Seed sowing

[Sue]

I was wondering about the advice given to sow some seeds in drills. I find this very wasteful and a pain to have to thin out several times. I prefer growing plants in pots and then picking the strongest ones and planting them out. Partly it's my eyesight, can't see what I'm doing with small seed straight into the ground but can see it close too in the pots. I'm wondering if this advice comes from a time when you couldn't get pots that break down in the soil, like ones made out of newspaper so roots don't get disturbed.
The only thing I sow direct is carrots and I now follow (I think, Pigletwillies advice) to grow them in little clusters rather than a long row, then the thinnings can be used at v small and quite small, leaving one to grow large.
What do you think?
Sue

[terrier]

I'm only in my second year of growing veg, but it sounds like a good idea to me. This coming season I'll be trying pots and clusters. I've already got some spring onions growing in pots ready to be planted out (hope I'm doing it at the right time). I did have some PS Broccolli in pots but the slugs were very hungry! My goal for next season is not to leave everything until the last minute and to repot at the proper time and not just when I get the time.

[The Reverend]

I always find Parsnip are another good one for station sowing, (sowing in clusters).

[Two_Sheds]

Sowing inside in pots works the best for me, but it takes up a lot of room and money and time... if I could sow direct I would, but the slugs eat everything as it germinates.

To avoid thinning out, you could just sow thinner in the first place?

[momol]

I personally prefer to sow seeds in small pots and like Two shed said, those that germinates from direct sown were usually eaten up by slugs or damage by black birds(digging around). I am no longer sowing more than 2 to 3 seeds per pot to avoid killing them/thinning esspeccially for the brassicas. As for chard,NZ spinach... they were sown single/ pot.
As for carrot, I sow them like PW's method but only 2 to 3 per station (direct). Next year will try to germinate carrot in toilet paper tube to see if it work better.

Cheers,
Momol

[Cutecumber]

I'm much the same - I sow virtually everything in plugs/ modules/ pots and then sort out where to put it!

The only things that are sown where they are to grow (and this is still into a pot, but a large one) are carrots.

If I had more ground space or an allotment - and therefore was doing a large quantity - I would be tempted to sow more directly as I wouldn't have the space for starting everything off in pots.

[scarey55]

My aim for next year is to start as much as I can off in pots too.

My main reason for doing this is, if I sow them straight into the ground they take a long time to show their faces and by that time the weeds have already overtaken the seedlings and, being relatively new to this gardening lark, I can't tell the difference

[Hazel at the Hill]

One of the chaps at the Hill uses this method for seed sowing:

Sow seed
Be aware of how many days to germination your seed takes (that's the tricky bit!)
Use blow torchy thing to scorch off weeds 2 days before proper seeds due to come through

[moggssue]

I was wondering what to do next year when I have my allotment up and running (hopefully!) - I thought starting things off in pots might be prohibitively expensive, having to buy all that compost? I need to try to keep costs down, and don't yet have my own compost (can you use this anyway for seeds?).

[Hazel at the Hill]

A big bag of compost (westland organinc about £5 a go) lasts ages, Sue. I used two bags all last year and that included for a couple of troughs, 4 half moon hanging baskets and a big pot for the courgette.

[Skotch]

This year we tried growing a few different veg in modules to be transplanted when big enough. We found that most, but not all leaf and climing veg were fine, but root veg (including beetroots, celeriac and parsnips) tended to fail, though we still had some of each variety last until harvesting time.

I am going to try a little experiemnt this year and grow root crops in loo roll cartons and just plant the whole thing into the soil and see what happens

[simonytfc]

Ive always sown everything that grows above ground in either seed trays or modules as they are easier to thin out and aren't eaten before they germinate but I've never tried root crops this way

A method of growing carrots to grow downards and straight is to find sections of piping , fill them with part sand and part compost and put them into the plot where you would normally grow them. Plant one( or two) seeds per pipe and the carrots should grow down and straight.

=]

[Two_Sheds]

you'll get weeds too

... my own compost (can you use this anyway for seeds?).

You'll find your own compost is full of weed seeds, which will germinate along with your Veg seeds. Nightmare. Use proper sterilised compost from a shop, its worth the cost. Peat free, natch! (but that's a whole other debate, not for this thread, please)

[SarzWix]

I too sow as much as possible into pots/modules/tubes, so that I can keep an eye on them til they're ready to plant out. Also so that successional sowing can carry on, even while all my beds are full. If I hadn't done this over the summer, I wouldn't have 2 beds full of winter crops now (swede, cabbages, brussels, leeks & perpetual spinach) as I had nowhere free to sow direct.
It does cost a bit more for the compost, but the pots are a one-off cost really as they last for a good few years. If you're sure there's no weeds or disease in the soil, I can't see why you couldn't mix up your own soil with the compost to bulk it out a bit. I'm under the impression that's what Monty Don does, so that the seedlings are accustomed to your soil conditions before being planted.

[vegnut]

I agree with SarzWix, mixing your own soil with the compost is good. Lets face it we sow directly into drills of the garden variety, so by mixing some spent compost from the growbags or pots from last year ( as long as no diseases where present on the veg ), you can get a fine tilth to sow seeds in, and not to rich for them to germinate in either. If you want it richer then use new compost. Iv'e had no problems with germinating seeds in this way, and by the time the roots get big enough, they have found the good soil to romp away in.
I don't sow seeds in rows very often cos i don't want to waste my seed. Let's face it, it's not that cheap to throw it around anymore.