My cats have vandalised my sweetcorn plants :o(

[rustylady]

Why don't people read the seed packets regarding sowing times?? If you sow earlier you may get good germination, but you then have to coddle the plants until you can safely plant them out.

[Alison]

Why don't people read the seed packets regarding sowing times?? If you sow earlier you may get good germination, but you then have to coddle the plants until you can safely plant them out.

That's not the full story though, the times on the packets are based on an average year in an average part of the country so it's often worth risking a few seeds a bit early in the hope that it'll be a mild spring, especially if you have a sheltered plot or live on the south coast. I agree that the packets give you guidance and there's no point in sowing months early but we only learn by trial and error

[davefromthechipie]

thankyou for all your replies

"hangs head in shame" ooooo i knew it was to early but its my very first time growing anything so i was over eager and planted bits of everything to see wot popped up and i was amazed that things did, ill put a time release lock on my seed tin

Iv got 6 cats and they all run rings round me LOL the harshest thing they get is a little squirt of water and being told that they are baddies cat grass was one of the first things i planted so they had their own stuff but it makes one of them sick so i moved it.

I didnt realise the last frost wasnt expected till middle of may, i thort it was over and done with now... complicated business the growing veggies lark LOL i just thort it was chuck em in a pot n see what popped up . . .

Sorry i didnt mean to sound bad or mean any harm to cats :/ maybe this is worth a buy for you . Amazon.co.uk: Jet Spray Water Repeller - Detects & Repels Cat Dog Bird Squirrel, etc.: Kitchen & Home more so with 6 cats
or cheaper something like this The Organic Gardening Catalogue
Id go for the water one if i was you

[blackkitty]

I stick twiggy sticks around my veggies to keep the fluffy creatures away from them. It seems to work.

[Litha]

Rusty lady... I know i know slap my dannies and call me bad LOL but like iv already said loads as a TOTAL beginner i was wayyyyy to excited it was just to much having my new huge bags of compost and all the new trays and pots just sat there empty i couldnt contain myself any longer... but it was a self taught lesson ill know for next year and besides it wasnt the fact that they wernt germinating it was because the cats had the munchies that i posted

davefromthechippie & blackkitty... thanks for those tips brill ideas, i think with all the money iv cost hubby over the last few weeks i best go for the twiggy sticks till next year LOL

[SMS6]

Rusty lady - like I've said before seed packets aren't always easy to understand.

One lot of my sweet corn says sow mid spring! When's that? Bearing in mind I live in Cornwall which is milder than most places and where they have been in the fields harvesting daffodils (spring flower?) for weeks