This little baby less than 24hrs old is the first of the eggplant and capsicum to come through from the one's I experimentally sowed 3 weeks ago.
It was one of those wish plantings, where I threw caution to the wind, experimenting in the hothouse. In past years I wouldn't have considered putting seed in until September, even in cold frames. Without any protection October is the earliest we are likely to be able to germinate most of these types of seed.
In this case because I have been in and out of the hot house regularly for the last 2 months I knew if we got a reasonable amount of cloudless days that they would come up fine. It really gets warm with the first hint of sun in there and the fact that it's sited on brick means if we have sun for most of the day the thermal mass moderates the overnight drops significantly.
That said I was also aware,based on last season, the fact I wasn't going to turn on the electric hotbed meant there was a very good possibility of me being "overly hopeful" with these heat lovers. When it all came down to it though the worst that was going to happen is that some of the seed would rot rather than germinate and the rest would just wait until their instincts said "it's time".
Any jump we can get on the season up here is always worth a try. The difference in being able to grow from advanced plants rather than seedlings when it all rolls round can be make or break for those that prefer much longer/hotter seasons than we regularly experience.
An extra month of growth at this end probably increases our chances of fruit at the other end by about 50%. Considering how much our family enjoy eggplant that's something I am always willing to give a go to achieve as long as it isn't going to "cost the earth" by requiring electricity.
How's your spring planning and planting coming along?
