Am I a bit late or are you lot a bit eager?

[weekendwellies]

I put out my broadies a little time ago when it appeared to be warming up and they seem to be toughing out this cold spell we are having. I just sowed tomatoes and peppers today and shoved them in my little grow house thats south facing. and I am hoping to get more alliums out this weekend to supplement the autumn sown ones, which are coming along just fine.
It depends on your location really, if you have a bit of a microclimate going on, you can get away with sowing a bit earlier than someone who is on the side of a hill facing the prevailing winds.

[scorpius]

Dont panic! I havent got round to sowing anything yet! I keep looking at my seed packets though Im always a late starter

[Doive]

I started really early, in hindsight far too early! I guess I'm taking a chance that early seedlings will produce an earlier crop, which may not work out. I can always sow later ones. My peas are already in the ground and a foot tall, but are heavily fleeced in an attempt to keep the frost off. They seem ok so far, despite snow and -7C last weekend. If they fail, I'll pull them out and start again in April - extra effort I know, but sometimes it pays off. All the potatoes are in and well earthed up to keep the frost away.

[Newton]

I confess to maybe sentencing some of my seedlings to a frozen death.........but I hope not!

I have had broadies in since January......behind last year though. Onions are rubbish.......garlic coming on ok. I also have PSB SPSB BS Kailan Pak choi and various lettuces in the GH. And a plethora of chillies in the prop at a low temp of 16 degrees overnight. Marmande sown yesterday. Beetroot in modules have gone a bitt leggy.

This weekend I will mainly be sowing calabrese.......

[BUFFS]

i have some seeds growing well, the longer growing season is one reason and there may also be a bit of the "my crops are bigger than your crops" mindset,no great problem as long as you realise you may lose some or even all (as we did here last year)so have some spares following on(or spend a bomb buying growing plants at the garden centre),it is a great feeling though to bring them thru these cold days and achieve a bumper crop,good luck to one and all and i predict a better summer than last year..that wont be that hard....

[Two_Sheds]

Do I have the only packets of seeds that say plant in April?

I don't know, what seeds are they?

Actually now slightly regretting starting my beans early.... I am getting a bit scared that they will be damaged by being in pots for too long

Pot them into bigger pots, perhaps

I'm taking a chance that early seedlings will produce an earlier crop

It doesn't always work like that: quite often a later sowing will catch up an early sowing anyway. Growth, obviously, is faster when it's warm.
I've sown French beans, outside, about a fortnight "too early" (it was after my last frost, but was still cold, and Frenchies & runners need 10c day & night).

They germinated, and I thought way-hey ! I've cracked it. They even grew a few inches. Then stopped.
And never got going again.


Similarly with things that have been grown in a gh, then planted out without sufficient hardening off. You may be lucky and get away with it, but usually you don't. Again, French beans: about 6" tall, just about to flower. Planted them out. Then we got a cold spell.
They stopped growing. They turned yellow. They died.

[sammy_roser]

I've been trying to grow more flowers this year and they are asking to be sown indoors from January. Then I am impatient and trying to get things to grow early. Anything for a little bit of green!

[kathyd]

I had such a rubbish year last year that this year I'm playing safe, I hope. I'm planting several batches of everything at different times in the hopes that at least SOME of them will survive the weather, the slugs, the blight, soil pests, chicken pests, cat pests and anything else that comes along! Including the neighbour's goat at the moment, hmmm. So I sowed peppers and toms and aubergines early, and have just popped a few more into the propogator yesterday. And I have various seedlings ready for potting on, and potatoes chitting waiting for the end of March or whenever I'm 'meant' to plant them out. But this year I've had the huge advantage of a great big custom-made wooden trough in our big ugly glass porch, built by Mr kathyd (now that sounds daft..) and incorporating a soil warming cable - so out of the propogator and into the nice warm space in the porch, which coverts neatly into a planting trough when the toms are ready! It's been wonderful to have somewhere to move things to, and I can cover and uncover things depending on the weather. I don't know how I survived without it . So my early planting is kind of in self-defence, honest!

[cptncrackoff]

Further to my post up there ^...

I got home early from work, and could no longer face the sight of empty raised beds, so have sown two rows of 'early scarlet horn' carrot. (sow feb to April) (feb under glass)
I feel the worst of the weather has now passed, the nights are warmer for at least a week by the looks of it. - wheres the smiley for fingers crossed?

[ancee]

Well, I've read all of your stories and advice, and this weekend I might just go and buy a few bags of potting compost. Though we've had snow four days this week and a day of hail Think I'll just fill up my windowsills for a while

[Barking Postlethwaite]

A few things in paper pots went in the (cold) greenhouse a couple of weeks ago: Peas (Sugar Ann germinated and doing fine, but a lot of the Oregon have just rotted and will need resowing), kale, leeks, parsley and some of the toms (germination a bit hit & miss with them). Peppers and chillies very soon. Early spuds in tubs have been there for a while.

Last week's warm weather tempted me to sow a couple of rows of carrots and a row of spring onions under fleece up the allotment, following which it duly snowed! No great hopes for them, but it's not as if it's a major investment on the off chance. Plenty of weed seedlings appearing under there so germination is possible!

[rita1]

i am guilty as charged, i am one of those who can't wait to get started, i have dug my garden 3 times in preparation. so don't worry you are probably right in waiting, i just get over eager to get started, so my parsnips probably won't grow even tho they are covered, my seeds are up and i need to move them on.
so all in all you are right to wait. also they all catch up with one and another anyway so i don't know why i don't wait.

[Two_Sheds]

Last week's warm weather tempted me to sow a couple of rows of carrots ... Plenty of weed seedlings appearing under there so germination is possible!

Uh huh, but carrots prefer a soil temp of at least 10c, and weeds will germinate at much lower temps

[Normans Mum]

I must admit I'm in with the impatient lot on this one. I started off my chillies and aubergines in Feb in the propagator, with disastrous results. Since then, I've sown cabbages and beetroot, ruby chard, leeks, sprouts, peas and beans (the broadies haven't surfaced yet... reckon they just need a bit more of a lie in ) caulis, and potted up my horseradish which is taking off like no tomorrow :O Have even given some fennel a try. If you don't experiment, I guess you'll never learn.

[jacob]

Judging by the amount of dead stuff I've just discovered in the greenhouse, I'm a bit eager.

My (not particularly sunny) house is now full of pots and trays that I'd rather been hoping to stick out in the greenhouse and am now afraid to.