newbie questions

[eclectusuk]

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Hi, I'm a bit of a newbie gardener in Scotland, built an 8 x 6 polycarb greenhouse last year and like the books say I wish it was bigger..

This year I'm growing tomatos chillis and peppers a long with growing my border and basket plants, any tips you can throw in would be great on this..

Anyway, a couple of weeks back I planted my first seeds (being as it was the same time as last year and had no problems) and most of them sprouted no probs. They are all at near windows or window sills.

First of all I've noticed that the first set of leaves (being the initial feed for the plants forget the name) on some of my tomato seedling are wilting and dying. The new real leaves if I can call them that seem to be fine, but it seems to me a bit early to be happening...

Second. My plants which are Godetia, Aster, Anaglis, Begonia seem to be very slow after an inital fast germination. Also I have a tray of marigolds that I think are hardier than the rest that seem to be withering at the first set of leaves, I did exactly as I did last year and I had no problems. I don't water too much and the only thing I think it could be is cold or not enough light although the heating is off during the day while we're at work and the window where they are at faces North, I don't think it is the cold or lack of light.

Thirdly, can anyone advise me on heating my 8 x 6 greenhouse, I have a small paraffin heater but all it does is keep the temps about 1.5 degrees above the outside temp although it is rather cold at the moment, also should I block up any spaces between the aluminium frame that seem the norm of any other B&Q one that I've seen, theres not many but heat could escape or should I leave them for ventilation?

Any advice on anything here would be great

[eclectusuk]

Oh and I have just put the seedlings under 60 watt of compact fluros in desklamps on the window sill..

Can I give the tomato seedlings (Tigerella, Marmande, Costoluto, MM, Money Maker, GD and F1 Tumbler) 24/7 of this light?

Also could the wilting leaves be that the compost was for seeds and may need some nutes now?

e

[WildLife]

Bagora,
Alot of questions. First the green house.
This is your first year? How did you grow last year
that you talk about? The green house should be
air tight in the winter to hold heat.any gaps youare talking about should be closed. There should be some kind of
vents, windows, doors that by opening and closeing will let
you regulate the heat. Most people open vents in the day if the sun warms it to much. If no sun help then a
gas/propane type heater is used. Air tight a night.
1.5 deg f ? difference is no difference.
Seedling could have frost damage to colytons and is why
they are dieing. I don't know what temps you are
getting in Scot but I imagine than are not warm.
Seal your green house and get a propane heater to
run untill the house is aleast 50 deg f.
carefull with the carbon monox when entering the
house.

[eclectusuk]

Originally Posted by WildLife

Bagora,
Alot of questions. First the green house.
This is your first year? How did you grow last year
that you talk about? The green house should be
air tight in the winter to hold heat.any gaps youare talking about should be closed. There should be some kind of
vents, windows, doors that by opening and closeing will let
you regulate the heat. Most people open vents in the day if the sun warms it to much. If no sun help then a
gas/propane type heater is used. Air tight a night.
1.5 deg f ? difference is no difference.
Seedling could have frost damage to colytons and is why
they are dieing. I don't know what temps you are
getting in Scot but I imagine than are not warm.
Seal your green house and get a propane heater to
run untill the house is aleast 50 deg f.
carefull with the carbon monox when entering the
house.

Wildlife, thanks for the reply, would a propane heater be ok for my 8 x 6 and I've read it causes lots of moisture, and when you say to seal the greenhouse in winter doesn't the fumes from the heater need some sort of ventilation?

1.5 oC it was, sorry I should have made that clear.

I have an automatic vent and sliding door for ventilation during any hot days we get.

I did grow last year but from 7 Alicante plants (my first time) there were really only 3 that cropped well. I also had jalapenos that didn't crop well and an Apache chilli plant that did great. I tried cucumber and aubergine but they came to nothing. I think a lot of it was down to the poor compost I bought for the pots, this year I'm using growbags.

I don't know if it would be frost damage to the colytons, the plants are at a window sill that has a radiator underneath although the window can be draughty as I noticed last night with the wind blowing on it. I've added 2 desklamps with a 40 watt cf and a 20 watt cf to them. Can I give them 24/7 of this or just use it at night?

The first set of true leaves are out although the colytons are withered, do you think its time to repot and that maybe the seedling compost is spent?

Thanks

[WildLife]

Hey

Yes propane gives moisture.And cabon monox.
I am by no means an expert. There are heaters that vent to the outside. There are many types. The plants by the window can be damaged from cold air. The plants should be away from the glass at least 18 inches. The light 24 hours
is not a good idea. If you have strong sun, black water jugs
will heat up and provide warmth at night. space heaters
electric can heat things up. What ever heat source you
use, I would try to keep the green house at least 50 deg F.
Spotlights get warm and could heat things up, 24 hour light won't kill the plants, but I personelly think plants should have a few dark hours, Alaska grows some big plants with 24 hours of light. So It is your call.
Wild "its all good" Life