When to start seeds in a greenhouse?

[Wontsomebodypleasethinkoftheca]

Hi, I'm fairly new to gardening so please forgive my basic question, but is it too early to start seeds in a mini cupboard size greenhouse?

I've googled it but the answers relate to proper glass style greenhouses rather than smaller plastic ones that are the size of a cupboard (or does it not make any difference?) Any advice would be appreciated I am planning to buy one this year and use seeds to make bedding/pot annuals rather than buying them but I've never done this before.

I haven't got as far as deciding on the exact plants I will grow yet and I haven't got any space to start them off inside, I live inland in the North of England if that's relevant. Thanks

You need to know what you are sowing first! Seed packets all have sowing/planting out/ harvesting dates on them. I wouldn't sow anything yet - much too early. Even if they sprout you can't plant them out until at least April or May.

Sorry posted too soon. Most bedding plants are susceptible to frost hence you need to wait until the threat of that has passed. Spend a few weeks planning what you are going to grow and buying the seeds and start off in March.

Thank you I think I am just a bit over keen to get started! I might go and choose some seeds today with the DCs as a first step

Use the seed packets as your guidelines, they all have the basic instructions printed on them in some form or other. I've added a picture of two packets of flower seeds from different companies to show how the instructions are displayed.
Use this time of year to plan what you want to grow, its almost as much fun as the actual growing!

The seed packets should give you an idea of temperatures needed for germination (the seed to sprout), so use this as well as they vary massively for different plants. Eg tomato and chilli seeds need constant warm temperatures that you won’t get in an outdoor greenhouse until you’re well into may in the north. On the flip side, some seeds like cool night temps and some even need a spell of fridge temp weather to sprout. Google is your friend here

Thanks for the tips. I bought a load of seeds that you can sow directly outside from March so I'm guessing they are the more hardy varieties. I plan to start a few off on my window sills (I managed to find some space) and then put them in my growhouse thing in March . Hopefully if they are a bit bigger when I plant them out then the slugs won't destroy them as much!

Depends what they are. Hardy annuals you can start on kitchen windowsill now and put outside once they're ready. I've got Ammi and verbena starting now but they can go out in the cold frame once they're into bigger pots.

Some bulbs can go in now too. I'm putting ranunculus corms into trays this weekend to sprout them because the mice ate them in the ground last time I tried!! Soak corms, plant and then out into the mini greenhouse once they're up as they're cold season growers.

Less hardy like cosmos you need to wait a few weeks.

The back of the packets tell you when to start.

Exciting isn't it 😁

Some of my seeds say to sow now eg squash & chilli's. But I'll keep them indoors for quite a while before transferring to outdoor greenhouse.

Squash and chilli are tender plants so don’t move them out until there’s no chance of frost. In the north this can be late may/early June. Chilli plants are not too big so you can keep them indoors for a long time So you can sow soon. Squash are massive and fast growing so I wouldn’t sow them until early May.

I will be showing chilli's in my window sill propogators.
Sweet peas with a plastic bag over in the shed window, they'll germinate when it is warm enough and then grow strongly.
When I had a greenhouse I would also sow leeks in a big pot and just leave until big enough to plant out.

Ooh, that’s just reminded me that I need to do my sweet peas! They’re pretty hardy

I'm Scotland so won't be popping ours out until may at the earliest. We've started lots of different annuals and some veg on bathroom, bedroom and kitchen windowsills but if you're popping them straight out and don't have the sill space I'd look that the seeds are hardy and closer to sow around April/May.

I've started sowing seeds today in the conservatory.
Verbena boriansis, scented verbena, marigold, aquilegia and lobelia.