With poor eyesight, I have resisted undertaking propagation in the traditional method of sowing seeds on top of moist compost and have, instead, opted to sow one seed in a coir pellet. although more expensive, it will not be necessary to handle each seedling and thus reduce damage to the young plants when potting on.

The process is quite simple and I have included photographs (sorry not the best I have taken) at each stage to illustrate how it has been done

1. Each pellet contains a little dimple which forms the hole and I place one seed inside the dimple when it is dry
2. The pellet is then soaked in water where it expands rapidly with the hole forming
3. The pellet is then left for a few minutes to drain
4. Ground Vermiculite (ground in a coffee grinder) is then used to fill the hole
5. Pop the pellet into a labelled tray and into the propagator.
6. The thermostat was set to 28°C.

The propagator is ”small” heated Vitopod from Greenhouse Sensation. Although it is classed as “small” it certainly is not measuring 560 x 550mm.

On January 5th 2012 sweet and hot peppers were sown and on January 15th 4 varieties of tomatoes and 1 variety of Cucumbers were sown. Within 5 days, the majority of the peppers had germinated, so the above method works for me!

Seed inserted into the "dimple" of a dry coir pellet

Coir Pellets with the hole filled in with ground vermiculite

Peter Peppers germinating after just 5 days

]]> http://gardeninginthedark.com/2012/01/15/propagation-2012/feed/ 0 dthorpe709 OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA http://gardeninginthedark.com/2012/01/05/there-she-blows/ http://gardeninginthedark.com/2012/01/05/there-she-blows/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:15:05 +0000 Dave http://gardeninginthedark.com/?p=376 ]]> After spending several days last year putting together a small greenhouse, I was devastated this morning to find that the roof and opening window were ripped off in last nights gales.

With the wind now blowing straight into the greenhouse the chances are that the side panels will get blown out too.

A bitter blow……..

On a good note, I will be enjoying a bowl full of plump ripe strawberries in a couple of days time – certainly not expected at this time of the year – while on a bad note, my Christmas potatoes have succumbed to blight. It is possible that all is not lost as I have cut the plants down to ground level in the hope that the tubers will still develop, to a degree, but obviously not as well as hoped. I will have a look at the tubers at the end of November in the hope that a few are in a condition to eat.

Other than that, I have had a quiet week and read an excellent book, The Tomato Book by Simpsons Seeds, and have written a short review which can be found here. I have now started to read a second book by Matt Simpson entitled Chilli, Chili, Chile which I will review in a few days time.

The weather for the next few days is going to continue to be windy but I at least feel happy that the newly erected greenhouse is not going to take off.

After recovering from a badly bruised hand, the past few days has basically been housekeeping. All my pots and troughs are now clean and stored for the winter while collecting the dead leaves that the wind hasn’t dealt with has been a daily task.

The one morning where many saw the first frost is a reminder to prepare the water systems for winter. Automated watering systems and all hose pipe need draining down to protect them from any potential deep freeze we will experience over winter. even the water butt will be drained down in the not too distant future to prevent it from splitting if it freezes solid.

Most importantly, the timing systems will need to be put away in a dry place with the batteries removed to avoid an expensive replacement next spring.

The base we finally decided on was concrete slabs which were laid on a bed of sand and cement. A mixture of silica sand and cement was also brushed between the gaps of the slabs which have been allowed to bed down over the past month.

The instructions for the greenhouse claim that 2 people can construct it in about half a day. Well, either this is very optimistic or, we are not very good at DIY as it has taken over two and a half days – so far – to get it up.

By sundown on Sunday the final piece went into place after a lot of head scratching and some very sore fingers.

Due to a lack of space in our urban garden, the greenhouse is only 6ft x 4ft but this will be sufficient to get next years tomatoes, chillies, peppers and cucumbers off to a really good start while the chillies and peppers will remain in the greenhouse to mature. The tomatoes will be moved outside during spring when they are transplanted into self watering Quadgrows while the cucumbers will be transferred to a plastic “grow house” in their hydroponic system.

There is still plenty of work to do such as a thorough clean, bolting it down and installing the electrics – but these are for another day.

Despite this it is necessary to carry out some good housekeeping ready for that fresh start next spring.

Having emptied all the tomato, pepper and chilli pots a good cleaning program followed. Cleaning pots and removing as much debris as possible in the garden removes many hiding places for slugs and snails giving us a head start for next year’s battle with these pests.

Although it is perfectly possible to overwinter chilies and peppers, I have decided not to this year as I will be changing varieties next year and the plants were not as healthy as they could have been. I am however very pleased with my first ever crop of Hungarian Hot Wax Chillies and will be growing an F1 varient of these, Inferno next year together with the, rather suggestive, Peter Pepper.

Now that it is beginning to cool down after the unusually hot start to the month, the ground is now ready for sowing garlic (which will be ready to harvest in late spring next year) while later on this month we are expecting the arrival of a couple of fruit trees which will grown in a couple of very large stone planters.

This week will really be our last chance and opportunity to get those things done which really need doing. The last of the peppers, tomatoes and chillies will be ready to harvest early next week and our raised beds need a final weeding and plenty of organic matter digging in ready for next season and over wintering garlic.

A couple of large stone planters will be cleared out today and prepared for a couple of dwarf pear tress which are due to arrive next month while the newly laid base for our greenhouse will be cleaned now that it has settled and is solid under foot.

Now that the days are getting shorter, my attention will turn to this blog. Following a minor re-design a new section, Reviews has appeared on the top menu which will document our view on a variety of products and services which you may, or may, find interesting.

Anyway, the sun is shining so it is time to make hay (and another cup of coffee) :)

Navigation structures and pages therefore may be missing for a period of time during this work.

On a positive note, I am delighted with our Hungarian Hot Wax Chilli which continues to produce some nice fruit.

the garden looks a mess this morning with empty sand sacks littering the place and the remaining tomato plants have been blown over. I will leave them lying down while the high winds continue!

For next year we will construct frames for the tomatoes rather than using stakes as we have found that the top-heavy plants are really suffering in the high winds resulting in damaged fruit and stems.

We will start work on the base for the greenhouse tomorrow after a re-think on how it will be constructed. In addition I am getting help in to ensure it is done properly. construction of the greenhouse itself will probably not now start until early October as September will probably remain windy. I am also planning to install electrics in the greenhouse during late autumn ready for the heated propagator.

A couple of fruit trees have been ordered – dual pear and kiwi fruit – which are due to arrive in October as well as another chilli variety and a couple of books..

In fact, this was not down to a terribly poor diet – although there is always room for improvement – but a hereditry condition. So, armed with a prescription for Statins and several booklets it’s time to plan for the future with the aim of reducing the risk of a stroke or heart attack.

It is probably fair to say that my health has improved since “retiring” from work as gardening has provided far more exercise than I would normally have taken. Growing my own veg has also provided a readily available source of fresh produce rather than too much convenience food that was the norm as part of a hectic working lifestyle. And indeed, I am not overweight!

Having already planned to grow even more of my own fruit and veg next year there is still plenty of physical work to be done in the garden over the next couple of months preparing the ground and the base for the greenhouse.

In the meantime, a large quantity of tomatoes, garlic and onions are roasting in the oven ready to make a lovely pasta sauce for dinner tonight.

Taking note of the need for more exercise, we have today planned a long weekend walking and horse riding in the Lakes later this month, I am now going to sit down and read the booklets provided by the GP over a lunch of chicken, garlic, tomato, mozzarella and spinach pizza