Ready to plant out?

[NCGardener]

I have recently grown these and I don't have a clue what I am doing!

They are Foxgloves, Dianthus Verbascum, Forget me not. I have a lot more than this, but these are the largest.

Do you think these are ready to plant out or do I need to grow in pots for longer? They are currently in 13cm pots. They are about 9 cm high in terms of foliage

They will be going in to a raised planter and also a large-ish bedding area.

I have tried google and YouTube but they dont often show process from seed to the end

Thank you!

They look a bit small to me and are likely to be slug fodder.
I’d leave them until they have more leaves and are more robust.
Have you got a sheltered area outside where you can put them up off the ground?

Thank you.

I have a small pretend green house which is quite full. And the stuff I've left in there is starting to die due to the heat. Maybe I should bring things out during the day and put them away at night?

I have some makeshift cold frames and crate boxes that I could place off the ground. Thanks again

While it’s warm I’d leave the plants out at night, but raised up.

You could get away with planting out the foxgloves at the front (they aren't much troubled by slugs). The rest needed to be larger. As a rule of thumb, get them to the size of the perennials at the garden centre. Or at least to the stage where the roots are filling your 13cm pot and the top growth is wider than the pot.

But there's no need for them to be in the greenhouse. It's warm enough for you to bring them out without needing to harden off.

That's a great piece of info, thanks so much @MereDintofPandiculation

I've kept these in pots and they are all pretty big!! Do I plant these out now or wait until spring now?

I don't understand the last frost guidance :/ ( found info about when to plant seeds but it when to plant out)

Thank you

It's up to you. Either plant out now so they have a bit of growing time to recover from the disturbance, or plant them out next spring. If they're in the ground there's things like slugs to worry about, if they're in pots they're dependent on you for water and protection - the roots are more likely to freeze if they're in pots compared with in the soil. So think about your conditions and your dedication as a gardener and see which would be best for you. Or plant some of them out and keep the rest as "reserves".

They look too small to plant out to me, I'd say grow them on a bit more, then put them into a bigger pot and after that keep in a cold frame or protected from too much cold somewhere, like against a sheltered wall, then plant in spring.

I would plant them in a nursery bed, and protect from slugs as best I could. ( cut strips of brambles to surround them)
I think plants do better if they can put their roots down, the pots are a little small and may freeze. The ground will protect them better.

You can then move them into position in the spring.

@ButteryMash The picture was taken back at the beginning of Aug. They've had two and a half months growth since then. OP says she's kept them in pots and they're all pretty big now.

I would risk planting out the foxglove and the forgetmenots, neither of which seem to be what my slugs like. I would want the forget me nots to be in place when they flower and set seed which is pretty early on. The foxgloves you could leave until spring but they could get well established by an additional few months being planted out rather than being over wintered in a pot where they have probably used up all the nutrients and their roots are likely to be getting a bit root bound.

I don't know about dianthus because I don't grow them.