Spring chaos in the greenhouse |
Autumn-sown endive and transplanted strawberries |
I have, over the years developed a sequence of stages for bringing on my plants. I sow in trays or modules of potting compost, water well and enclose in a large plastic bag. This holds in the moisture and retains some heat. Later, when being hardened off, it also protects from the wind or cold air.
I then keep these trays in a warm room indoors. Certain seeds, notably aubergine, peppers etc need around 70deg to germinate- so a warm place to get them out of the ground is vital. Keep a close eye on them as, as soon as the stems appear they will go go very leggy if not kept in good light conditions- a window ledge is not usually sufficient.
For this purpose I suspend the seed trays immediately under our Velux windows where the new seedlings get maximum natural light. At this point I have
removed the plastic bags
Seedlings in the light |
Having only limited space of this kind, many of the protected trays will go in the greenhouse during warm days to get full benefit of the heat and light, and brought back in at night
One note of caution-- if using the bag-covering system, make sure the soil doesn't get too damp or wet or damping-off will be a risk:
some seedlings are more vulnerable to this than others.
Obviously, during this process, I will transplant seedlings from modules or trays into individual pots as they outgrow their environment.
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