SOWING SEEDS - 2020

Ohh! Thank you, @ARMANDII ! You’ve been busy!!

At the moment, I’m feeling smug.
It won’t last, I know. It won’t last. But for now, I’m up to date with my seed-sowing for 2020.
All the seeds that need to be sown in January - AND! - all those that can be sown at any time of the year, have been sown.
That’s all 6 packets of seeds done...

...the fact that I’ve got 14 different chillies, plus all the other “sow in February” seeds, to do next month... I’ll get behind, and fail in the catch-up game all year.

But for now, I’m up to date, and I’m going to enjoy this strange sensation!!

 

I knew it wouldn’t last!!

My order from Chiltern Seeds has just arrived....

 

Chilli seed sown today now on a heated pad.

 

Well, my perovskia seeds said to sow immediately, as they have been dispatched straight from cold-storage. I wasn't too worried that they’d warmed up too much in transit - the day that they arrived, the temperature was a constant 24hr 1c with freezing fog.

I did as I was instructed, and sowed them straight away - and I have 4 seeds showing signs of sprouting already!!

 

Sown Eucomis comosa, Lilium davidii, L pardalinum, Clematis napaulensis and Rehmannii piasezkii. These are now in propagator.

 

I had promised myself not to buy any more 'mixed' seeds - but Wilko had linaria maroccana for 25p, and 50p for cleome and 10 week stocks. So I succumbed... Trays now in propagator and running out of room!

 

So far the Rehmannii, Chilli and Eucomis have germinated and I have just found the first tomatoes (sown last weekend) starting and also the two Stapelia species are throwing up green shoots.

 

Have just found that Arisaema amurense has put up shoots 12 months after sowing and just been left in a cool shady spot also Cyclamen confusum and C repandum sown at the same time have pushed up leaves recently.
Also Papaver miyabeanum, P atlanticum and P apokrinomenon have germinated, these were sown last autumn and left outside in a transparent plastic box with lid in a shady spot.

 

I have just had some species gladiolus seed start to germinate, along with Hesperanatha (Schizostylis ) coccinea, Freesia leichtlini and Hesperantha vaginata. These have been in a propagator on the bottom shelf of some greenhouse staging covered with some fleece to keep the sun off for about a week after previously being kept at 20°C for 4 weeks. A bit of reading indicated that they germinate better with hot days and cool nights, hence the move to the greenhouse and bingo.
Not the first time I've observed this; that seeds germinate better with a significant diurnal (day/night) temperature variation.

 

I intend to grow Aubrieta from seed next year but a question first please.

When the seedlings are large enough to prick out into pots, do I transfer them in clumps like Lobelia, or one seedling in each pot?

 

In clumps. This is where sowing seed in cell trays is beneficial.

 

Thanks Mike. I've grown a lot of Lobelia in the past so these shouldn't be a problem.