Extra early crops

[Sara]

Hello everyone,

Here at GYO we've already ordered our seeds for spring. Right now we're planning ahead and thinking about the sowings we'll make in a couple of months.

We think propagators are a massive help when you're growing extra early crops. We'd love to hear how you make the most of yours. Do you have a heated or unheated propagator? Perhaps you shade it in bright conditions, use a thermometer to check the temperature or just stick with a 'hands-off method' and still get amazing results. Please let us know!


Your answers may be edited and published in the March issue of GYO.

[Bigmallly]

Mine are started off on a heated prop, could do with a bit of extra light though.

[frogga]

I sow mine on a sunny windowsill, depending on the seed size depends what in I use loo roll centres for beans peas and sweetcorn to minimise root disturbance.

[Bren In Pots]

I use my heated prop for early Chilli and tomato seeds, everything else I treat them mean and use the unheated propagator on a sunny window sill.

[veggiechicken]

Early in the year I start seeds off in the airing cupboard or a heated propagator. As soon as they show signs of germination they're whisked out onto the windowsills and more seedtrays fill the gaps. Succession sowing in propagators!

[Aberdeenplotter]

Creating new plants from existing ones is one of the most rewarding aspects of gardening. But to many, the idea of propagating plants seems like a feat that only the most experienced gardeners can master. Not words flowing from my silver tongue but the preamble of the sales pitch on the Amazon website. (I would never start a sentencewith the word 'but').

But all that is written there is true. Many gardeners, in fact perhaps the majority, find it easier just to pay garden centres/plant nurseries for young plants which have been started from seeds or from cuttings yet it is easy to do so at home.

As a grower of vegetables for exhibition living in the North of Scotland, sometimes competing against growers/exhibitors living on the south coast of England starting crops off 'out of season' is essential and could not be done without a variety of propogators.

The simplest is a polythene bag into which go the pips harvested from last years exhibiton leeks wrapped in wet paper towel. The pips stay there for perhaps two days until roots develop and they are then transplanted into cell trays or small pots and moved to my heated bench in my shed.I have an undersoil heating cable connected to a thermostat set at just over 55ºf ,an led growlamp and a thermostatically controlled fan heater also set at 55ºf. I also have a heated seedtray which is used for the likes of onions which germinate best at around 65ºf and again these are transplanted into small pots and moved to the heated bench as soon as they are big enough. As soon as daylight hours permit, everything is moved to the greenhouse where there is a thermostatically controlled fan heater and crucially more room for the plants need moving to bigger pots fairly regularly as they grow quickly. Finally, the plants are transplanted into the soil in my biggest propogator - my polytunnel where they are grown to maturity.

I know you probably weren't thinking of greenhouses.tunnels as being propogators when you placed the original post but propogators range from polybags over small pots on windowsills to much larger contraptions.

[VirginVegGrower]

I start off on Boxing Day, a tip from the Grapevine, when I sow into modules in covered seed trays. Always unheated as my windowsills are large and plentiful of daylight, plus those that like heat get the living room, where I have a roaring fire going each day. As soon as they are through, their tops are whipped off by day and back on at night until they are established seedlings. It's a constant shuffle with seed trays in this house.

[Piggle]

After last years' disaster with the brassicas and long dark winters , I've now got a grow light!

How long before the police break my door down do you think!?

Seriously though we've also got two heated propagators and two greenhouses ....... now all we need is luck ( in spades ).

[binley100]

My heated propagator is an unheated one in my airing cupboard, then I have unheated ones on the kitchen windowsill, I also make use of the clear plastic deep trays that meat comes in to use as covers over pots (washed of course) ..I rig up a fleece tent in the gh and have more fleece to throw over stuff in the conservatory ....

[planetologist]

But the earliest crops are never the ones that were started in a propagator, but the biennials that were already in the garden.

[solway cropper]

But the earliest crops are never the ones that were started in a propagator, but the biennials that were already in the garden.

I think that rather misses the point of the O.P. I always have overwintered crops in the greenhouse to get an early start but surely they are the previous year's crop?

I'll soon be starting off onion seed in the heated propagator but experience has taught me that in this part of the world most things are best left till February.

[Alison]

I've found that not all seeds really benefit from starting early, as the days get longer and there is more light then plants grow much more quickly and often catch up so I limit my very early sowings to things that really benefit. That way I can minimise the number of plants that I'm looking after and therefore pay them more attention. Result is much better plants that have had the right environment and window ledges that aren't so full that the plants get insufficient light. To this end I start off chillies, sweet peppers and aubergines in a heated propagator in mid Jan in individual little newspaper pots. As they germinate I remove from the propagator and put on the window ledge in the utility room. As I use newspaper pots there is no pricking out and so when I pot on into 3" pots there is no root disturbance. Plants are grown on, potted on to larger pots and eventually they're in 5" pots in the cool conservatory before being moved out into the greenhouse and eventually planted in the polytunnel border. More hardy veggies eg sprouts are sown in Feb in trays in the unheated greenhouse as they don't need the heat and by the time I sow my tomatoes (March) I don't need any additional heat and they are still a sensible size when they go outside.

[Normans Mum]

I will be there with the trusty heated propagator on Boxing day CAN HARDLY WAIT!!

[lottie dolly]

my seeds are sown into small pot of compost,gently watered,then placed on a tray,with either a polly food bag over each pot,or the whole tray placed inside a large polly bag,then put on or near a window cill with a radiator below,it works great,the nice thing is,you can use what you already have,then as the seedlings appear,pot on put into larger trays and that then linger around the patio doors for light,pulling curtains after dark,

[salilah]

I've got two large (two module tray) heated props and two small (one module tray) - and all of them are going in the New Year! I start chillies off on 1 January, toms & aubergines later... I find the heated props are very effective to get germination going, then the module trays get moved to windowsills where I can find space. I don't bother to measure the temperature in the heated props - it's enough to get things going. Not used unheated lidded props so much - for beans etc it is root-trainers and they are so fast I don't put a lid on top! Can't wait for the season to start - in fact I haven't, I used the heated prop to kick off some winter leaves which have now been transported in module trays to the greenhouse - might get a bit of an early crop with some, worth trying anyway!