Welcome to the Garden Ninja Gardening Forum! If you have a gardening question that you can't find answers to then ask below to seek help from the Garden Ninja army! Please make your garden questions as specific and detailed as possible so the community can provide comprehensive answers in the online forum below.

Welcome to the ultimate beginner gardening and garden design forum! Where no gardening question is too silly or obvious. This online gardening forum is run by Lee Burkhill, the Garden Ninja from BBC 1's Garden Rescue and a trusted group of experienced gardeners.

Whether you are a beginner or an expert gardener, it's a safe place to ask garden-related questions for garden design or planting. If you have a problem in your garden or need help, this is the Garden Forum for you!

Posting Rules: This space is open for all garden-related questions. Please be polite, courteous and respectful. If you wouldn't say it to your mum's face, then don't post it here. Please don't promote, sell, link spam or advertise here. Please don't ask for 'cheeky' full Garden redesigns here. They will be deleted.

If you need a garden design service, please use this page to book a design consultation. I will block anyone who breaks these rules or is discourteous to the Garden Ninja Community.

Join the forum below with your gardening questions!

Ask a Gardening QuestionGardening Questions & Answers: How to garden questionsSeed sowing this year

Please or Register to create posts and topics.

Seed sowing this year

#1 · 2nd June 2024, 7:54 am

Hi Ninjas

Sorry for the long post firstly but I'd love to hear others experiences on this and any explanations!

Back in March/April I sowed 200+ seeds (mostly all annuals; cosmos, carnations, sunflowers, geraniums, morning glory, marigolds etc). Nearly everything came up but they all got leggy very quickly and so some ended up on the compost heap and others i gave away. I decided i must have planted them too early so sowed them all again in April/May but literally nothing grew and the 10 or so they did have remained very small. I used the same seed, compost, growing conditions and even pots/trays. The seeds I've sown direct outside have also done terribly - sunflowers, wildflowers, poppies etc - I even ended up reseeding patches on my lawn 5-6 times before I got any to grow.

Strangely, the garden itself is flourishing - roses, crab apples, hostas etc are all doing there things and getting very big so what is going on?

#2 · 3rd June 2024, 7:33 am

Hi @tankboy74

It's great to hear you're sowing from seed; it's a great way to get to know plants. However, it can be a bit temporary, especially if you don't follow the recommended timings.

It could be a number of things that have caused your second attempt to stall. The biggest factor in seedling germination is the conditions of:

Temperature
Moisture
Light.

Without knowing where you have been growing these, ie greenhouse or window ledge, it's hard to advise fully.

What I will say is that changes in temperature affect germination quite considerably, along with the growing media. Normal compost does work for seeds, but seed compost (which is far lower in nutrients) usually works better.

Make a note of whats changed so you can learn for next year. Other advice includes not overcrowding your seedlings when sowing them, as you always end up with more plants than you have space for! Go for sowing fewer seeds earlier in the year, ie March rather than June, when it's a bit late to catch up for most 'annual' plants

Don't give up, but learn from what's worked and what hasn't.

Happy growing

Lee