Planting and sewing with cold snaps of weather...
TwoWells
Posts: 8
Hello All
I want to get some wildflower seeds sewn but keep getting delayed due to cold weather and now there are rumours of more snow at Easter and then the soil has to warm up. Clearly now is not the time but I'm concerned about this apparent planting window - will theseeds be affected if I plant them too late or do I get them in and hope the seeds somehow catch up with the seasons and just be in flower later in the year?
What does it mean when the soil needs to "warm up"? Will a couple of days of sunshine do the trick? Is there anything I can do to push things along or is that a silly idea?
As I said, I'm learning here so I appreciate helpful suggestions.
I want to get some wildflower seeds sewn but keep getting delayed due to cold weather and now there are rumours of more snow at Easter and then the soil has to warm up. Clearly now is not the time but I'm concerned about this apparent planting window - will theseeds be affected if I plant them too late or do I get them in and hope the seeds somehow catch up with the seasons and just be in flower later in the year?
What does it mean when the soil needs to "warm up"? Will a couple of days of sunshine do the trick? Is there anything I can do to push things along or is that a silly idea?
As I said, I'm learning here so I appreciate helpful suggestions.
0
Posts
For seeds that do require warmth, the best way to tell is to put your hand on the soil - you really can feel when it starts to get warmer
If you have packets of individual different wildflowers you may be able to sow some of these under cover. Things such as ox-eye daisies, scabious etc. You can then plant out small plugs - perhaps in May.
If, however, you just have packets of wild flower seed mix, you will need to sow directly where they are to flower. I agree that April should be fine.
If you think the soil will be very cold you can peg fleece, black plastic, or cloches over the area for a week or so before. This will warm the soil up more quickly.
Depends how large an area you’re doing as to how practical that is.
We're down in Devon which is usually quite mild but this year there's been a lot of snow. I'm going to keep an eye on the forecast - it looks like 9c and raining for us over Easter which should be OK so I'll get them sown. Let's hope the MetOffice are correct. They're only a few miles away but, well, let's not go there with their accuracy!
Thank you for the advice.