Earlier in the year I planted Zinnia in the large galvanised trough for summer colour, although they started out strong with most of the plants producing a flower, they didn’t really come to much after the first flush and ended up a brown crispy mess. I would usually blame myself and look into what I had done wrong and how to do better next time, but I have grown a whole bed of fantastic Zinnia in the garden at home (which are still flowering away happily) so I’m guessing drought conditions claimed them and being in a container didn’t help. My plot is in full sun from dawn to dusk and I visited to water as often as I could but it was a very unusual and difficult summer.
I pulled the sorry-looking Zinnia out on Tuesday, my big old trough empty once more. I thought about planting it up with daffodil bulbs for spring colour but decided to do a spot of late summer crop sowing instead, directly into the trough. I’m probably a few weeks too late but it’s fun trying, the worst that can happen is a few wasted packets of seed. So, into the trough in three sections are spring onions (hardy winter type), radish (quick cropping) and pak choi. Using the trough works better for me than open ground sowing this time around, purely because I have still have unused ground to work and plan out, everywhere else is currently occupied or waiting for spring cabbages, autumn sow beans and garlic towards the end of the year.
Fingers crossed my little seeds germinate and grow, or better still produce something! They’ll have to do battle with low light levels in the next few weeks and most probably a bigger dip in temperature, so yeah…..it’ll be interesting!
To me, gardening is all about experimenting and most of all having fun doing it.
Allotment Haven 
I am the same, I planted a few melon seeds with the children and I am planting some cabbage seeds tonight! if you use bottle cloches it will provide a little protection from the fluctuations in temperature. A lot of vegetables do well in colder, shadier spots so it is worth trying as it is still quite mild.
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Yes bottle cloches are great for seedlings and young plants, best of all I like to recycle. I will use clear sheets on top of the trough as a makeshift cloche for chillier temps if germination becomes a problem, I use them for cloche tunnels usually. Well worth trying to get something growing, not much lost and lots to gain. I hope your seeds do well.
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Exactly, we will see if they are in they may be ready early summer. keep my beds full for winter. I am surprised the garden centres do not stock a second sowing of brassicas and leeks for winter! as many of the other allotment holders are digging over for next year!
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They do here in our local one but I missed out!
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