Spring Madness

Seed sowing - where to begin! I started in February with the sweet peas. These germinated within 2 weeks but I left them inside for too long and they are now leggy! I also started the antirrhinum, tomatoes, courgettes, cucumber and chillis in February - with the exception of the chillis, these germinated quite well within 2-3 weeks. The chillis are still germinating.

What have I learnt -

1. Sweet peas like the cold - they are now fully outside but are leggy so flowering will be delayed.

2. Peat free seed compost dries out and I watered it from underneath, but left it too long and the bottom was soggy. This does not aid growth and can lead to damping off - where the new seedlings wither. This has happened with my antirrhinum seeds. It is therefore better to either water seeds gently from above or to use capillary matting to avoid over soaking.

Which seeds to sow when:

a) Biennials - best sown in June before the longest day to ensure flowering the following year. These include Sweet William, honesty, Sweet Rocket, Wallflowers.

b) Perennials - end of March

c) Hardy annuals - September and then overwinter if you have enough greenhouse space, or the end of of March

d) Half Hardy annuals - end of March.

There are some plants that take longer to germinate or need a longer growing season to facilitate flowering or fruiting that year and these are:

• sweet peas - sow in October of February

• tomatoes, chillis and cucumbers - sow in February

• antirrihnums - sow in February