Quote:
Originally Posted by David WE Roberts[_4_]
I posted a while back about problems getting tomatoes to germinate in normal
compost, and wondering if seed compost would be better.
I was keeping the seed trays in a mini greenhouse (metal frame, plastic
sheet cover) on a south facing sheltered patio.
[Also posted about previously.]
Nearly everything was germinating, but not the tomatoes.
I have managed to germinate more seeds from the same packets in seed compost
on an indoor windowsill so the seeds seem O.K.
I have now just brought in one of the original seed trays which has been
stubbornly refusing to germinate and it is now germinating on the kitchen
west facing windowsill by a radiator.
So the problem was the plastic greenhouse - presumably not enough
temperature, or not a stable temperature.
Cabbage and beet and perpetual spinach and cucumbers and courgettes and
sunflowers all seem to have germinated fine.
The cabbage and beetroot have done far better than those sown directly into
the soil of the allotment.
So the plastic greenhouse has its place, but in these cold, overcast, wet
weeks we have had it is not good for germinating plants such as tomatoes.
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I think you're right. I always germinate any seed indoors which says on the packet something like "60=70 deg F", and find it gives me speedier more reliable germination. Anything where the instructions imply you should sow outdoors "when the soil has warmed up" or any similar phrase, I am happy to sow in the greenhouse. So cabbages, beet and so on are OK in a greenhouse, because the greenhouse is like outdoors, basically just running the season a bit earlier.
I think the trouble, as you say, is the low nighttime temperatures rather than the daytime temperatures - something that would affect you even more than it does me with my large slightly heated one.
Downside of germinating indoors is the transition back to the cooler greenhouse. I wait till they've got true leaves and seem to be growing strongly, then transfer them to the porch which hopefully doesn't drop as low at night since it has the house wall to keep the heat, then into the warm end of the greenhouse then finally into the cool end.
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