Anyone Buying New Seed ?

I always, or mostly, try to germinate seed as fast as possible, the longer they linger at low temperatures the more likely they are to rot.
That is discounting Hardy seed that might require stratification, so mostly veg and half hardy annuals.

Failures of sowings in greenhouses without propagators is mostly down to sowing too early, I would suggest.

 

If you are buying in compost then it's probably that to blame. In recent years the quality has deteriorated and fertiliser has been reduced. I and many others have had the same problem.

We can still buy peat based compost here in Scotland and recently I decided to try a John Innes (2) compost, produced by Westland, for seeds and seedlings with good results.

 

I had a look at my bag yesterday. This one worked very well. Everything sown in there came out as plant.

 

Sorry for misunderstanding your age @shiney. I thought you are I didn't know that you could use so much soil. One bag cost £9.90 at the farm shop and I used it as a normal compost for growing seeds. Comparing to the rubbish that is sold for £8 a bag where I live, definitely money well spent.

 

My seed buying habit is a bit like my wife’s clothes buying habit, buying things I like the look of, not what I really need. Added to my love of a bargain, I have too many seeds……if that’s possible and I hate throwing out old seed. I usually sow some of each type of seed each year and those that dont germinate go in the bin and put on my list to replace for the next year. This does often lead to me having too many of some things, that I try and find a spot for or give away but also leads to gaps in my plan from the failures. But to be honest, it’s my hobby and enjoy growing things, plus it cheaper than my wife’s habit!

 

@shiney I have heard of them and had checked their website last year but they sell only to businesses now.

 

I'd agree that perhaps the compost is the problem for you @Escarpment. A lot of it is really not great for a lot of seed, especially very fine stuff, or anything that needs careful watering or warmth. It can make it difficult keeping seedlings happy long term. I wonder if it would be easier to wait until they're bigger before moving on, and thinning out the wewaker/smaller ones as described by @infradig. It might also help to try sowing later than you normally do so that you get more consistent conditions for them.
Our local farm/mill outlet sells a very good compost called Mother Earth @Sheal. Excellent quality and consistently so. Direct sowing is no use here apart from large seed [sweet peas etc] through late spring or early summer. I always start in trays or pots, but even then, it can sometimes be hit and miss. I tend to put that down to my inefficiency or carelessness though!

 

I definitely did a lot too early the year before last - all my tomatoes completely failed and I had to buy some plants. So I learnt from it this year and sowed everything much later, with better results on the tomatoes at least - I raised lots of nice sturdy plants.

But there's definitely a pattern that it's the tiny seeds I'm struggling with. The veg I think does OK because they all seem to be decent size seeds - I don't try growing salad - I did rocket last year sown out direct and it got completely shredded by flea beetles.

I usually use Coir seed compost for practicality - I don't drive so can't really deal with big bags of compost. The coir comes compressed so I can reconstitute what I need when I need it. This compost is very fine and it has added nutrients. It can be difficult to tell how wet it is by looking, so I normally judge if things need watering by weight, and I water from the bottom.

I do have some Verve (B&Q) peat free compost that I got delivered last year for bulbs and I can see how different that is - it just looks like shredded up wood and turns your hands black when you touch it. I can't imagine any seeds being happy with that! It's fine for bulbs though and for topping up old plant pots.

 

I also use spent compost from annuals for seed sowing @Escarpment - usually that stuff I mentioned, and that works well, so that may be worth trying too. I occasionally use sieved soil too, but that's not really possible until summer when I can get it dried more easily. It can be stored until the following year though, and it can be from annuals as well as good spots in the garden. Having raised beds means it can often be a nice, freer draining mix too.
You might even find buying a bag of soil and adding grit or Perlite to it will give you a better growing medium, but if you don't drive, that certainly makes it harder unless you can share a load with someone who does drive. Perlite is good if you order online though, because the weight means it's cheaper for delivery.
I tend to use other composts [the peat free ones] for mixing, rather than for direct use. It's fine for potting on woodier, or bigger perennials, due to that fibrous, woody consistency, or the topping up that you mention.
I know what you mean about coir too - I think a lot of people find it tricky to work with.

 

I took a very deep breath last year and made myself throw out all my old seed packets that were past use by date. There were an awful lot of them!
I now have an almost completed list of seeds to buy that covers both flowers and veg and allows one or two fun buys. That will go off in the next day or two - there is no rush for early planting here.
Nearly everything is started indoors on south-facing window sills and moved on in stages, using more window sills and the back porch if necessary, before progressing to the un-heated GH.
I have one bag of bought compost from last year which will be used for the more delicate seedlings. The toughies get old stuff or my own home-made.
We had a large block of concrete left behind from some long-ago construction which my daughter turned into a palisade where I can process most of my garden refuse - Compost Castle!
We get lots of plastic sacks from our animal feed deliveries and I use these to bag up any weeds containing ground elder or other undesirables separately, so that they are safely rotted down. They are not allowed to seed so then make good rich compost. All is currently under a tarpaulin with one heap ready for use and a second almost there, lots of bags waiting, all tidy and out of sight behind the castle walls! i

 

I gave up with Verve some years ago, it's hopeless for growing anything from seed and no better for seedlings or potted plants.