When to plant?

[Florabella]

This will be my first attempt to grow anything from seed, and wanted to try something easy, that could be done from seed. I fancy trying cherry tomatoes, courgettes, peppers and chillies. But when should they be planted? Can they go straight outside? And can they be grown in pots? Thanks

All those seeds can be started of indoors, in the warm. They can also be transplanted to large pots, very large for the courgettes.
They can only go outside after the last danger of frost, which is usually at the end of April, but depends on where you live.
You will need somewhere sheltered to put them until then. If you’re in the North of England or Scotland, you’ll probably have to keep the peppers and Chillies in a greenhouse or cold frame.

Thanks. I'm southern England, so hope that will help. Should I be planting seeds indoors now then?

If you read the seed packet it will tell you when to plant.

You could get a seed tray plus a special seed compost and start off now on a windowsill.

Hi,

Grow dwarf green beans! They are upright and very, very easy to grow, they crop like crazy and it's a lot of fun lifting the leaves and finding yet another crop of perfect beans. I have never gone wrong with them. The dwarf variety is easiest if you only have pots or a small patch. Start then off in March indoors and just follow the instructions on the packet to plant them out after the risk of frost has gone, which is usually around April.

Herbs are also good fun to grow and look nice in little pots - coriander, chives, basil, parsley are all easy to grow assuming you manage to germinate the seeds successfully!

Another really easy thing to grow is radishes, you sow direct into a well-dug patch and then just wait. If you just sow a small number of seeds every few days, then you won't end up with them all cropping ripe at the exact same time.

Last year I had a lot of success growing rocket, but it likes cooler weather and tends to run away to seed if you don't keep it cool and keep eating the leaves. I saved an absolute fortune in overpriced salad bags, and once it ran to seed I collected the seeds and hope to try again this year!

Chillies you need to start right away indoors, they need a LOT of warmth and sun to get a good crop. My mum always had them on a sunny windowsill and they did great, but I've never had a good crop of them outside.

Courgettes are fantastic. You might only want a handful of plants as the plants grow really big - I usually pick three good seedlings and give the other seedlings away. They need PLENTY of space, as they have huge leaves and you dont want them overlapping as they can get this silvery mildew on the leaves that causes problems (always water the plants at the base, never water the leaves).

Cherry Toms are ideal for a beginner. When you've got the seedlings going, you want to get your tomatoes planted out after any risk of frost is over, in the sunniest position possible, up against a sunny wall is fab if you can manage it. Last year, i started lots of plants, kept some inside for longer and put some out quite early, my best plants were ones i kept indoors for longer. They don't appreciate cold nights or cold wind.

I grew some cherry toms in a hanging basket, mostly for a laugh, but we got quite a few off it.

Should I be planting seeds indoors now then? Chillis, peppers need a long season, and tomatoes you will want cropping as easrly as possible, so sow now. Courgettes can be left 3 weeks.

Only sow a few seeds of each. Tomatoes you need about 6 plants, so try 10 seeds, you'll need only one or two chilli plants (although they are very decorative!) Courgettes you may not need more than two plants. Germination tends to be all or nothing - it's nothing to do with you, it's whether seed happens to like the combination of warmth, moisture, light at the point where you sowed it - so planting only a few seeds gives you plenty left to try again if the first lot don't take.