Thursday 16 April 2015

Seedling update

Wow, scorchio here in Norwich this week! I had yesterday off work - my big news is that I've just gone down to working 4 days a week, so will have more time for fun stuff like allotmenting (and chores and errands, not such fun). I'll usually have Wednesdays off but can change it if I need to.

My seeds are coming along quite well, the only casualties have been a few basils which look like they've succumbed to damping off (with a pinch of neglect) but as they were old packs of seeds I had sown quite thickly as I wasn't expecting a great germination. Plus the early basils I sowed last year didn't germinate at all if remember rightly, so I wasn't holding out much for them. I like the cute tiny new leaves.

Most of these photos are from the weekend, so a few days have passed since:

Basil - green and purple - There's a flopped one at the front where you can just see its thin shrivelled stem, likely from 'damping off'

The sweetcorn (sweet nugget F1) has germinated well, this photo after only a week. I put them in the lean-to covered all round in bubble wrap. It gets really warm in there when it's sunny, so the bubble wrap then keeps the heat in over night.
Here they are when covered over. There is a radiator behind them but that doesn't work (or at least, I've never tried it, I think it would burst water everywhere!)
The tomatoes are fine, a little bit of yellowing on the seedling leaves that could be due to the cold at night (I've been rather neglecting and not checking night time temps, just hoping for the best as I know it won't get frost in there). But on the whole I'm happy with them.
The squashes are ok too, I germinated them inside and then moved to the lean-to. I've runout of shelf space already (due to messiness) so have put them on the floor on upturned trays until I sort the shelves out, so they're not right at cold ground level. There's a chance I might have access to a bit of land at someone's house but it's quite far away, so I thought I could try planting loads of squashes there and they'd just ramble around the place
The squashes - I have another trayful too, far too many for just my allotment so we'll see if this bit of land works out. If not I'll be giving lots away.
I potted on my one chilli seedling, and 5 aubergines (more than one had germinated in each module so I carefully split them apart)

I've sown some more things this week like dill, runner and climbing beans (in loo roll tubes). I also made my own little seed mix up of old seeds of dill, radish and salad leaves. In the back garden I'd like to have more of a mixed / natural/ self seeding couple of beds so thought I'd start with this and just give it a go and see what happens. It was a tad windy though and I lost some seeds, who knows they might pop up somewhere!
The large flat seeds are dill, small round ones are radish, thin ones are salad

Jan's been asking me to sort out the patchy grass in the back garden so I thought I'd try chamomile and just bought a small pack to see what happened. I sowed the pack across two trays on Saturday and by yesterday (Weds) they'd already germinated in the warm lean to!
Chamomile tiny seedlings yesterday

My main challenge with most of my seedlings now is to make sure they either don't frazzle in the heat in the lean-to and that I don't over water them... hmmm, it could go either way! I do tend to be a bit haphazard and not check on things enough. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks!

12 comments:

  1. No need to worry about things scorching here.

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    1. At least that's one thing you don't have to worry about sue! I've stopped sowing brassicas at home because I kept losing them to frazzling. If I was more attentive it probably wouldn't happen though, so I'll work within my own limitations ;)

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  2. Everything is coming along really well! It would be great to get some extra garden space, especially for a space hog like squash.

    That extra day in the week is going to make a huge difference for you - not that you will be any less busy...probably the opposite, in fact!

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    1. Thanks Margaret, it's early days with the seedlings yet but so far so good.
      Hehe, yes my days off so far have been quite full already, but it's nice not to have to try and squeeze everything into the weekend.

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  3. I'm also having to be careful about scorching - and wind damage too. Keeping all my seedlings at just the right level of temperature and hydration is more or less a full-time job! BTW, at present I only work 3 days a week, but I still don't have enough time for gardening (which expands to fit the time available...)

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    1. Thanks Mark. Luckily I don't have to worry about wind damage with the seedlings at home yet as I haven't started hardening off. At the allotment the direct sown broad beans are getting a tad battered though!
      I know what you mean, looking after seedlings can be very time consuming, That's why I'm a bit neglectful!
      Ah great, 3 days a week sounds good :) maybe I can do this is in a few years too. The finances won't allow it at the moment though, even with being extra- thrifty!

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  4. I think squash is a good choice for a place you won't be at often. I think of certain crops that can compete with weeds and that is one of them. Potatoes would probably be another.

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    1. Thanks Daphne, yep I thought the squashes could be left to do what they like without visiting too often. Having the extra day a week to pop out there occassionally has been a coincidence too. If it works out this year maybe I could do potatoes next year.
      If it doesn't work out, all I've lost is a few seeds and compost, so not invested too much time or money yet!

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  5. What a great idea to mix a bunch of seeds together for a mixed garden (rather than trying to plant haphazardly which never really works). Everything looks so great! When I grow basil, I throw dozens of seeds into a tray then just plant them in big clumps (10 or more plants at a time) - I couldn't imagine pricking out all those little plants. But then I grow A LOT of basil ...

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    1. Thanks Susie, hopefully at least some of the seeds will germinate anyway!
      I only grow basil in pots in the lean to at the moment (some in their own pots andd some at the base of the tomato plants) but would like to do similar to you one day witht the right conditions - the allotment is too dry, and there's not really enough space at home. In one of my (many) gardening books there's Monty Don (tv presenter) growing rows and rows of basil that ive always aspired to!

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  6. I'm so enjoying the sunshine over this (west) side of the county. Finally got my Square Foot Garden started, also some early spud in bags, and started some basil and other leafy things like lambs lettuce, and spicy lettuce leaves, radish, .......oh and lots more (Yes I have labelled them and also made a paper plan of what is where! ) so wish me luck. Himself is well ahead with the tomatoes .

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    1. Hi Lynne, nice to hear you've been getting on well. Sounds like you're getting organised! Just looking through the photos on this post, it's amazing how much they've grown since then!

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