Veg seeds to start in January

[sheepdreams]

Hi I have a small area of garden earmarked to grow veg. I’m a novice at gardening and wondering if there is anything I could be planting/starting off in January?

There are things you could start now, but generally they might need a propagator to get them started. I don’t usually start things until February at the earliest but you could use this time to enrich the soul and get all the weeds out ready.

You could start things like chillis, peppers and aubergines as they need a long growing season but they do better being kept under glass for the whole season so they’re not ideal for a veggie patch.

things like sprouts need sowing in February but they take almost a whole year until harvest so you may not want something taking up a spot for that long. Some people start their tomatoes soon, these can’t go outside until May though so just be aware how big a tomato plant will get, inside, in four and a half months before you start any 😂😂

What do you fancy growing and how much space do you have?

you could use this time to enrich the soul and get all the weeds out ready.

Love the typo

@PritiPatelsMaker well… that’s exactly what it does 😂😂

How small an area and what is it you want to grow there?

Garlic would probably still be fine, and you could get some broad beans in too, if you want to put things outside.

I follow Charles Dowding sowing times and he says nope in January! Have chilli seeds ready for early Feb though.
The most common newbie veg gardener mistake is starting seeds too early and having a load of leggy weak plants on your windowsills that can't go outside yet. So I'd hold fire, plan and get the space ready.

But I did only put my garlic in a few weeks ago and it's growing well so I agree with pp that'd probably be fine if you wanted to!

I do pea shoots, micro greens and bean sprouts now as indoor windowsill crops but I’m leaving most of my seeds until February. Daylight is crucial for strong plants, if you start them early they become weak and leggy, leave starting them a couple more weeks and you will get much stronger seedlings.

i always want to start something in January and get such joy from growing that the indoor crops fill that gap for me.

Dear all thank you so much for the advice. The space is only about 4ft by 2 ft so not a lot. I’m going to prep the foil and wait. I’m keen to grow veg that are expensive to buy but could be grown at home i.e mange tout, dwarf French beans, raspberries, tomatoes with flavour!

have you looked at square foot gardening? 4 x 2 ft is quite a small space, but you could definitely get a couple of tomatoes in surrounded by French beans. You could possibly squeeze in some mangetout although they do take a bit more space. Raspberries are thugs and I’d consider leaving them out or using a big pot. I have a heated, lit bench so do start things off in January but the ones I do in April do just as well in the long run.

I do pea shoots, micro greens and bean sprouts now as indoor windowsill crops but I’m leaving most of my seeds until February. Daylight is crucial for strong plants, if you start them early they become weak and leggy, leave starting them a couple more weeks and you will get much stronger seedlings.

I planted Basil yesterday. I hope they germinate and also, don't get too leggy!

If you can, put some canes in along the north edge of the bed so that you can have some height. You can put mange tout in now [or very soon depending on where you are], they will cling onto the canes, and then put tomatoes in when the last frost has been and gone and the soil warmed up. And put climbing french beans in when the mange tout are out. Forget dwarf french beans, with that space being so small allow them to climb up and out of the way rather than take precious space up on the ground. I'd probably put 2 vine tomatoes growing up 2 canes in that space, plus 3 bush tomatoes like Red Alert in between and slightly to the front which will grow and be out midsummer, and then you can maybe put a late batch of salads in as by then, all your tomatoes will be fruiting high up and you'll have space down below for other things.

I'd also put some strawberries in now, right along the front; raspberries really need some dedicated space if you want a decent amount.

Consider climbing French beans rather than dwarf. You could get 4 plants in 1 sq ft.

I find this is a really good place to buy seeds from and also has a great guide for what to plant when www.realseeds.co.uk/Monthlysowing.html

This is also a great website for advice and also had brilliant videos for how to prepare your soil and how to best plan and grow things on charlesdowding.co.uk/sowing-timeline-for-vegetables/

https://youtube.com/@CharlesDowding1nodig

I really like the no dog philosophy for planting and growing, and the real seeds website for buying seeds that are proven varieties and you can save your own seed from.

Best of luck with growing in the coming year!

Dear all thank you I’m blown away by the time you have taken to reply and the detailed advice which I will be following. Thank you so much. I’ll let you know how I get on. I’m sure I’ll have more questions along the way.

This a great website loaded with a great ideas:

empressofdirt.net/

Get some deep pots and use gro-bags if you have somewhere to put them.
You can grow edibles in borders.
Blueberries usually are ok in pots.

Garlic and shallots should have gone in before Christmas but you could try.

Grow things you eat, and plan to grow things for next winter. I currently have kale, perpetual spinach, pak choi, spring greens, some herbs and spring onions.