Loads of seeds that I've sown in the greenhouse this year haven't germinated, that i put down to cold weather at the start...the later sowings too though didn't germinate either...so i thought maybe it was the seed I'd saved ....other odd things too happened in the greenhouse..at times I'd go in there,and it looked as if the seed trays had been disturbed, the compost 'fluffed 'up.
Then last week i purchased some more cucumber and summer/winter squash seeds to sow to replace those that hadn't germinated .....went out in the greenhouse last evening to check them,and found them all on top of the compost, well at least the husks!!....
Guess I've got Patbarrs problem..mice?
What really galled me though was that i had bought these seeds.....not so bad if they were ones you were given, or had saved, but i paid good money .....ooohhh!!....
Guess though that that explains my poor germination this year, little blighters...do they just eat the bigger seeds? or do they go for all sorts? I've had trays of various Salvia seeds that haven't germinated, and usually they come up like cress.I'd saved some seeds from a lovely blue salvia that i bought last year, lost it in the winter,but wasn't too bothered as I thought that I could get more from the seeds, wrong...
What can I do about this little problem? Have others experienced it before?
Another thing that bugged me yesterday was that I had to puchase a tomato plant!!....£1.29 for a titchy little thing.
I've grown my own, as per usual, but none of the tiny toms came through, such as Gardeners Delight, and they're the ones we eat the most of...I couldn't bring myself to buy more than one plant..though we usually have at least 1/2 dozen in the greenhouse/garden of this sort.
As against that , i was taken to the garden centre to spend my garden vouchers i had for my birthday a while back, filled two trollies with goodies...at the moment they sat on my patio...I'm waiting for the rain to stop so's I can go and drool over them again.
Mystery of disappearing seeds!!...
I replied to this thread yesterday - I wonder where it went?
I can't remember everything I said now (short term memory loss!)
I was saying that I searched for any way in for the mice, other than the door, and blocked it up thoroughly and then get traps ready in case that fails. I didn't need the traps fortunately, and yes, they certainly go for the larger seeds. They ate my sweetcorn and beans and even had a rummage in the seed tray with the pinch of lucky dip from the round robin, but I don't know what they took out of it. I had noticed one interesting seedling which was quite large and a bronzy colour the day before and it wasn't there when they had been in, so I was absolutely furious. I even thought about fastening Blossom the cat in, but she would probably do more damage than the mice, and I doubt whether she would catch anything.
Also quite a few of the bought seeds haven't germinated, three varieties from Edwin Tucker and one from Real seeds, although everything else from Real seeds absolutely romped away very vigorously. It was their Pattypan squash which failed to germinate and last week they wrote to me to say they had had a bad lot of this seed and mine may have been from that batch, so I could have a replacement free next year. I was very impressed with this as I hadn't even complained. I've tried quite a few new seed suppliers this year and found Real Seeds to be outstanding in quality and customer service.
I can't help you with the blue salvia problem, and I've lost quite a few plants which usually self seed outside. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that a few Cerinthe Major will germinate.
I didn't save seeds from the Sungold tomatoes, which are my favourite for flavour, as I thought they were F1s, but a few which fell off and escaped being cleared up in the autumn have happily germinated in the greenhouse border and are making lovely strong plants. I've potted up the best ones and will nurture them to see if any come true. It will be interesting to see if they taste as wonderful as their parent, or if some of them are quite different. I also think garden centres have a cheek to charge the prices they do when you know how easy things are to grow. I've even seen them charging £4 for some things which can be quite as invasive as weeds.
I hope the rain has stopped for long enough for you to plant all your goodies. I'm hoping to plant the beans out today, but it is rather cold and windy. There will probably be a frost tonight if I risk it. The problem is that they are twining round one another and anything else they can grab in the greenhouse. I thought I'd sown them late enough this year to avoid this, but they have grown twice as fast to make up for the late start.
Yep, i'd thought of using the cat too, bur he's too old ,and used to his creature comforts to put up with sitting in a cold greenhouse...and as you said, he's probably make more mess than the mouse!
Oddly enough, the seeds I'd lost were from the Real Seed Co. perhaps they enclose invisable mouse in with their orders....just to bump up sales...LOL
this is the first time I've ordered from them, in fact I only found them by mistake while i was looking for a site that sold cheap veg seeds that I'd come accross before(of course couldn't find it again)So I eneded up ordering all sorts of things that I really wasn't after, but sounded delicious, and i like the fact that they tell you how to save the seeds, interesting to see if I do this though, always have good intentions, but never seem to manage it.Probably because by the end of the summer, the labels gone missing, and I can't remember the name of the seeds ...
We must have had a cold night the other day because my basil, on the top shelf in the greenhouse has gone brown, and looks to be on it's way out, also some of the Ipomoeas too have yellowed.
hopefully we'll get to the allotment today, and i think I'll sow some bean seeds straight into the soil instead, see what will gobble them up here!!... Poor slugs have had a measerly fare this year, as most of the stuff wer're growing is still in cells here , awaiting for the weather to improve.