Cobea Scandens- how long do the seedlings need to be on a warm windowsill

[Ca1mingC1arySag3]

as opposed to somewhere colder like a conservatory?

A conservatory should be fine. I’m short on space and put them in my greenhouse with a propogator lid on top. Bring them in if there is a frost forecast, if your conservatory temp goes down that low!

The heat is really only required to help the seeds germinate so once a couple of leaves have popped up it can then just use light to start photosynthesizing to produce the molecules it needs to continue growing. I left my chilli seedlings for too long last year on a heated mat and they grew tall and gangly -maybe 3cm before I moved them off and TBH I think that may have had something to do with them not producing a very good crop last year - I had a maybe 15 plants last year and barely got 3-4 chillies off each plant perhaps half what I'd expect - it's hard to say - I'm just speculating. So I would use the heat to help them germinate, wait for a couple of leaves to develop and then take them off. With my seedlings once they are maybe 5-6cm tall I put them outside of the weather is warm and sunny but always bring them back in at night - I don't have a greenhouse or cloche yet - of the weather is a bit cool and gloomy I just keep them in - it's a gradual process of weathering and gardening them off.

I use 1 handful each of John Innes no.1 seed potting compost, agricultural sand/grit and Vermiculite - seems to work very well for everything.