Like any new activity, gardening comes with the requirement for its own set of equipment and gadgets. And as with any activity, some new things you’ll want because they’re essential, some because you’re convinced you’ll get much better results (for that read – make up for your own shortcomings) and some because… well … they’re cute/ingenious/on special offer (delete per your shopping blind spot) .
I know I’ll end up buying all three types and will be letting you know what, why and most importantly whether they enhance my tomato growing !
My first investment – a propagator.
I’m calling it an investment as it falls between purchase type 1 and 2. Lots of articles refer to germinating seeds in propagators but plenty also encourage you to fashion your own propagator from everyday household items.
However confession time. ( I know we’re still getting to know each other but best know what you’re letting yourself in for !) Before being replaced with gardening magazines I had a serious glossies (women and lifestyle magazines) addiction. In these you could always come across the odd article or two in which it was argued, parting with a sum of money for a handbag, a sum large enough to buy propagators aplenty or greenhouses galore, was an investment ! If these magazines aren’t your usual reading matter and you find yourself unfamiliar with this particular philosophy you may have found yourself spluttering over that last point. I apologise. If it makes it any better I can pause whilst you go back and boom in best Lady Bracknell baritones – ‘A Handbag ? An investment?’. Better?!
So on that basis you can see why I might find it in me to describe my propagator as an investment. ( And as investments go it’s not the kind given to halving in size overnight.)
So what is a propagator?
Best described as a miniature greenhouse. But an indoors miniature greenhouse. Or a miniature greenhouse that you put in an outdoors greenhouse. Or a miniature greenhouse for an extra large doll’s house. (Well spotted, not the last one) And yes a picture would be easier! So here’s mine.
How is it going to make a return on my investment ?
By germinating my own I can sow my own plants from seed. Plus there’s a far greater variety available as seed than as plugs or plants. Individual seeds are also cheaper than plugs or plants.
How does it work?
Tomato seeds need a temperature of around 18c to 20c to germinate.
Propagators have a clear plastic lid and so placed in a warm,light spot they will retain heat and moisture. The electric ones,which have a heating element in their base, do this even more effectively by warming the compost from beneath.
Other features are adjustable ventilation (slots or slats in the lid) which allow you to cool down the temperature once the seeds have germinated and by allowing air in and to circulate it helps to prevent fungal disease.
Once you have your propagator you can either put your compost directly into the base which would only really work if you were sowing a lot of one variety of seed or else use seed trays, pots, pellets or modules and place them into the propagator (which is what I did.)
What happened to just sowing seeds in the ground?
If you want to grow tomatoes from seed in the UK there isn’t enough time to wait until the soil and air is warm enough for them be planted directly into the ground and then for the tomatoes to mature and ripen before summer is over. Summer’s end means no more sun and the arrival of overnight frost. Neither of which the tomato has any truck with! So propagators create the warm, humid environment that the seeds need to germinate, earlier than our weather allows.
Alternatives to a Propagator?
Is there a group of people more ingenious and practical than gardeners?
These are some of the ideas I have come across.
- Cover seed trays or pots with clear plastic/polythene and put them in a warm spot. Warm spots that get frequent mentions are greenhouses, windowsills, conservatories and airing cupboards. (Airing cupboards are only for the first part of the process when you don’t need light.)
- Remodelling supermarket plastic fruit and veg trays into propagator bases and cutting up clear plastic drinks bottles to make propagator lids. Success at this will be in direct correlation to the number of Blue Peter badges you owned!
- Make your own. Using a wooden box or planks of wood, a sheet of glass, sand and electric heating cables. Just typing those words makes me think of those occasions at school when the curtains got drawn and the class sat round and watched some educational TV programme in fuzzy black and white. Not paying attention then means I’m not the sort to contemplate making my own. But if you did and you are! It would be great to have some pictures!
So which propagator did I buy ?
Sankey, Type 21, 22 watt, 230V 50Hz. It cost me £19.99 on offer from £29.99. It dimensions are 57cm long, 38cm wide, 24 cm high with the lid on and the actual base without the lid is 9cm deep. I choose this one because in an article in Grow It ! magazine Martyn Cox referred to his ‘trusty old Sankey’ so I recognised the name of the make and when I looked at the packaging it conjured up comforting and nostalgic feelings! (Of what I have no idea but it clinched the deal).
It may not be much good for losing things at the bottom of but in all other respects it’s proving a better buy to date than a handbag!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
In fact, a propagator would have been a perfect thing for a baby on the Brighton line. However, the line is immaterial. I opted this year for a Garland’s Super 7 propagator, which has seven little units in a tray that will hold babies of a variety of kinds (At the moment, chillis and tomatoes. Parsley comes next.) One cannot expect a seed brought up with compost care to be planted in a handbag or to form an alliance in the soil with groundsel.
I saw the Garland Super 7 in one of the gardening magazines and thought that it looked really attractive. Now that I am actually germinating seeds for the first time I can also see the advantage of having one unit but divided into 7 seperate smaller units especially as you say for growing different kinds of seeds. It would also have worked well for my tomato seeds as different varieties did germinate at different rates.
Fingers crossed that my seedling loss is limited to ‘misfortune’ and doen’t stray into ‘carelessness’ !
I wonder if Oscar Wilde was a keen grower of tomatoes ?! I’ll will have to try and find a variety that would have been suitably named for him !