Seed Bed Usage

[MarkHackwell]

Next to my Polytunnel, I have some soil which is currently covered in weedliner and not being used. Lots of weeds seem to grow through the liner so it looks a mess and next to it I plan to plant a big flower bed (Perennials and Annuals). It got me thinking that maybe I should create a seed bed (As not everything grows well in the Greenhouse in pots), and since the ground that is covered in Weedliner is not being used it seems a waste. Do any others still use seed beds? as they can be a bit of an old thing!

[burnie]

I don't have a designated seed bed any more due to lack of space, but I still sow in the raised beds directly and then transplant, so I am still using the same method, I have some leeks now that will be thinned and transplanted later on.

[ameno]

I probably would if I could (it would certainly save on compost), but where I am the slug population is obscene, so anything I plant in a seed bed would be eaten in a instant.

[Aberdeenplotter]

talking about old things ................................... nope I'd better not go there .

It's too cold up here to benefit from having a seed bed but I have known of folks making a hot bed with horse muck underneath. At one time folks would have started brassicas in the soil in seed beds up here but not really recommended now as there is so much club root about. I start most of my stuff on a heated bench and then move it into the greenhouse. Sometimes overnight heat is needed and that is expensive.

[bramble]

I also am very short on space.
The only seeds I have seen outdoors in a seed bed are Wallflowers.
Everything else are started in the greenhouse in seed trays or modules.

[Snadger]

After many years of starting brassicas in a seed bed, I gave up on the idea this year.
The reason was that last year some of my brassicas didn't get transplanted to there final position and fared really well where they were, and the ones that I transplanted did badly.

I don't like growing brassicas in pots,trays or modules because I can't guarantee they will get watered.

This year I looked at the seed packet for the final spacing and at the required distance I dibbled a hole in land that had been hoed and weeded but not dug. Into each dibber hole I added potting compost and sowed a pinch of calabrese and kale into each station. The little clumps have now germinated and I will thin them by cutting away the ones I don't want when they get a bit bigger.
It remains to be seen whether this is better than transplanting from a seedbed, but I won't know the result until harvest time.

[Bren In Pots]

I probably would if I could (it would certainly save on compost), but where I am the slug population is obscene, so anything I plant in a seed bed would be eaten in a instant.

I'm with ameno with a slug problem.
I sow the majority of my seeds in newspaper pots only planting them out once they're a decent size otherwise they wouldn't last the night.

[greenishfing]

I have a seed bed every year for brassicas and generally I do well with it. On the years that I don't it is usually down to me and not seeds, weather, soil conditions etc. Generally my neglect I am ashamed to say.