2021 What I sowed today

I was let down with my Frenchi red torpedo onion seed. They were supposed to be viable to 2022 but nothing has appeared. In desperation I have sown some from another supplier which are out of date.....but we shall see.

I found a packet of unopened leek seeds from 2002 so as an experiment I have sown them. If any do germinate after 19 years I will be very surprised.

Re-sowed  chillies (hot lemon, ancho, fatalii yellow, serrano, habenero maya, cayenne - what a depressing list of failures!) and peppers (long red marconi, asti red, californian gold).
Sowed cabbage earliest of all.

I sowed freebie pepper seeds Long Red Marconi on 24 Jan, had given up and just ignored them,  they have only just popped.  Having given up I sowed 3 more on the surface of a different pot of compost as some pepper instructions say dont exclude light, no show.  I even put some to chit in the airing cupboard on 12 Feb but as yet no sign of life.  Either Long Red Marconi have  temperamental germination or it was a duff pkt.  I might end up with more than necessary.

Sowed 9 different packets of lettuce to see which are still OK. Also 5 different peppers. Not many aubergine seeds so sowed just 3 seeds for now. Do they cross with anything or could I save aubergine seeds without any hassle?

Aubergines are like other Solanaceae, in that they are self-pollinating, and being from the Old World seem unlikely to cross with their New World cousins such as tomatoes or peppers. They will potentially cross-pollinate between varieties, though.

Also you have to leave the fruit until it's overripe and inedible in order for the seeds to develop.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/...gplant.htm

24 red wilko shallots into modules

Re-sowed  chillies (hot lemon, ancho, fatalii yellow, serrano, habenero maya, cayenne - what a depressing list of failures!) and peppers (long red marconi, asti red, californian gold).
Sowed cabbage earliest of all.

I sowed freebie pepper seeds Long Red Marconi on 24 Jan, had given up and just ignored them,  they have only just popped.  Having given up I sowed 3 more on the surface of a different pot of compost as some pepper instructions say dont exclude light, no show.  I even put some to chit in the airing cupboard on 12 Feb but as yet no sign of life.  Either Long Red Marconi have  temperamental germination or it was a duff pkt.  I might end up with more than necessary.

Last year I had real problems getting Long Red Marconi to germinate. It was a free packet from GrowSeed. Think one out of about twenty seeds came up, so the rest of the packet got chucked into a garden border. Some pepper seeds just seem to be really stubborn, I've got three varieties of sweet pepper refusing to germinate, not old seed and the supplier maintains they have a good germination rate.

Sowed 5 different varieties of tomatoes, 2 with a sow by date of 2018, also some cucumber and courgettes

Re-sowed  chillies (hot lemon, ancho, fatalii yellow, serrano, habenero maya, cayenne - what a depressing list of failures!) and peppers (long red marconi, asti red, californian gold).
Sowed cabbage earliest of all.

I sowed freebie pepper seeds Long Red Marconi on 24 Jan, had given up and just ignored them,  they have only just popped.  Having given up I sowed 3 more on the surface of a different pot of compost as some pepper instructions say dont exclude light, no show.  I even put some to chit in the airing cupboard on 12 Feb but as yet no sign of life.  Either Long Red Marconi have  temperamental germination or it was a duff pkt.  I might end up with more than necessary.

Mine came up fine but I then had a mass damping off event

Re-sowed  chillies (hot lemon, ancho, fatalii yellow, serrano, habenero maya, cayenne - what a depressing list of failures!) and peppers (long red marconi, asti red, californian gold).
Sowed cabbage earliest of all.

I sowed freebie pepper seeds Long Red Marconi on 24 Jan, had given up and just ignored them,  they have only just popped.  Having given up I sowed 3 more on the surface of a different pot of compost as some pepper instructions say dont exclude light, no show.  I even put some to chit in the airing cupboard on 12 Feb but as yet no sign of life.  Either Long Red Marconi have  temperamental germination or it was a duff pkt.  I might end up with more than necessary.

Last year I had real problems getting Long Red Marconi to germinate. It was a free packet from GrowSeed. Think one out of about twenty seeds came up, so the rest of the packet got chucked into a garden border. Some pepper seeds just seem to be really stubborn, I've got three varieties of sweet pepper refusing to germinate, not old seed and the supplier maintains they have a good germination rate.

Are Long Red Marconi  a particularly nice pepper?  I only sowed to have an alternative to orange bell peppers that came up prolifically.

I don't know, slugs got into most of them so they were rotting by the time they were picked. They were quite late to ripen.

Sowed Rainbow Chard, Fordhook Giant Chard, Samish Spinach and Wizard Field beans and Bunyards Exhibition Broad beans.
All in modules - they'll stay indoors at room temp until there are signs of germination.