Tomatoes, Peppers, Chillies, and Aubergines

[roitelet]

I just wondered what is the earliest I could consider sowing them? I would have to sow indoors and kept them on the windowsill until March when they could be put out in the tunnel with heat. The tunnel has a bit sectioned off at the end and lined with bubble wrap. I would hope to be able to start cropping as early as possible.

What are your thoughts please.

[MartinRSharpe]

I usually start some in mid January in a propergator on a windowsill. I might start some in a couple of weeks and "see how they do" as I have loads of collected seeds so not too worried if a batch fails completely.

The biggest issue at this time isn't so much the temperature, that can be easily controlled as you are indoors it is just the amount of (or lack of) light

[Alison]

I sow peppers, chillies and auberbines in January (mid usually) but find that it's really not worth it with toms, they just get far too big and you need a lot of space to keep them going (without getting leggy) until it's warm enough and to be honest they catch up anyway.

[Two_Sheds]

is this helpful?

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ead_54195.html

[horticultural_hobbit]

Going to try three of the above again, but not the aubs. I started Boxing Day last year, only to kill everything through my own naïveté. Probably mid January, in yogurt pots and on the window sills of my classroom be nestled between the kismet cacti.

[northepaul]

I usually start tomatoes off in heated propergator at the end of Jan, chillis about a month later, and aubergines in March.
I have a very sunny window, so can easily transfer everything once its too big for the propergator. Even so, I have to turn them daily, otherwise they get leggy.
Hope that helps

[chilli_grower]

I sowed my chillies in March this year. And I believe that was too late, mainly because of our rubbish summer.

So next year, I will plant habaneros mid jan, and cayennes etc mid feb.

I will leave them indoors under lights until warm enough for greenhouse...

[chris]

I'm going to do some aubs at the end of this month, if only to beat bladdy bins!

[The Large One]

i'm planning on sowing the hot habs, morouga's and nagas etc in the period between xmas and new year and transffering to grow lights when big enough
then the rest of the habs finishing with cayennes etc late Jan early feb

[roitelet]

Thanks all, I think that I will try sowing after Christmas and see what happens. If they fail I will still have time to sow again.

[BUFFS]

i always sow my pepper/chilli/toms around the first week of march,in a heated propagator and pot them up as required,we only found the jalepino slow this year,even with our lack of sun we got a real bumper crop,and i dont heat the greenhouse,i have had no great failures doing it this way for nearly 3 decades,i dont think i would succeed if i tried them in january,but i will start the ailsa craig onions on boxing day,seeds,instead of the usual sets.....fingers crossed...

[PyreneesPlot]

For the last three years I've sown right at the start of March simply because we've always been away on familial duty in mid February, leaving a cold dark house. This year we have done our duty early so mine will all be going in the first or second week of January, which is when I used to sow in the UK.

[Bren In Pots]

I sow my toms and chillis middle of February in the Heated prop, if I do it any earlier I end up with large plants that need carrying in and out of the greenhouse until after the last frost.

[Rhona]

I'll start aubergines, peppers and chillies in mid-January. I won't start tomatoes* as no matter how I do it, they don't thrive as much as later ones, and I end up wishing I'd left it another four or five weeks.


*I will almost certainly also start tomatoes. I say the same thing every year.

[salilah]

Chillies go in 1 Jan, but the rest is done later - my toms also get way too leggy, and I use the greenhouse bed for winter leaves & asian veg so it is still full and cropping into April time - it's always a fight for when I dig them up to put the toms in (mind you, it's a fight the other way as to when I dig up the toms to put the winter leaves in!)