Panic Planting ?

[Canary42]

About this time of year I usually descend upon Garden Centres to get seeds/plants for my vegetable garden.

But it seems they're not on the "permitted" list and are closed.

So the excellent "Dig for Victory" initiative which served us so well in the global WW2 crisis appears to have been discarded.

Opportunity missed I feel. Not to mention a barren garden :-(

[Mamyalynne]

Are such items available for home delivery?

[shoota]

Don't the larger supermarkets have seeds in their gardening sections?

[poorclare]

I thought it may be a good idea to grow our own,

Who decides what closes and what remains open ?

Hope everyone is keeping their distance and keeping safe.

[pauln90]

I passed a B&M store earlier today that was open and some of their stores advertise as having a garden centre. Maybe one near you.

[royfromaus]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=vegetable+seeds&crid=2IHGAMJ2XRZBF&sprefix=veget%2Caps%2C161&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_5

[Canary42]

Mamya, not that I've found so far.

Thanks paul and shoota, options I shall explore.

Thanks royfromaus, although I am reluctant to use Amazon unless I really have to as they pay no UK taxes.

[Tilly2]

Have a look on here, Canary.

https://www.suttons.co.uk/

[Togo]

All our needs for the garden are ordered or already delivered. We had compost, potting compound, 3 new glazed pots to replace some winter damaged ones, with feed and gardeners sand delivered last week.
Plants including Gazanias, Antirrhinum, Petunias, Begonias, Geraniums, Fuschias and more already ordered and confirmed for delivery April, early May. Today we have sorted out the strawberry plants, covered the Rhubarb in order to force some, tidied up the tubs that we use for courgettes , and made up a mix of soil to put the spuds in tomorrow. The patio has even been treated to get rid of the winter "bloom" and we are ready to rumble. Gonna be cold again this weekend but it was 18c out the back here today and we were in T shirts giving each other instructions. Hope it is winter's last throw on Saturday.

[rockyracoon]

I ordered some lettuce and tomato seeds from this company last night. I've used them before.

https://seedsofitaly.com/

The website is down just now but I'm sure it'll be up and running soon

[Canary42]

Thanks Tilly, they also do plants which is how I grow most of my vegetables (I never have much success starting at the seed stage except for potatoes and radishes).

Problem solved, thanks again everyone.

[Togo]

Good site.... We trust them and have never been let down. If you order plants, only order the small or medium plugs if you are a fairly competent gardener and have a facility to bring them on(like a greenhouse for instance) and the pots and growing medium to pot on.

https://www.gardeningdirect.co.uk/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Brand&utm_term=gardening%20direct%20uk&;utm_content=Brand%20and%20misspellings%20-%20exact

[diddlydo]

There are loads of online seed companies e.g. D T Brown and Mr Fothergills, not to mention all the big names like Suttons etc. Also B&Q are apparently staying open probably with more limited opening hours - I think they all have a gardening section.

[alavahalf]

Managed to put in 13 hours at the allotment over the weekend, the best temperature I seen was 84 degrees in the polytunnel .. I was hoping we could class it as our excersice with the current restrictions ?
We have 30 seed potatoes in large tubs and 30 more to plant in the ground.

200 onions, 100 tomato plants, sweet peppers and chilli's all established seedlings.
Lots of lettuce, chard, spinnach and leeks ready to eat now. We have last years potatoes that were stored, loads of butternut squash and onions !
The list goes on .. something I avoid .. flowers, trays and trays of them, all started from seed. The other half looks after them, geraniums, bizzy lizzies, marigolds and quite a few more !
Not to mention more than 10 cubic metres of compost to be turned and sieved !
Let's hope we avoid the virus and get to look after everything !

[diddlydo]

You're OK - Mr Gove says that going to the allotment is "sensible"!

[Togo]

//trays and trays of them, all started from seed. //

Tell me about it. Crystal Palace Lobelia, Nasturtiums, and Sunflowers have taken over the spare room next to "She who must be obeyed's" temporary desk to work from home. Talk about surreal........Thing is we are both naturally fairly tidy in our habits and ways so this kin isolating and the inherent turmoil is braining us. Haha.

[Cloverjo]

A lot of of garden centres have recently become days out for people of a certain age with cafes and things.

Supermarkets are still selling plants and seeds.

[maggiebee]

Togo, if you don't mind me asking, what mixture do you use to plant your spuds in? Was going to try some in containers this year, but have never done it before.

[Togo]

Maggie I use a mixture of topsoil 2 parts, gardeners sand 1 part, and standard compost 3 parts. Not particularly bothered about getting it dead on, just not too wet to start. I put about 6 inches of that mix in my spud bags and then place the chitted spuds in it, shoots upwards, and then cover them. Protect from frost with crumpled newspaper if you have to and top them up as the shoots break the surface. I also give them a feed with tomato fertiliser before they flower and also take care not to grow them near tomatoes. Both plants can be infected with the same diseases. Bit of social distancing in the garden there :))

[Togo]

If you have not already got your "First Early" seed potatoes Maggie you may have missed the boat for new potatoes in May. Perhaps you need to aim for a main crop variety, but you will honestly need to get them handy on. We gardeners were panic buying before the term was invented.

[AuntPollyGrey]

Depends on the garden centre because hardware stores are permitted to remain open. Our local Garden centre sells tools and spares so was open yesterday as Oh bought some lettuce plants and four tomato plants