Extra early crops

[marchogaeth]

(I would never start a sentencewith the word 'but').

Good. So now I have to write in white to make the quote long enough!

[BertieFox]

A heated propagator is an essential, especially if it is thermostatically controlled. It costs very little to run. Start your seeds in vermiculite in shallow containers like wide yoghurt/cream cheese containers, covered with film. Then prick out the germinating seedlings into modules. That way you can be germinating a lot together in a small propagator. Vermiculite means you don't disturb the roots when moving them. For winter, I sow things like Cima di Rapa, Novantina, a '90 day' turnip green which produces beautiful, strong tasting flower buds in early spring. A small space will help you grow a bucketful of these greens when there is little else, if you don't mind the strong taste (which shows you they are doing you good!) Also grow the small white forcing turnips, harvesting them at a few centimetres across and spring cabbage planted very closely. You can thin them allowing some to heart up for later. Pak Choi also works well from a very early sown crop and can be grown very close together, as can mizuna greens which are one of the best cut and come again brassicas for early use.

[binley100]

I seem to get by without one.......

[BertieFox]

"I seem to get by without one."
I guess your choice is influenced by climate. Here our climate can be 'continental' for much of the winter and spring, and nights are repeatedly minus 10 or so, so without some bottom heat things damp off or freeze the moment they germinate. And things like tomatoes have no chance. Unfortunately we don't have a 'kitchen windowsill' or conservatory in full light which would be a perfectly good alternative.
What's frustrating is that the weather suddenly changes in mid March or so, and then the problem is that all the seeds 'cook' in the propagator if I don't get there in time to take the lid off!

[binley100]

No, my choice is influenced by the fact that a) I don't have one and b) I never seem to have money spare to buy one so I adapt what I've got . Yes I have a conservatory but there's no heat in there and it's blimmin' cold at night so my plants have a blankie . Kitchen window sill is small so everything gets moved on from one place to another pretty quick. I use my airing cupboard to start off a lot but my friend just uses the floor by a radiator . We too have the problem of weather changing , my first lot of brassicas cooked early this year in the gh wheras the week before I lost some stuff to frost cos I hadn't wrapped it up that night.....

[Bejazzle]

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 ....

Arn't you missing the point with your heated propagator. I thought the benefit of a heated propagator was that it provided heat from below which encourages root growth. Or have you got some method of producing heat from below in your airing cupboard.

Was it successful?

Love
Sazzle

[chris]

Certain seeds require warmth (amongst other things) to germinate.. a heated prop, will provide that as will an airing cupboard or other warm location

[binley100]

Arn't you missing the point with your heated propagator. I thought the benefit of a heated propagator was that it provided heat from below which encourages root growth. Or have you got some method of producing heat from below in your airing cupboard.

Was it successful?

Love
Sazzle

Actually I have......there are pipes going from the boiler to the hot water tank and the central heating
and .......yup its successful ....ask Chris

[SarzWix]

I've tried starting things off without a heated propagator, but due to a lack of a warm airing cupboard, and the unwanted attentions of 3 cats it didn't work very well! So from my first investment in a fairly basic one, my porch(the only place safe from said cats) now plays host to a large 2 seed tray propogator, a smaller single tray one, and a heated mat which just fits between the two for overspill. I use them all to germinate all the tender veg for my 2 plots and also the school veg patch I'm in charge of. Having all those plants to start off means an early start to the sowing, which can end up with leggy plants as it's too cold to put them in the greenhouse, so I've just invested in a Garland Grow Light Garden after recommendations from a fellow Grape and hope this will help in growing more sturdy plants earlier than usual. It will also be put to good use over the winter next year growing salads etc out of season

[BertieFox]

My current propagator which was 'top of the range' 15 or maybe more years ago now costs more than I am prepared to pay to replace. After all this time the plastic has started to crumble away due to exposure to UV light. I long ago replaced the fragile plastic cover which went opaque with a home made glass cover, but tonight checking it out it hardly raises the temperature by more than a degree or two in the greenhouse, ok for brassicas and onions but hardly sufficient for tropical and sub tropical things which I germinate from time to time. Given the simplicity of the technology I really don't understand why the basic heating mat isn't much cheaper and with sufficient power to generate enough heat for a cold location. If you have to put the whole caboodle in the house, you might as well germinate stuff in your airing cupboard or window sill anyway. Don't get me started on thermostats...how DO they justify £30 or so for a simple device which cuts the power off at various temperatures. Cheap fan heaters come with them fitted, and you get the whole thing for only £10 or £15!
I also bought some heating cables, the sort you lay in concrete to make underfloor heating. I've put these on the staging under sand, but again the cable hardly gets warm, certainly not enough to germinate my stuff during a cold night or keep frost at bay. The only thing that really worked for me was putting a tubular heater underneath the aluminium trays on the staging. These are rated somewhere between 250W and 400W but my old one has corroded and rusted. Has anyone got any thoughts on home made propagators which are effective (and can be made reasonably safe electrically.. I've had some close shaves in the past!)

[rabbit]

I'm new to this propagation lark but I'm going to try as soon as possible (need to order some seeds first! I'm thinking tomatoes, cucumbers and chillies.)
I am going to try sowing into compost filled cardboard egg boxes, covered with some sort of plastic tray has anyone had any luck with this method?
They'll probably go on the windowsill in the lean-to which is not heated but probably warm enough and occasionally get a warm blast because I cook and do the laundry in there. Maybe I had better start them off in the airing cupboard?

[binley100]

I only start toms, aubs and chillies in the airing cupboard . 'Owt else goes on kitchen window sill till it pops up then gets chucked into the conservatory .......sink or swim time

[BertieFox]

While most brassicas and things will germinate easily at 55 or 60F don't forget that tomatoes (70F) and peppers, aubergines and chillis (75 or even 80) need much higher temperatures. Tomatoes are easy as they germinate quickly in a few days, but peppers can take several weeks. It's so easy for tender crop seeds to rot in cold damp conditions and with expensive F1 seed you want to be sure you get as many as you can. That's why for years now I have germinated things like this in old round cottage cheese or Greek yoghurt sized containers containing only vermiculite. You wet and drain the vermiculite, sow the seed, and cover very lightly with some more. Cover the tubs with cling film or a piece of clear plastic or glass. You can check the seed frequently and see when it starts to germinate. The vermiculite retains moisture but stops the seed getting too wet. Bottom heat is important. As soon as the seeds have their two seed leaves, carefully prick out into small pots of normal compost and keep growing in the warm.

[LOUBLOU1]

We have started a lot of stuff off recently - Last weekend I started Tomatoes off in a unheated propogator but in a frost free greenhouse - with a fan heater to keep temp around 55/60 deg. Been out today and some of toms have germinated. We have broccolli, Ailsa craig onions, kelsae onions, leeks etc all doing well. Have only had the fan heater on recently due to it getting cold lol.

When do you grapes start your aubergines and chilli's any advice on growing aubergines greatly appreciated

thanks

Lou

[Alison]

I'm sowing chillies and aubergines this weekend in a heated propogator on the utility window ledge.