Nothing growing!

[rustylady]

Squash, courgettes and cucumbers should all be placed on their edges not laid flat. They will all need germinating in small pots of moist compost in a very warm place.

[Alison]

Squash, courgettes and cucumbers should all be placed on their edges not laid flat. They will all need germinating in small pots of moist compost in a very warm place.

Thought that the edge bit had been proved as not at all necessary now though - still do it though out of habit, or will do when I sow at the end of this month. You don't need a lot of heat though, a normal room inside at this time of year is fine and I certainly wouldn't use a heated propogator but then again I wouldn't do them outside at the moment either.

[Albanach]

Squash, courgettes and cucumbers should all be placed on their edges not laid flat. They will all need germinating in small pots of moist compost in a very warm place.

Given the squash seeds were €6.30 I want to get thus right so do you mean placed on their long edge or placed with the point facing directly down?

I'll bring the seeds inside to a warm window sill, but given the temp can drop during the night on the sill should I move them away at night?

Today, 06:32 AMBigmallly
Rule of thumb is to plant seeds twice the depth of the seed size so if your seed is 2mm diameter, plant it 4mm deep, 12mm sounds a little deep, they may have rotted as already suggested. Try chitting your courgettes on kitchen paper first.

I take it spring onions And cabbage need a light covering then?

Cheers for all the help

[rustylady]

Given the squash seeds were €6.30 I want to get thus right so do you mean placed on their long edge or placed with the point facing directly down?

Either, as long as they're not flat on the compost.

I take it spring onions And cabbage need a light covering then?

Yes

Never plant your seeds too deep. As has been said before, cover your seed with compost to twice the depth of the size of your seed, IFYSWIM.

[Creemteez]

You could try investing in a bag of vermiculite. It's great for covering small seed as it doesn't form a crust like some compost and I seem to get better germination rates when I use it.

[Albanach]

Just out of interest should the compost be well compacted or should it be scattered into the seedling trays "loose" if you know what I mean?

[singleseeder]

When I sow seeds in trays or pots, I almost fill with compost, tap the container on the bench to get rid of any air pockets, then level gently with my hand. Before watering, I tamp the compost down with the bottom of a pot to give a level, pocket free surface. (People who sow many trays of seeds might have a piece of wood with a handle made to fit.)

I water the compost a few minutes before sowing the seeds, then cover the seeds with compost. I tamp that down lightly to make contact with the seeds, but don't water again. If the weather is warm and you think that the compost might dry out before the seeds germinate, you could cover the tray with a folded sheet of newspaper.

If you need to water before the seeds have germinated, put water in a large flat container and stand the seed tray in it to draw water up. Remove before the water has reached the surface of the compost though; roots go down to find the water. Learn to guage the moisture content of the compost by lifting the container up and checking the weight, or just look at the holes at the bottom of the container. Is the compost damp? More often than not, you don't need to water at the early stage. Remember, in nature, it doesn't rain every day.

Even experienced gardeners get it wrong sometimes though. I have one of four cucumbers that is committing suicide at the moment and I'm not really sure why.

[Two_Sheds]

Just out of interest should the compost be well compacted or should it be scattered into the seedling trays "loose"

It should be firmed. When I show the kids how to do it, I get them to make a fist, and gently push the fist into the pot

[taff]

generally, your non hardy plants, like squash, cucumber, sweetcorn etc, should be sown a month before your last frost.
If your squash seeds cost you that much, find out when your last frost date is, and sit on your hands until then.
The pointy end sticks up not down if youre planting them that way.
Gardening and weather - first and last frost dates in the UK, Australia and USA

[Sarico]

i'm not an expert but could be the compost the problem? because i'm not an expert i trid to sow my seeds in three different mpc and i found that in one of them i didn't have any seeds germinate... the mpc that i used was one from B&M with john innes ( doesn't say wich one) that it look nice and my strawberry love it but for seed was rubish.. the best one was a mpc peat free.. the peat one from B&Q was alright.
try to use a different compost just in case is the compost

[sewer rat]

When sowing your seeds, do sow them seperately as suggested by cutting up modules etc.
Use a good compost - seed compost is fine but you could always seive / riddle some MP compost.
Soak the compost and leave to drain before sowing the seeds. This should give sufficient moisture for at least the first week (unless you have them in a heated propagator)
Sow the seeds at the recommended depth - though in all honesty. most of my seeds are sown between 1/4 and 1/2 inch depth.
Courgette and other squash seeds should be sown on their edge, as opposed to flat - this is to help stop them rotting in damp compost.
Parsley can take an age to germinate but this can be speeded up by watering the compost (see above) with water which has been heated - boil a kettle and give it 5 minutes to cool.
Most seeds will require some warmth to help germination at this time of year, so a sunny windowsill will help.
If you have doubts about the seed and it's viability, you can place a damp sheet of kitchen roll in a clear plastic container, put a few seeds of each on this , put the lid on it and put the container somewhere warm. The seeds should germinate in this and you will be able to see the first root (called the radicle) appearing. This should let you know if the seed is good or not.
Hope this helps.

[Bigmallly]

Not sure if this is of any help really but I have one of these....................over the years, the lids have gone brittle and broke so I now put them in ziplock bags like this......... and the first sign of any shoots, I remove the bags.

[Norm]

I remember a few years ago I started brassicas a month early by mistake and after 3 weeks I got fed up waiting, tossed the lot on the compost heap and started again. A warm and sunny week later, the newly sown trays of seeds germinated.....and so did the discarded seeds on the compost heap.
Patience is a virtue. Warmth is a bonus

[Albanach]

Cheers everyone all the tips are surly noted. I got some seed and potting compost at the weekend so hopefully we will see some life in the garden soon enough!

[Albanach]

Well I potted up some butternut squash and courgette seeds in the new potting/seedling compost and placed them on the bathroom windowsill and there is life in the wee belters! Experimented with beetroot alongside and they are coming along. outside in the plastic greenhouse there is more life out of the leaf beet, some cabbage is coming and spring onions. I have been given 6 wee tomato plants, a courgette in case mine went belly up, some peas and some onion sets to start off...

I plan on keeping the tomatoes in the plastic greenhouse once most the stuff has been planted out and look forward to some tomato chutney or homemade ketchup!

Cheers for the help lads/lassies!