It's now that time of year when you have to be super creative, finding enough spots for all your seed trays. As usual, my plant hunger is too big for my house, so I have seedlings germinating all over the place; in the greenhouse, on the kitchen window, sunroom floor, kids playroom and even under a grow-light in a hallway! How creative have you had to be? Whilst this stage is rather chaotic, it gets even worse when you realise that all these babies will need potting on to take up even more space!! So, it's important to keep moving them on, potting on seedlings as soon as they're large enough to handle, moving more mature plants into a cold-frame/greenhouse to harden off and planting out as soon as the weather allows. Oh, and label everything!
Space saving ideas:
Don't sow too much of one thing. Limit yourself to small seed trays (eg. 15 x 20cm) and sow THINLY ie. not the whole packet Takeaway plastic containers are great if you punch some holes in their base.
Learn how to use a 'soil blocker.' These create small blocks of soil to sow larger seeds into which take up less space than modular trays AND have the advantage of limiting root disturbance.
Treat yourself to a Grow-Light which can be set up in a spare room on a timer to mimic sunlight hours. Then you can make an early start on your chillis and tomatoes.
Make use of sunny window sills to store your seeds trays. Be careful seedlings don't get scorched by direct, hot sunlight (cover with a clear plastic bag or clear recycled food tray) and turn trays regularly to stop seedlings stretching too much.
Create a large propagator in a greenhouse by placing hoops over the staging and covering them with clear plastic sheeting. Keep seeds trays on capillary matting in a large plastic tray to help prevent them drying out and place a long heat mat under the tray to provide bottom heat.
Plants I've sown here:
Zinnias, Cosmos, Limonium, Xerochrysum, Antirrhinum, Achillea, Scabiosa, Luffa, Cobea, Ammi, Rubeckia, Penstemon, Phlox, Coreopsis plus edibles; chillis, aubergines, tomatoes, basil, parsley, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach....
Comments