New to growing veg, any advice please?

Hi,

I am very new to all of this so could do with some advice please

Last weekend I bought a small plastic type greenhouse and in trays have planted pepper, tomatoe & cucumber seeds. What would be the bes feed for these and how often should I be feeding them? should i kee the door open during the daytime? What happens once they start growin do I need to transfer them into bigger tubs? See I told you I was ne to this;-)

I have also dug out a part of the garden and planted carrot, swede spring onion seeds. How often should I feed them and what with? Do have to move them once they start growing or just leave them be?

Do you spray your crops or go totally organic

-- Jemmy

Reply to
Jemmy
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Growing your own food? Welcome to the dark side. You have a lot of learning to do :)

Yes, you will want to keep track of your greenhouse temps and for sure keep the door open on sunny days, and even days that are calm and overcast. Put a thermometer in there and you'll be surprised at how high the temps can go! One afternoon without cracking the vent can cook all your seedlings into soup.

Having said that, make sure your GH is secured so a stiff breeze doesn't carry it off. Tie it down with whatever!

Google this group for seed starting advice - lots of folks have been down the road you are just starting on. There will be conflicting advice but if you are truly concerned then don't put all your seeds into one method, try a couple on for size and see what works for you.

You will not need to feed seedlings until after they develop their true leaves. Seeds contain all the nutrition they need esp. at first! True leaf-stage is when you can think about potting on your seedlings to larger containers. I fertilize with a WEAK mix at this stage, give them a day in the dark to recover, then feed again when planting out. Some plants want a side dressing when they begin to bloom.

Sprays come out when I can't stand the pests anymore - but that's indiscriminate, and likely to hurt the good bugs as well as the bad bugs. A better choice IMO is exclusion - if you have a crop that bugs love, put some floating row cover over it and say goodbye to re- applying every time you water or it rains.

The plants you have seeded in the garden don't get moved. Some plants will over-winter for you: in Z5, that means onions, spinach, garlic. First crops of the season are from over-wintered plants for me.

Good luck - do more research! As Mulder might say, the Truth is out there - waiting for you!

Reply to
gonzo

I assume you have bought one of the very small greenhouses about 3 feet x 2 feet x 4 feet high. If so then you need to open it up before the sun hits it. These small houses heat up very rapidly and can kill your plants very quickly. The humidity is also very high and this will also cause sever problems so making it issential to ventilate. I used one of these things for two years. Everything I grew in them died. I eventually left the thing open all the time and compared it will tomatoes I grew outside in pots right next to it. The outside grown tomatoes ripened first. I threw it away and got a proper house.

Buy a good vegetable gardening book. There are plenty out there on the net.

PDM

Reply to
PDM

It's a poor gardener that blames his tools. Work with your green house and decide what it can and cannot do. I presume you didn't buy a commercial greenhouse because of monetary constraints (lot of that goin' round these days).

Reply to
Billy

This was bought before I knew any better when I just started growing veg. I learned very quickly. I now use two greenhouses 6' x 4' and 8' x 6' and have access to a 20' x 8'. The very small greenhouses are a waste of money as they are too difficult to manage. I'm talking abut heating up to 30c from 8c in a matter of minutes once the sun hits the things. They might actually work if there was any top ventilation. I know many others at my allotment who have bought these things and thrown them out after a season. They are useless. The smallest house I recommend is 6' x 4' with top ventilation.

PDM.

Reply to
PDM

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