Seedlings and Unheated Greenhouse

[Jane0o0]

I'm new to gardening and have quite a few packs of Tomato seeds and Peppers where some packets state you can start them in late February. Now I live in a 2 bed bungalow so not many windowsills to be had. Do I start them off indoors on the windowsills I have in separate pots? or can I put in an unheated greenhouse in late Feb and start them off there thank you.

P'S how many times do you have to transplant them into different size pots before moving to greenhouse growbags.

[veggiechicken]

Hello Jane - this thread may help you http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...eed_95615.html

[Jane0o0]

Thanks for the link, will give it a good read.

[nickdub]

I've gardened in a roughly similar situation for a while.

My plan is :-
a) germinate the seeds on damp kitchen roll in a plastic box in the airing cupboard or on top of a radiator some time mid-February
2) once the rootlet shows, transfer immediately to warmed seed trays using a knife point or a small sharp stick - keep indoors
3) Once the leaves start to show, move somewhere light but warm - windowsill perhaps or propogator
4) Transfer to pots at about 3" high -> in greenhouse as long as the weather is not frosty
5) Transplant to larger/deeper containers when the roots fill the pots.

Points to bear in mind :-
a) restricting the roots at any stage will result in poorer plants
b) the weather is a variable you can't control, so splitting the seed you have in to two or more lots and starting one a few weeks later, gives you a back up sowing in case you need them.

[MarkPelican]

I sow tomatoes five to a 7cm pot late February and put them somewhere warm (the airing cupboard or on top of the boiler is good). They germinate after a few days (10 at most) when they need to go somewhere light to stop them getting leggy. At that point, I take them out to the unheated greenhouse during the day and back into the house at night. (You can get 15 square pots into a standard seed tray so 30 different varieties fit neatly into two trays and its not much effort).

Once they've got their first true leaves, they need to be potted up into individual 7cm pots (so now you've got 100+ plants). By now you are towards mid/late March and the chances of frost in the unheated greenhouse is reduced but what I do is split up the plants, some left in the greenhouse full time (some covered with fleece some not) and others I continue the in-out process until there's no chance of frost.

Ideally they should be kept above 10C all the time but I haven't found that it matters that much providing they are kept above freezing.

Then, as a security, I sow some more end of March and do the same.

At the end of April they might need potting up into 9cm pots but by then you can reduce the number of plants to how many you want to grow to full size.

They go into the greenhouse in their growing positions in late May.

One plant each of 30 different varieties is all I can manage (I grow a mixture of cherry, beefsteak and standard tomatoes of all the available colours) and I get 70+kgs of fruit most of which gets frozen.

The seeds will survive and be viable for 3-5 years so you don't need to sow them all, grow as many different types as you can, save your own seed for next year, don't buy F1 hybrids and you'll soon have more different varieties than you can grow (I've got over 150 different varieties to choose from and get more every year).

[Chris11]

save your own seed...I've got over 150 different varieties to choose from and get more every year

Same here, although I'm a beginner in comparison. Only 76

[Paulie]

I'm new to gardening and have quite a few packs of Tomato seeds and Peppers where some packets state you can start them in late February. Now I live in a 2 bed bungalow so not many windowsills to be had. Do I start them off indoors on the windowsills I have in separate pots? or can I put in an unheated greenhouse in late Feb and start them off there thank you.

P'S how many times do you have to transplant them into different size pots before moving to greenhouse growbags.

Hi Jane

I'd answer your questions as follows:

They need warmth to germinate, so you won't be able to sow seeds in your unheated greenhouse. A windowsill is fine, and you can sow several in a small pot. However, once they have germinated you will need to move each seedling into its own small (3-4 pot). They should be ok in their small pots until they go into grow bags in the unheated greenhouse. As to when you sow them: it depends partly on whereabouts you live, but it's not really advisable to plant them out into an unheated greenhouse until April or May. Therefore you have three options: go early, and sow them in February; wait until March; or do both.

Good luck!