I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few spring
vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions, rocket.

I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
germination to take place.

Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?

Out of those, lettuce will emerge first (don't know about rocket so that
may be first). Beetroot are normally quickest of the others. Don't sow too
much this early as it can turn cold again like today. Try white turnips when
the ground has warmed up as they are better from fast germination. If you
have the facilities, sow some sweetcorn in small pots indoors, and
courgettes, ready to put outside to harden off when this awful wind goes
down


From the English Riviera If you live in Paradise why would you want to go
abroad for a holiday? Answers on a postcard to
http://www.cornishlight.freeserve.co.uk/rame.htm

chris.sperry wrote:
: I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few
: spring vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions,
: rocket.
:
: I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
: germination to take place.
:
: Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?

"chris.sperry" wrote in message
...
I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few spring
vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions, rocket.

I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
germination to take place.

Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?

Probably lettuce, but if you want fast results, you should sow/should have
sown radishes.

Steve

As a relative newcomer to gardening, I should point out that you ought to
expect
a certain amount of disappointment. For instance, your carrots WILL be
raddled
with carrot fly unless you take precautions ( 3 foot high fleece barrier/
interplanting
with garlic/ resistant varieties ). Beetroot seem easy but keep 'em watered.
Lettuce OK but you MUST keep the slugs off, and keep them watered in hot
weather,
else they bolt. I planted some Lisbon spring onions in my heavy clay soil a
couple of years
back, and whilst they germinated, they amounted to nothing in the end - I
don't know why.
Rocket is easy but sow a little at a time else you'll have a glut ( actually
this applies to all
the others too ).
The other thing is if you have a greenhouse, bring some seedlings on
in there - you'll
get a first crop somewhat earlier. I hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs,
but a couple of
years back I planted my first vegetable seeds in my garden with gay abandon
and was
disappointed with the results.

good luck,

Andy.

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...

"chris.sperry" wrote in message
...
I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few spring
vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions, rocket.

I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
germination to take place.

Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?

Probably lettuce, but if you want fast results, you should sow/should have
sown radishes.

Steve

As a PS, regarding radishes, once again these "failsafe" vegetables didn't
work out as I planned. The radishes were small and woody, and didn't taste
so good. I would water them to a regular schedule if I were to grow them
again, as fast growth seems to be the key to succulence, slow growth leads
to bitterness and woodiness ( true of swede too ).

Andy.

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...

"chris.sperry" wrote in message
...
I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few spring
vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions, rocket.

I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
germination to take place.

Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?

Probably lettuce, but if you want fast results, you should sow/should have
sown radishes.

Steve

"chris.sperry" wrote in message
...
I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few spring
vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions, rocket.

I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
germination to take place.

Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?

Lettuce seed comes up in a day or two under the right conditions, but
carrots take weeks so you need to weed them a lot. I've never grown
beetroot. It might say how long the seeds take to germinate on the packets
and there may be a photo of what the seedlings look like, so that you can
sort them from weeds. That's useful for carrots if you've never grown them
before. Also, another tip is to plant carrots in a line so you can see lots
of identical small plants and know they're your carrots and not a weed.

In article , chris.sperry
writes
I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few spring
vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions, rocket.

I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
germination to take place.

Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?

Probably rocket will show their seedlings first, followed by lettuce.
Carrots will be last.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

In article , chris.sperry
writes
I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few spring
vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions, rocket.

I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
germination to take place.

Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?

No, but what I used to do was sow a few radish seeds along each row -
they were quick to germinate and marked the row, and they were full size
and ready to pull long before they interfered with any of the otehr
crops.


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Thanks for all the advice. I shall to contain my enthusiasm somewhat.

"Alan Gould" wrote in message
news
In article , chris.sperry
writes
I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few spring
vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions, rocket.

I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
germination to take place.

Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?

Probably rocket will show their seedlings first, followed by lettuce.
Carrots will be last.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

Keep the Hoe going between well marked rows, that's partly the answer to
seeing the seedlings from the weeds. Beetroot are very distinctive, you
won't mistake them for anything else, wait and see. Also, there is no room
in gardening for enthusiasm to be controlled lol

chris.sperry wrote:
: I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few
: spring vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions,
: rocket.
:
: I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
: germination to take place.
:
: Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?

"chris.sperry" wrote in message
...
I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few spring
vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions, rocket.

I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
germination to take place.

Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?


Hi Chris,

Lettuce/rocket, spring onions,carrots amd finally beetroot I'd reckon.

I'm in my second year of veg gardening and after last years
disappointing results I'm having a go again this year with different
varieties which are less resistant to bolting and splitting. Watering well
is the key as far as I can tell as once they dry out all your problems
start. Try planting marigolds or something between veg rows to minimiise
pests. Last year I had no carrot-fly, lots of slugs and pea-moths.

Martin

chris.sperry wrote:
Thanks for all the advice. I shall to contain my enthusiasm somewhat.


Don't be daft. Without enthusiasm, what will get through those dark moments
when nothing is growing?

--
William Tasso

Martin Sykes wrote in message ...
"chris.sperry" wrote in message
...
I'm new to gardening, but have recently had a go at sowing a few spring
vegetable seeds: carrots, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions, rocket.

I'm watching my carefully prepared patch like a hawk, willing a bit of
germination to take place.

Anybody got any idea which row is likely to emerge first?


Hi Chris,

Lettuce/rocket, spring onions,carrots amd finally beetroot I'd reckon.

I'd say rocket definitely, then lettuce, beetroot, carrot and finally spring
onions. I agree with those above about radishes. I've finished my first crop
in the greenhouse and I live in Scotland:-)
Spring onions are slow, but resilient. I can't remember exactly when I sowed
the last of them last year (July/Aug probably) and ate the last of them in
March. They weren't huge, but they had bite!
Still got a few late sown leeks, which are fine.
Regards
Jonny

"William Tasso" wrote in message
...
chris.sperry wrote:
Thanks for all the advice. I shall to contain my enthusiasm somewhat.


Don't be daft. Without enthusiasm, what will get through those dark
moments
when nothing is growing?

And, you must be optimistic, you have to look forward to the fact
that ALL your seed will germinate!

Alan
--
Reply to alan(at)windsor-berks(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk