15:02 »
Like you I have a bit of a problem with patience. I think it is the dark nights and the winter dragging on. Getting things started feels like the spring is (at least symbolically) here!
I have tended to plant things at the earliest oppertunity and as most have said here, lived to regret it with weak leggy plants that get overtaken but their later siblings.
The exception I have found is chillis. I still tend to start them in Jan in a heated propagator and once germinated they go on a warm, light window sill. Some of them occasionally go a little leggy but I leave a good inch and a half spece at the top of the pot which I can top up if needed and they rapidly sprout new roots from the buried segment.
In my heart I suspect that a later sowing may do a little better but I have always had a good crop from my chillis with healthy plants and it definately benefits the others by distracting me long enough for spring to truely get here!
I have managed to be more patient with the others, especially toms, but the chillis have become my start to the year that I can't quite give up! ;)
Be like a duck. Calm on the surface but always paddling like the dickens underneath.

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Kristen

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2011, 15:15 »
A decent Grow Lamp is good for Winter Gardening.  My first year using one, but its been lots of fun, and I have the joy of tending to some plants each day to check how they are doing :)


(Sorry, not very good picture, the bulb "pulses" which foxes my camera. Its bright as day, not the dingy yellow it appears. This was the end of October.)
« Last Edit: January 27, 2011, 15:19 by Kristen »

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savbo

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2011, 15:16 »
I'd agree with all the stuff about light and waiting a few weeks, but would also say that despite growing lots of great toms I've never got much in the way of peppers. Chillies are another matter...

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stompy

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #10 on: January 27, 2011, 15:18 »
Hi Kathie,

I'll be starting my peppers and chillies of this weekend, they'll be going in the heated propogator and they usually take about 1 to 2 weeks to come through and then they go in the foil lined box on the S/W facing windowsill.
Then by the end of feb i pot them up individually nice and deep and back they go into the foil box, by the time they need potting on again it's the end of March early April and i pot them into a 3inch pot once again nice and deep and once again back into the foil box.
I will then pot them on into their final pots or positions from the middle of May onwards weather dependant, if it's cold and we're still getting hard frosts i'll keep them indoors for a little longer.
I used to wait until the end of feb to sow but never ended up with matured fruits on the plants so this is why i sow so early, and it works for me.

So you could start your chillies and peppers if you wanted to, you've just got to keep potting them on.

Andy

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Kate and her Ducks

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #11 on: January 27, 2011, 15:30 »
I decided that last weekend was the time to start when all my overwintering chillis started putting on new growth so hopefully the new ones will do ok.

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Aidy

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #12 on: January 27, 2011, 16:27 »
Blimey Kristen, you wanna watch it mate, mr plod might be knocking if a nosey neighbour passes  :D
Punk isn't dead...it's underground where it belongs. If it comes to the surface it's no longer punk...it's Green Day!

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Kristen

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #13 on: January 27, 2011, 16:38 »
Indeed! The first night Mrs K said she couldn't sleep - curtains closed in bedroom, but not in my study - worries about the Roses outside my window breaking into bud too early, and monstrous weeds ...

But I reckon I need several lights before I manage to get the sub-station to trip and the Boys-in-Blue come round, although the fertilizer I bought with it is called "Canna", so my defence is going to look pretty shaky ...

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Kathie

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Re: Is it too soon?
« Reply #14 on: January 27, 2011, 17:15 »
Thank you so much everyone,
firstly I must say Kristen as soon as I saw you photo I thought the same as Aidy LOL too much time spent in colleges with some rough youngsters!

All your suggestions make sense, I am just too inpatient.

I don't think any of my plants suffered from frost, I just think I pushed them too hard too soon.

I will start all the clean up jobs as I have dug beds and patches over, so after a clean up I might just try some chilis and peppers at the weekend, just a few, LOL, and see what happens

Thanks again folks
I really appreciate you experience :)

 

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