Indoor or Outdoor?

[Dogs and Veg]

Hi all,

I had a mammoth potting on session last night, I am not convinced my onions or leeks will survive as I couldn't find online (and didn't come here to ask first) if I was to bury them into the pots with the seedling shoots / leaves covered in soil or not? I know with my tomatoes I was to bury them up to the leaves when potting on, which I did, but since the onions and leeks were just straight shoots I wasn't sure what to do? I've pretty much buried them so...

Anyway, my real question is this, these are the seed packets i've still got to sow, on the packets it says sow direct outdoors, I know my last frost isn't meant to be until 2nd week in may therefore do I wait until then regardless of packet suggested date?

Or, for some of these veggies I have seen some people starting them indoors, so what would you recommend?

I'll also learn from my initial mistake and not scatter the entire packet of seeds all at once into just a couple of pots

heres my packets still to sow -

Beetroot
Carrots
Lettuce
Spinach
Radish
Spring Onion
Parsnip
Mixed mild salad leaves
Rocket
Peas

[Small pumpkin]

Don't always believe what's written on a seed packet. They're just a guide ( even though they don't say that ). Sowing times are different in different areas. I never direct sow anything apart from carrots ( which I grow in a bath in the tunnel and Spring onions are in tubs in the tunnel till much later ( end of May) when I do sow some into beds. Everything else I'd sow in cell trays.

[nickdub]

to be honest I sow very little seed directly in the ground for various reasons. Some of the larger seed like peas I chit first then either sow direct or put in containers depending ... Others like lettuce I start in pots inside it the warm and then either grown on as leaves or prick out to get bigger later. There are other options to this indoor sowing too - there was a thread or two recently about sowing beetroot in cells, which you might like to have a look at.

I'm happy to go in to more detail on any of the methods - if you are interested just ask :-)

Some idea of how many plants you want, how big a plot you have, greenhouse or not etc would be useful to know in answering your query.

[Bren In Pots]

Out of your list I've sown all of those in my GH this past month either in guttering, newspaper pots or plant pots apart from the parsnips those I'll be pre-chitting later on this month.

[Dogs and Veg]

Don't always believe what's written on a seed packet. They're just a guide ( even though they don't say that ). Sowing times are different in different areas. I never direct sow anything apart from carrots ( which I grow in a bath in the tunnel and Spring onions are in tubs in the tunnel till much later ( end of May) when I do sow some into beds. Everything else I'd sow in cell trays.

Thank you...a bath in the tunnel sounds fab! I need to get adventurous / creative next year!

[Dogs and Veg]

to be honest I sow very little seed directly in the ground for various reasons. Some of the larger seed like peas I chit first then either sow direct or put in containers depending ... Others like lettuce I start in pots inside it the warm and then either grown on as leaves or prick out to get bigger later. There are other options to this indoor sowing too - there was a thread or two recently about sowing beetroot in cells, which you might like to have a look at.

I'm happy to go in to more detail on any of the methods - if you are interested just ask :-)

Some idea of how many plants you want, how big a plot you have, greenhouse or not etc would be useful to know in answering your query.

Thank you, I will def come back with some more specifics if that’s okay - you might regret that offer

glad to hear I can start the rest off inside too

[nickdub]

Not at all likely to regret it - always very happy to chat about gardening - what has worked for me and what hasn't :-)

[Squingy]

Hi,
I assume you mean direct in the ground outside and not in a pot outside?

It depends a lot on the the soil you have. If yr soil is OK radishes could go in the ground outside now. If your going to plant them as a fast growing crop in between slower growing ones just plan where everything will grow.

Ignoring the pack is good advice. I sow in pots in the greenhouse or chit nearly all of my veg seeds on a heating mat. Even if temp is right I don't sow outside mostly due to slug attacks & heavy clay soil.

BTW if planting peas and beans direct outside, birds gobble them up so cover them good!

Good luck.

[Snoop Puss]

Onions shouldn't be buried deep, no deeper than the neck or point at which the leaves diverge. Any deeper and they're liable to rot. If you've buried them deeper than that, take them out and repot.

Leeks are obviously grown quite deep to get a pale shaft. But you wouldn't necessarily want to do that when they're still tiny. How many leaves did they have? How deep did you plant them? Three or more and you should be OK. But you do still need some green showing above the surface.

[Jungle Jane]

The only thing on that list I’d start in a pot are spring onions maybe,although I sow those direct too. If you sow anything direct now just keep an eye on overnight temperatures,have some fleece handy or some plastic cover. Mice watch you when you sow peas!

[Dogs and Veg]

[QUOTE=Squingy;1591910]Hi,
I assume you mean direct in the ground outside and not in a pot outside

Hi Squingy, no it would be in a pot, I’m not putting anything into my soil this year as I am going to make raised beds next year, so all pots / bags this year. Would that change anything?

[Dogs and Veg]

Onions shouldn't be buried deep, no deeper than the neck or point at which the leaves diverge. Any deeper and they're liable to rot. If you've buried them deeper than that, take them out and repot. -


Leeks are obviously grown quite deep to get a pale shaft. But you wouldn't necessarily want to do that when they're still tiny. How many leaves did they have? How deep did you plant them? Three or more and you should be OK. But you do still need some green showing above the surface.

I will need to take the onions out tomorrow and see if okay as that is maybe a week now that I have had the buried?

My leeks were pretty much the same as the onions, one long thin shoot, not separate leaves so I may have killed these also?

[Snoop Puss]

^Definitely repot the onions.

With regard to the leeks, if not much of the leaf is above ground, then repot those too.

It's worth digging them up and having a look before giving them up for dead. You might be in luck.

Two growing guides on the site you might find useful:

Growing Onions | How To Grow | Grow Your Own Shallots

Growing Leeks | How To Grow | Grow Your Own

The general advice in the UK is plant leeks out when they are pencil size, here in Spain they think two to three leaves are enough. When your leeklets are big enough to plant out, dib a hole around 20 cm deep, drop a single plant in and just water. The water should bring enough soil down just to cover the roots. Don't fill in the hole yourself with soil. Only drop a bit of soil in if the water hasn't brought enough down to cover the roots. Every time you water, more soil will drop down and the hole will gradually fill.

And in general: if you're in any doubt, ask on here for advice. There are lots of people with lots of knowledge and experience very happy to help. If you don't always have an internet connection when you need it, maybe get yourself a book you can refer to. My copy of Joy Larkham's [I]Grow Your Own Vegetables[I] has been so well used it's falling apart!

Good luck.