'Willpower & sheer idiocy combine in harmony'
Success when you sow your seeds
Clean & disinfect
IT took five hours of hard labour and a bottle of Citrox to clean my propagators, seed and gravel trays and pots last season.
Citrox is a citrus-based garden disinfectant - harmless to plants and treats fungal/bacterial problems.
A good scrubbing
All the pots were soaked for 10 minutes then scrubbed, all surfaces sprayed and washed down, even the plastic cover of the jumbo propagator.
Citrox is very good at keeping capillary matting 'unsullied' by nasties - douse it with a dilute solution once a month.
You can also use it to disinfect bird tables and keep water butts 'sweet'.
I've used my capillary matting white side up - it reflects more light this early in the season. Later on, it doesn't matter.
Pricking out time...
Dahlia Bishop's Children being pricked out into modules.
PRICKING out seedlings is a job you either love or hate. To make it less of a chore, get comfortable and sit down.
Most of us sow seeds (especially small ones) in trays. It's economical, as seed compost is expensive, and you don't have to sow the whole packet.
Once the seedlings have developed true leaves, things start to get crowded. They can become leggy and can fall victim to 'damping off' disease.
Move into modules
As soon as they are big enough to manage, move them into modules, filled with decent multipurpose compost.
Lift up a chunk of the seedlings with an old teaspoon and, holding a seed leaf (never the stem), tease out individual plantlets from the mass.
Choose only the ones with the most vigorous root systems to be potted on.
Make a hole in the compost with a dibber and gently ease the roots into the hole, then gently backfill in.
If the seedlings are more spaced out and have bigger root systems, half-fill the modules, place the seedling in and fill around with compost.
Water in gently
Water in gently with a small watering can. Don't be alarmed if some seedlings topple over - they need to settle in the soil.
Gently firm them back in. Keep them out of direct sunlight or rapidly fluctuating temperatures for a few days and keep well watered.
Depending on how long it is until your last frost, you may have to pot them on again before it's time for them to go outside.
ONE of the problems with starting plants off under glass is that they need to be hardened off.
Even hardy plants get used to regular watering, still air and stable temperatures. Putting them outside to survive in widely fluctuating temperatures, much stronger sunlight and winds will lead to a check in growth, even death if they are caught by frost.
Sturdy slower growth
The effect of hardening off is to thicken and alter the plant's leaf structure and increase leaf waxiness. It ensures new growth is sturdy although much slower.
You need to harden off gradually, over a couple of weeks, depending on weather. On a mild day, start with 2-3 hours of sun in a sheltered location.
Protect seedlings from strong sun, wind, hard rain and cool temperatures. Hardy plants acclimatise faster than tender kinds.
Last frost date
Don't plant out tender plants before the date of the last frost, which is usually the end of May/beginning of June in NE England - but have horticultural fleece ready.
If you don't have a cold frame, place plants in a sheltered position in front of a south-facing wall or hedge and cover with fleece to prevent sun scorch and temperature shock.
I made a small lean-to out of poles and bubble wrap - it's not pretty, but it does the job. It's also sheltered against a west-facing wall, which slowly releases its heat at night.
Bring in at night
For the first week, leave outside during the day, but bring in at night. In the second week, leave outside at night, but keep covered (unless there's a frost forecast).
Towards the end of the fortnight, remove the bubble wrap during the day. If the weather is suitable, leave the plants outside at night but ensure they are covered. After this, leave them uncovered before planting out.
Covering with an old curtain or extra fleece can protect from sudden sharp night frosts.
Hardening off plants
Botched bubble wrap and pole lean-to - does the job.
Utilising the old broken shelter when Nicandra Splash of Cream kicked up a fuss.
SAVE 10% on Suttons Seeds orders
HERE'S a great offer from Suttons - 10 per cent off every order with my exclusive voucher code.
There's lots of seeds you can sow in March - just follow the links below. It's worth ordering popular seeds well in advance of planting them - many varieties sell out quickly.
To claim your discount, when you get to the payment stage, fill in the promotion code box with DIGIT, then the 10 per cent will be deducted from your order.
To browse the catalogue, packed with tried-and-tested favourites, heirloom varieties and cutting-edge new show-stoppers, log on to www.suttons.co.uk.
Onion North Holland Blood; broad bean The Sutton; Agastache Golden Jubilee; cup and saucer vine; sweet corn shoots Bodacious.
SUTTONS takes the hassle out of trying to work out which veg and flower seeds to so at what time of year. Simply click on the links and you will know in a flash!
Pictures of Bodacious and Onion North Holland Blood; Suttons
Watching new life sprout - and it's kind on the bank balance
GROWING plants from seed is incredibly rewarding, from the humle beginnings of mustard and cress on kitchen paper, to a state-of-the-art propagator. It's the most cost-effective way of aquiring new plants, so give it a go.
IF you're getting into seed/cutting propagation seriously, you're going to need an electric propagator.
My pride and joy is "Snow White's glass coffin" - the BioGreen Jumbo Propagator that was my 2013 birthday present.
It's thermostatically controlled, so unlike my other two heated propagators, I can set this one at the optimum temperature for seeds to germinate, or plants to overwinter. It cost £110, but it is in constant use from January to May.
Super 7 propagator
I coped with the Garland Super 7 for five years (retail prices vary wildly - shop about) and before that, a Stewart sealed unit propagator I was bought for my 14th birthday, still going strong.
High light intensity's vital
The most important thing is moving newly-germinated seedlings to the lightest place possible, especially if you've started them off early in the year.
If you don't, you'll get weak, leggy seedlings that can fall victim to damping off disease - you're better off waiting until March when there's more daylight.
Saying that, they will still need a constant temperature - swings between freezing and a superheated greenhouse will spell the end for seedlings.
The jumbo propagator filled with five types of tomato, Livingstone daisies, sweet peas, Agastache, Antirrhinum and Nicandra.
Propagator advice
