are we too late

[yellow strawberry]

i have been reading what all you lovely growers have planted ,,we haven't started yet ,,,are we leaving it too late,,we are going to grow in paper pots at home while we finish getting the plot sorted and are going to start sowing tonight ,,,are we leaving it too late or are you lot starting too early

[shirlthegirl43]

We are starting too early! You have loads of time for sowing. Read your seed packets for general advice on when to sow then you can stretch it earlier or later depending on your facilities and where you live.

[JimmerG]

Yellow Strawberry,

I'd say, pretty confidently, that you're not too late for anything yet.... 95% of seed sowing starts now!

But it's getting a bit late for planting garlic, maybe also for sowing onion seeds - but onion sets are a whole load easier and should be going in this month.

Many of the grapes here are into pushing the horticultural boundaries, I certainly wouldn't worry about having missed the boat!!

J

[yellow strawberry]

thanks ,,,this is our first year,,so we are going by the packet instructions,,,got some onion sets so dont have to worry about growing onions from seeds,,,but have got some garlic ,,,so will make that our first job

[shirlthegirl43]

Get the garlic in as soon as you can. It needs frost or cold weather to help it form cloves. I think it still grows if left a little later but might be one big bulb like an onion (standing by to be told I am incorrect though

[Growem]

Good lord, you had better not be late, or it means I'm late too! The only things I've planted are garlic and onion sets at the allotment, 1 pot of chilies and 2 pots of peppers at home. As I don't have a greenhouse, there's no point starting anything too early, as they would all be ready for planting out before it's warm enough to do such. Tomatoes, courgettes, pumpkins, peas and beans are all still to come (though the right type of peas and beans can be planted now). Plus half a dozen other things I'm forgetting right now.

[Pumpkin Becki]

Don't worry, seeds sewn later in the season usually catch up with early sewings by the summer, as they won't have had to cope with any 'checks' like cold or overly wet weather during spring.

I don't have a greenhouse either, so my window cills usually look like Covent Garden from April to May, groaning with the weight of all my little seedlings. I do have a plastic mini greenhouse outside, and as the weather inproves I use it to harden the plants off before taking them up to the lottie at the end of May.

There are of course lots of things that can be direct sewn at this time of year (as Growem says) but anything more delicate than Broad Beans or early peas might need added protection from cloches for a while.

[lynda66]

we all just got excited .... some of us got a little more excited than most and i expect to be sowing stuff to replace the things i've killed by planting them too early in the next month or 2

[Eyren]

Shirley's right - most garlic varieties need about a month of cold weather to "tell" them it's time to make new cloves. At least this year, you probably won't be lacking for cold spells!

If it's any comfort, I haven't sown any toms, chillies, peppers, broccoli, caulis or peas yet, and I won't be sowing french and runner beans, sweetcorn, squash, etc until April. All I have in atm are onion seedlings, broad beans, a few early carrots and a very recent sowing of lettuce, spinach and chard.

[FionaH]

Way too early. I have a house full of seedling, no idea where to put them when I have to pot them up and weeks and weeks till the last frost date. Next year will someone please make me sit on my hands?

[Flummery]

If you sow too early you are likely to run out of space to keep the plants safely before the danger of frost is past. Either that or you'll be tempted to plant them out too early and then when they all go black and slimy after a late hard frost (there was a bad one in most of the country in late May last year) there will be some people saying 'I told you so' ! So do believe what it says on the packet. If they really thought it would do any earlier, they'd say so. Good luck with it.

[yellow strawberry]

thanks for all the replies and advice

[Alison]

The problem with some of the threads on here is that it makes it look like it's the norm to start everything off a couple of months early and it can be quite confusing for newbies. You're always going to get a bit of a screwed view as it's far more likely that the relatively few people who have sowed extensively would post a thread to say that they've done something than for the very high number of people who are more cautious to post that a) they've not sown anything and b) nothing's happening. Would make a very dull thread but it does mean that people can get the wrong idea.

[FionaH]

Im a newbie and you are right Alison, but heres the thing. I KNEW people were just experimenting, I KNEW it was early, and I KNEW I didnt want loads of seedlings and more scarily pots of plants cluttering up my house for months. And I still did it!!!
I truly think I am a bit bonkers
I am now planning on bringing the little plastic greenhouse into my lounge for the racking just so I have somewhere to put the potted up plants! So glad I have an understanding husband

[lynda66]

i'm glad i live on my own and have a spare room darling son always falls asleep on the sofa when he comes home, so he doesn't mind his bedroom being turned into a greenhouse for a few months lol