why sow outdoors then transplant??Please help someone.x

[chicky]

will someone please help. Im am completly lost! As I am completly new to this I bought myself a book-pocket vegtable expert. Although it is quite useful i keep reading that with certain veg,ie-leeks and swede,that I need to sow outdoors in spring and them transplant them. Transplant means move-??? why do I need to sow them then transplant? Maybe I am thinking to hard and having a blonde moment but I dont understand why I need to move them around the garden.

[wellie]

Just a quick reply chicky, some seedlings (they say) benefit from being 'transplanted/moved' because it breaks the roots and the plant then forms a 'better root' to grow on with. That's a very simplified answer. I don't like doing that. I prefer to grow my seedlings in the protection of my greenhouse (do you have a greenhouse or something?) in pots, then 'pot on' into bigger pots, until I'm ready to plant them outside. That way, the plant has a fabulous start in life, and is strong enough to withstand most of what nature can/will throw at it. But do HARDEN the plants off fully before you plant them out. And I'll leave that for another Grape to explain...
Lots of luck!

[pigletwillie]

Slightly expanding on Wellies spot on condensed version, there are also some crops which need starting but for which their may be no room as other crops are still in the ground, may be fragile or just best given a hand to get started.

Leeks can be sown early but not be ready to plant as they are very delicate and/or the ground may well be either occupied or very cold and wet so its best to either start them off in a seed bed (or an a pot) and transplant them when they are about pencil thickness. For me this is the time when I have lifted my first early potatoes, the ground is already cultivated from digging up the tatties and you can transplant the leeks staight into the same bed at the exact spacings that you want.

Cabbage need plenty of growing room and firm ground. As they are magnets for birds, slugs and anything else with or without teeth they are again started off in a seed bed (or pots) and pricked out and grown on until they are of a size that can be planted out, again at the spacings that you want.

I mention pots as an alternative to seed beds as not many people actually keep a seed bed, all you do is sow the seed into a 4" pot and over with a sprinkle of compost. When the seedlings have germinated and have their first pair of leaves thay can be separated (pricked) out and either potted into modules or individual pots to grow on more or into their final positions.

I prefer module growing and then transplanting as I can monitor what is available to plant out into any gaps that are left by harvested crops without having to wait for seed to germinate. Succession is key to good veg production. Others prefer direct sowing of seed which works for them, its alla matter of choice really.

[Nicos]

We sow both at home and direct into their soil at their final resting place on the lottie.
Chillies, toms, cucs,leeks, courgette,sweetcorn and brassicas at home ( probably a few others) and peas, beans,carrots, beetroot, parsnip straight into their final resting place.
A seed bed is a good idea, but for us it's easier to have them under our watchful eyes at home, as we only tend to go to the lottie at weekends. ( less weeding too!)
We use window sills and a couple of plastic lean to greenhouses.
We seem to be sowing later than a lot of people on the Vine,and looking over our records for the past few years hardly put anything in the lottie until the first or second week of April (including onion sets and spuds).
I think you just need to find a system which suits your lifestyle and work around that.
Much easier for you chicky if you're growing in your garden!!

[Earthbabe]

I do a mixture of both.

I generally find cabbage and leek seedlings sown in modules or trays don't develop well (must be me!). The last two years I have used a seed bed for my leeks which has worked really well. I sow thinly in a shallow drill (channel) and transplant through membrane. This year I am extending this procedure to include my brassicas. The majority of my "seed bed" space is at home but some this year will be on the lottie as I have run out of space and the little that was left and could have taken a couple more rows of brassicas at a push has been hijacked by Miss EB for her pansies.

More delicate crops I start in modules or pots or the propagator depending on what it is and gradually pot on and harden off till they are ready to go out e.g. May for french beans, toms, cukes etc.

[pigletwillie]

Isnt it strange how different methods work for different people. I always grow my brassicas in modules, primarily as I have no seed bed at home and with working long shifts, its easier to stagger to the greenhouse than it ever is to the lottie.

Attached are pictures of module grown Red cabbage and Cauliflower which were planted out today after being hardened off for the last fortnight.

[Alice]

They look great Piglet. Mine are only seedlings, but very handsome ones.

[raine]

Hi, can I ask- do you HAVE to transplant or can you just sow in situ- I'm the kiss of death to any indoor seed growing and had just planned to sow seeds in their final beds. Will this work?
Raine

[madderbat]

Hi, can I ask- do you HAVE to transplant or can you just sow in situ- I'm the kiss of death to any indoor seed growing and had just planned to sow seeds in their final beds. Will this work?
Raine

Last year I didn't have any facility for growing indoors, so put everything directly into the garden and it grew. The only thing I had a problem with were swede which didn't mature very well at all. Leeks, runner and broad beans, radishes, carrots, parsley, onions an did fine. This year we are a getting a bit more ambitious and now have a greenhouse so are starting things off at home too.

Things will grow in the ground, but some of the 'foreigners' like tomatoes might not get enough light/warmth/water to do well.

[Norm]

Hi Chicky, I think the simple answer you're looking for is SPACE. Seeds are tiny little things which only need covering to germinate, not burying and they need a little TLC to get maximum numbers to germinate. If you scattered 300 seeds in November you'd probably get 20 germinating in May and they'd be choked by weeds.
If you use a seed bed, you know what to look for when they poke through and can shift the weeds so you're only feeding and watering what you put in, not what comes up by itself.
Also, things like sprouts need about two and a half feet between plants for maximum yield.
Most importantly, nursery beds, if that's what you want to use, let you grow the plants to an easily recognisable size, so when you plant them into their final positions, you know what it is and can shift the weeds that will spring up around them.
I start everything in 1" pots, usually 2 seeds per pot. Then when they're about 3" high, they get transplanted into their own 3" pots and left until they are a size to put in the soil, usually about 5" to 6" high.
Finally, apart from spuds, I put NOTHING in the soil until the second week in May when the soil is warm enough and there is little or no chance of frost.
Hope this helps

[dexterdoglancashire]

Thanks for that Norm - I have started everything except tatties off in pots etc in the greenhouse. (Although only a week ago!)

I was wondering when they had sprouted, that of course, they will do! that I could put them into the ground. 2nd week in May is now marked on my calendar.

Bernie aka Dexterdog

[Flummery]

It depends where you live of course. I'm not as far north as Durham (of blessed memory! Met OH at University there in the late 60s) but the only thing I have in the soil at the moment is early spuds, over-wintered garlic and broad beans (though they haven't peeped above the parapet yet!) I'd rather sow late than early (within reason of course) because early stuff can get a setback but later sowings usually catch up. Quite a lot of my stuff gets started in the greenhouse or the kitchen windowsill.

[chicky]

Thanks guys for all of your help!!!! Its appreciated!

[raine]

Thanks madderbrat, this is my 2nd year at the allotment but last year is was more a case of planting amongst the weeds than anything else! This year we are still not completely clear so I think i will take your approach and sow what I can directly and then stand back with fingers crossed. Next year I'll try to be a bit more adventurous!
raine

[Nicos]

I think weeding comes into it too.
If you're sowing in a straight line, you can bet your socks when they push through, the line will be a bit wiggly, and until you know what the first leaves are going to look like, then you are more than likely to pull up a few 'non weeds' by mistake!
Strange how weeds seem to germinate quicker than veg seeds!
I made the mistake of sprinkling lambs lettuce seeds over a square metre when I had no idea what the seedlings would look like ( and it was a new allotment site too , so I didn't know what weeds to expect!!)
Very fiddly to weed to say the least!!