09:30 - 07 February 2011
Unless you have a greenhouse there is a limit to what you can sow during the cold months of February and even with a greenhouse you need to choose carefully and be prepared for a cold snap.
It’s one thing if you have a heated greenhouse and you are an experienced grower, then you can start growing all manner of things including greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers, half hardy annuals, bedding plants and more, but most gardeners don’t have this luxury and instead delay their sowing projects until the warmer months of March and April. There is great method in this perceived madness and many gardeners and greenhouse growers use this system to keep heating bills down. It’s one thing sowing things en masse early in the season, but the savvy gardener knows that every seedling of half hardy and tender plant that emerges is going to need some serious TLC to keep it growing in suitable conditions until it is safe to plant outside. What’s more, it’s going to need pricking out, potting on and plenty of space to grow it on. I suppose that’s the bad news, but it gets much better from here on in.
The good news is that there are quite a few seeds that can be sown now, for the most reliable results opt for the hardy ones that can be sown in February, even in a cold greenhouse. Have a go growing carrots in containers. They don’t transplant very well, so it’s better to sow them into their final containers. Fill them up with a well draining multipurpose compost and allow this to acclimatise to the temperature of the greenhouse. You can sow some carrot varieties as early as Feb. in a cold greenhouse or even under cloches in the garden. The protected greenhouse environment nurtures them into more reliable germination and as they don’t need a pollinator, they are perfectly happy growing on in a corner of the greenhouse. Make sure you don’t forget to water them, especially when the weather warms up. Sow a short row every week or fortnight and it won’t be long before you can start harvesting baby carrots for your supper. You can also sow early carrots direct into the greenhouse soil and use up the some of the space before you need to plant out other greenhouse crops. Plant them at the front or at the back, leaving space for your greenhouse tomatoes to be planted when they are large enough to handle.
Brussels Sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Parsnips, beetroot and turnips can also be sown in a cool greenhouse during February.
Sow tomatoes in late February, germinating them in a heated propagator and growing them on a bit. Other greenhouse crops that will spend their entire life in the greenhouse, such as aubergines and cucumbers can also be sown with warmth in Feb. For flowers things like begonias and pelargoniums (commonly called geraniums) can also be sown with warmth in Feb. Don’t forget the half hardy annuals, these can be sown In Feb but many gardeners delay sowing them until March when the weather should be warmer. Antirrhinums, ageratum, lobelia, Nicotiana, stocks and verbena can be sown from February and will produce an earlier flush of flowers.
If you don’t have a heated propagator it’s not a disaster, you can also sow things like sweet peas, peas, broad beans and other hardy annuals that will crop and flower this growing season.
Lettuce and some salad leaves are also good to try too, they are pretty reliable to germinate, but sow a few each week or fortnight, especially early in the season when the temperature can really affect germination. Don’t forget, if at first you don’t succeed, try again. Sow a little each week or every fortnight and when the conditions are right you will soon see lots of green leafy growth on the surface of your pots.
Finally start onion seeds in modules ready to plant out when they have made a good root system.
