Cut flower problem.

[bobbin]

I'm desperate to grow my own flowers for cutting ..cultivated not wild.
Last year I used an allotment bed and sowed a variety of suitable "sow direct seeds".
Germination was ok to poor...to non existent for some. (Sarah Raven seeds were very disappointing) It maybe wasn't my best bed for soil but I mixed in new compost first.
I never allowed it to dry out and thinned plants. Still hopeless. I seem to have constant failure with my attempt for cutting flowers. I've also tried wild flowers but again hopeless. I chose the varieties carefully for my conditions.
PLEASE someone tell me the secret as I'm at my wits end and about to embark no doubt on another fruitless...or flower less sowing session.

[Martin H]

Get them off to a good start then treat 'em tough.

Keep the slugs off initially, sometimes when you think they haven't germinated it's just that a slug has walked along the row in the night and munched them all.

Once the seeds have germinated, cut the watering down to a thorough soaking once a week. Let them dry out in between waterings. Keeping them moist doesn't work, let those roots grow down to search for moisture.

Good luck!

[mothhawk]

Martin's right, slugs are devastating to seeds. Not only do they snip off the tiniest first shoot that starts to grow, they will also munch happily on the seeds themselves before they have a chance to start growing. In my garden I've found the only seeds that will start in the ground are sunflowers, poached eggs, and forget-me-nots. Nothing else, so I start all my flowers in seed trays, pot them on and don't plant out until they are at least 3" tall with several leaves.

It's a nuisance doing it this way and as a result I don't sow as many flowers as I otherwise would, as I hate having to pot stuff on and find space for all the pots with protection from slugs, but it's the only way to get any new flower plants for me.

I also now sow very few annuals, since with perennials I only have to fiddle about with seeds and seedlings the first year, then they look after themselves after that

[Guest]

I have seeds I direct sowed in autumn (doesn't look promising), direct sown in spring (poor and patchy) then in a couple of other beds are all my plug plant ones I grew from seed (which, fingers crossed are likely to come good). This is a typical reflection of all the stuff I sow and the last few years of being here. Sometimes it is just a case of what works and how much you want things to work.