Vegetable Seeds to Sow Indoors in February & March

Posted on 04. Mar, 2010 by Tracey in How To Grow Veg

If its too cold and wet for sowing your vegetable seeds outdoors, then why not start some vegetable seeds off on the windowsill in the comfort of your own home?

What do you need to Start Seeds off Indoors?

A Propagator with lid that fits on your windowsill,
A small bag of compost or seed compost,
One or a few packets of the following vegetables seeds.

Windowsill Requirements:

The windowsill must be a sunny one if possible (for when the sun actually shines!)
Beware of windowsills with radiators underneath them, this may make your seedlings grow faster which will make them leggy and weak.

Vegetable Seeds to Sow Indoors
(under propagators or in the greenhouse)

Red Tomato's

1. Tomatoes

There’s a tomato for everyone! Very tiny, to shop size to plum to beefcake sized. Grab some growbags or grow in pots. Start sowing now indoors in a seed tray on a windowsill or in a propagator in a light and warm place.

Sow: January to March
Harvest: July to September
Varieties:

Very Early to harvest and centiflor varieties from The Real Seed Catalogue,
A great organic range of medium to large Tomatoes available from The Organic Catalogue.
Beginner? Try Tumbling Tom, Hundreds and Thousands, or Sweet n Neats, which produce lots of tiny red or yellow tomatoes, can be grown in pots or hanging baskets.
Can’t decide? why not try Dobies Twin Tomato Plants with two varieties (Dasher and Santorange) on one Plant!

Green Baby Pepper Plant

2. Peppers

Start your pepper seeds off in a propagator on sunny windowsill, or in a heated propagator or sow in 7cm pots in a greenhouse. Peppers are easy to grow in pots and take up less space than tomatoes.

Pepper seeds take 7-21 days to germinate so you may need to be patient and remember a warm temperature is the key to germination.

Sow: December to March
Harvest: August to October
Varieties:
Mowhawk F1, California Wonder, Ingrid, Sweet Nardello or
Unusual varieties like Sweet Chocolate or Purple Beauty from Real Seeds Catalogue.

Transplant pepper seedlings from your propagator into individual pots when they outgrow their space and compost. Keep these pots in a sheltered, light and warm place like a mini greenhouse, covered with frost protection fleece until May.

3. Aubergines

Aubergine seeds will need to be sown by the end of March, they are best suited to living under greenhouse cover or in a mini greenhouse because they require humid, sunny and warm conditions to grow. Sow in a propagator or plug tray with cover, the seeds will need constant warmth to germinate and germination can be very slow.

Sow: January to March
Harvest: July to September
Varieties: Classic black and purple – Black Beauty, bright purple – Amethyst F1, bright purple with white stripes – Pin Stripe.

Transplant Seedlings to individual pots when they are approx 2 – 3 inches high. Aubergines like to be watered regularly and be in a very light and sunny spot.

Spring Onion

4. Spring Onions

They can be:

Started off in root-trainers or modules cell trays before planting out in raised beds,
Sown direct into the ground under cloches in February to March,
Sown direct into the ground without cloches in April to May,
Sown direct into pots which are in the mini greenhouse or under a cloche until the risk of frost has past.

Sow: February to July
Harvest: June to October (Winter Salad Onions can be sown in August for harvest in spring)
Varieties: Apache, Ramrod, Purplette, Paris Silverskin, White Lisbon, North Holland Blood Red, Deep Purple.

Lettuce

5. Lettuce and Rocket Leaves

It is very easy to grow lettuce and rocket in propagators on the windowsill, use the cut and come again or loose leaf varieties and you could be cutting your first lettuce of the year within 6 weeks.

When the risk of frost has past usually about the end of April, you can continue sowing into pots or seed trays outside for a continuous supply of lettuce all summer.

Sow: March to August
Harvest: May to September
Varieties: Lolla Rossa, Salad Bowl Red and Green, Baby Leaf Mix, Oakleaf, Loose Leaf Mixed, Rocket.

Tips on Growing Seeds Indoors

Seeds Sowing Indoors

Be Patient! Germination on most seeds will take between 7 and 28 days
Once the seeds have been sown, water the compost well. The compost should not need to be watered again until your see your seedlings unless your central heating is on all day. Check your compost below the surface before adding extra water.
Water droplets will build up on the inside of the propagator lid, if this is preventing light from entering the lid, wipe the lid and replace. Lids with ventilation holes may prevent water build up.
If your seedlings are hitting the top of the propagator, remove the lid.

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