Sowing veg seed outside
Pete.8
Posts: 9,976
in Fruit & veg
I've been gardening for 50+yrs but not grown veg since I was a kid.
I've now got 3 raised beds and want to get going.
I've been waiting for months for rain - none came (alomst no rain here since late June last year!), so I put the sprinkler on that area for a few hours the other day. It's still quite dry a few inches down.
I was planning on doing some sowing today at last but see that temps will be down to 1c for most nights next week - should I delay again or am I ok sowing now?
Thanks
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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What are you planning to sow? Things like parsnips or slow brassicas like kale and sprouts won't mind the cold. It may slow them up a tad but they'll germinate when the time is right. Things like courgettes and tomatoes, there's no point - they need heat to germinate. Peas might be OK, they don't mind cold so much as cold and wet. It's too early for climbing beans or runners.
You will have to keep up the watering though - water in the morning rather than at night if it's going to be cold.
Last edited: 20 April 2017 09:06:40
Broad beans germinate when it's cold at night. I've just planted my onion sets and sown some carrots which are just showing.
Sorry - I should have said - I've got the following veg seeds to sow outside-
Savoy cabbage
Kale
Carrots
Spring Onions
Beetroot
Chard
Perpetual Spinach
Lettuce
I've got some cabbage, kale and lettuce hardened-off ready to go out too.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Yes, I'd say all of those could be started off outdoors now. I have already sown carrots, chard, and salad leaves (as well as peas and broad beans). Beets will go in very soon. No point in watering an empty bed, though; perhaps water lightly before sowing, and then afterwards. You only need to top layer of the soil damp for germination. Covering with fleece until the seeds are through can help by retaining heat and moisture.
Great!
I'll go entertain my dog with a ball for an hour at the fields then get sowing
Thanks for your reassurances
I had to smile - we've had frost on the grass last few nights and I just spotted these - tomato seedlings growing in the garden from a tom I much have chucked there when clearing the g/house last year.
They're a lot hardier than I thought!
Last edited: 20 April 2017 10:14:33
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
There's your answer! Provided by nature
My beetroot has just germinated - sown straight in ground (allotment) one week ago. I watered the drill before sowing then watered about three times since then.
I got the cabbage and kale plants sown early march planted out in the brassica plot, and sowed a row a carrots in the root plot and tomorrow it's chard, beetroot and spinach in the beet plot.
I sowed courgettes, butternut and cucumbers today.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I must be of like mind with you Pete - two days ago sowed cucumbers, expecting courgettes tomorrow to sow along with peppers Not sure if I'll have space on the windowsills!
Will try to sow some spinach and purple sprouting broccoli outside too.
I had a new g/house put in last year - I've already used all the space and have over 100 seedlings in pots on the floor too.... and another 100+ to be potted up today - as well as sowing veg - a busy day ahead!
Good luck with yours!
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.