My seedlings

loony gardner

Hi, I'm new to gardening.I have started my garden in containers for now, but I'm super excited! Yesterday there was a brief spell of hail and the night temperature dropped to 1C, can anyone please tell me if this will harm my seedlings? I covered then last night. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated

Dovefromabove

Hi loony gardner  What have you sown?

loony gardner

Hi

I sowed peppers, beet roots, aubergines, tomatoes and carrots....I've got seedlings from the beets, tomatoes and peppers, waiting on the others still. Do you think the seedlings will survive?

Dovefromabove

Are they in your house, in a greenhouse or outside?

loony gardner

Outside

nutcutlet

The beets and carrots  might be OK

Dovefromabove

    

The good news is .....Beetroots and carrots will be fine 

 

The bad news is .... aubergines, peppers and tomatoes need warmth to germinate - are you sure they've germinated outside  - they need to be sown indoors on a warm windowsill or in a heated propagator, then potted on and kept warm and only planted out when all risk of a frost is over - even then  peppers and aubergines really need to be in a greenhouse and only some varieties of tomatoes will do well outside. 

So, I'm afraid you'll have to write them off, put it down to experience and start again, but not just yet .......... 

I'm not sowing my tomatoes until next month.........

 

loony gardner

Awww....so should I start again with seeds in little yogurt pots on my window sill? Or should I wait until next month? The problem is, my Windows face east and west-no south facers. I don't have a propagator, should I get one?

Thanks for your helpful comments, dovefromabove and nutcutlet, otherwise I would have kept watering them and thinking why they don't grow!

Lyn

Start them off in pots, not many tomatoes grow outside, I grow mine in a bed in the greengouse, the peppers in the conservatory. They grow to at least 3' tall, so make sure you have room for them. Maybe you live in a very warm calm area, you could get away with growing then outside. Look for seeds that can be grown outside.  Seeds germinate very well without a propagator, I have never had one.  Sure,it will bring your seeds up in a few days, but then what, you cant even put them in a cold green house yet.

Dovefromabove

Wait until next month - I'll be starting my tomatoes off in mid to late April on the dining room and kitchen windowsills which are east facing and as soon as I dare I'll transfer them to the little growhouse outside which I'll have to fleece or bubblewrap if we get a bad cold snap.  

For a What to do When guide, have a look at the top of this website - it has a What to do now section which is helpful, although if you live to the north of the UK you'll probably find you need to be a week or two later than the timings shown. 

loony gardner

Thanks Lyn

I live in Essex, we had a scorching summer last year. So for now, it's the window sill, right? I'm glad I don't need a propagator, I spent a lot of money on pots, seeds and heading supplies!

I'm so looking forward to my own veggies this year....do I need a greenhouse then?