[Donnay]

This is my first year with my allotment. I have an unheated greenhouse and I'm unsure what seeds i can start off now in the greenhouse from the list below. Can anyone give me some advice please!!!

Lettuce
Spring onions
Red baron onions sets
Radish
Parsnips
Leeks
Sprouts
Beetroot
Turnips
Butternut squash
Sweet corn

[DD.]

Provided it doesn't get too cold

Lettuce - yes
Spring onions - yes
Red baron onions sets - plant direct
Radish - yes
Parsnips - I prefer to sow direct, but not yet
Leeks - yes
Sprouts - hang on a few weeks
Beetroot - I prefer to sow direct, but you could
Turnips - sow direct
Butternut squash - NO!!
Sweet corn - NO!!

[Donnay]

That's great, I was going to sow the sweetcorn and squash in April and keep in the house, is this correct? DD all te ones you have said yes to, can I plant them out when ready and i presume they are hardy?

[DD.]

I sow in April, in a heated greenhouse.

Be careful of the light issue indoors, sounds like you'll need to arm yourself with aluminium foil!

The others are quite hardy and should be OK to plant out one they're big enough.

[Donnay]

So much to learn! Forgot to ask what about peas?

[DD.]

I mainly plant peas in bulk and hope to do so at the end of March, early April and the sowings will be direct.

You can start some off, but bear in mind you'll need 12 plants for a foot row. Some start them off in a piece of old guttering and slide them out, but I'd need most of our street's!

[Donnay]

Your a star, thanks

[Herb]

I mainly plant peas in bulk and hope to do so at the end of March, early April and the sowings will be direct.

You can start some off, but bear in mind you'll need 12 plants for a foot row. Some start them off in a piece of old guttering and slide them out, but I'd need most of our street's!

Our peas last year produce hundreds of pods....for about 2 weeks. then they stopped!
 Meaning we had a glut of them, then no fresh peas

Luckily we froze plenty, which have only just been used up.

But how do you get the to produce for a longer crop - was it just the variety?

[RobbieG83]

Our peas last year produce hundreds of pods....for about 2 weeks. then they stopped!
 Meaning we had a glut of them, then no fresh peas

Luckily we froze plenty, which have only just been used up.

But how do you get the to produce for a longer crop - was it just the variety?

I'm by no means an expert but ive read up on it and most books suggest fornightly sowings so they dont mature all at the same time. so please dont quote me as im in the same boat as you in my first year of growing!!  This year i will go by the books then change little things (if needs be) year by year, one at a time and just hope for the best.

[Donnay]

So do you sow peas every few weeks then.

[Herb]

I'm by no means an expert but ive read up on it and most books suggest fornightly sowings so they dont mature all at the same time. so please dont quote me as im in the same boat as you in my first year of growing!!  This year i will go by the books then change little things (if needs be) year by year, one at a time and just hope for the best.

That's what we did last year - but the later sowings caught up with the earlier ones, so didn't help much.

[DD.]

I don't.

I've successive sown in the past and sowings two weeks apart were picking 2 days apart. I prefer to sow early season and get it all done with and frozen.

Later sowngs are more prone to pea moth and even later ones are prone to mildew.

Generally the earlier sown ones will give you a better, more whole crop.

To space your crops out a bit, try different varieties.

[Herb]

To space your crops out a bit, try different varieties.

Thank you - I assumed that would be the answer - but wanted to check!

[mattwragg94]

i sow peas every few weeks (also plante dthem to DD template) and i had peas from may - august, i sowed some early onward peas (in the greenhouse) around 10 days ago, and they have just started to break the surface.

i agree with DD you get better crops earlier on in the season  - my later ones got mildew around the beggining of august.

DD can i ask what you put in after you peas come out?

[DD.]

This year's brassicas.