2026 - Seeds & Stuff I've bought/acquired today

That's the sort of thing I've been doing. The only drawback is watering in the hot weather. On the bright side, its easier to pick and inspect stuff at a higher level. Maybe more difficult for slugs/snails to access too.
You could make a "keyhole" bed, a circle of pots with one missing for access. Now there's a thought I may be able to use.

Cosmos Apricotta seeds. I grew them a couple of years ago and saved seed, but they must've crossed with the white ones and didn't come true last year. This year I'm only growing these.

Grow lights. I've never bothered before, leaving my peppers or whatever to make do with south facing windowsills. I'm curious to see what difference grow lights can make.

Cosmos Apricotta seeds. I grew them a couple of years ago and saved seed, but they must've crossed with the white ones and didn't come true last year. This year I'm only growing these.

Grow lights. I've never bothered before, leaving my peppers or whatever to make do with south facing windowsills. I'm curious to see what difference grow lights can make.

I found grow lights make a massive difference. What lights have you got?

I got some adjustable stick ones with full spectrum red, white and blue lights. I went down a rabbit hole with all the various recommendations, but I like these ones. It's really just for my peppers, maybe an early dwarf tomato.

Went to the £5 Food pantry this morning because they were selling flower bulbs - 5 packets for £1. I was tempted to say - how much for the lot!!
I actually spent £5 on 25 packets
They're from Verve and were sold at £4 a pack or 3 for £9.
I bought Hyacinths x 9 packs = 27 bulbs
Crocus x 4 = 32 bulbs
Iris Reticulata x 3 = 30 bulbs
Alliums, Gladiator, Purple sensastion & Bulgaricum = 24 bulbs
Scilla Siberica x2 = 30 bulbs
Camassia Quamash x 1 = 10 bulbs
Ranunculus x 2 = 30 bulb thingies.

That's 183 things I need to plant.

I can't match that but I did buy a bag of nerines and a bag of flouncy blousy gladioli. I'm never going to get into profit on the garden balance at this rate. I also bought some dahlias and onion sets at Home Bargains on Tuesday.

I got some adjustable stick ones with full spectrum red, white and blue lights. I went down a rabbit hole with all the various recommendations, but I like these ones. It's really just for my peppers, maybe an early dwarf tomato.

What's interesting is you don't even need grow lights specifically unless you want to take the peppers from seed to harvest. For young plants, any standard cool white LED battens will do. Last year I got two 5ft LED battens for about £28, then wired them to cheap plugs. All of the pepper plants I grew to sell stayed under there for a few months and did great. High powered grow lights are only really necessary for fruiting (and c*****bis).

I got some adjustable stick ones with full spectrum red, white and blue lights. I went down a rabbit hole with all the various recommendations, but I like these ones. It's really just for my peppers, maybe an early dwarf tomato.

What's interesting is you don't even need grow lights specifically unless you want to take the peppers from seed to harvest. For young plants, any standard cool white LED battens will do. Last year I got two 5ft LED battens for about £28, then wired them to cheap plugs. All of the pepper plants I grew to sell stayed under there for a few months and did great. High powered grow lights are only really necessary for fruiting (and c*****bis).

C******bis.......now that's a thought 

Probably modified for the best V.

Agreed! Its not a word we want to appear on searches.