Charles I just love your videos. I always learn something of course. But more than that they feel so very wholesome. Wholesome in a world where there seems to be so much unwholesomeness. And I always feel calmer and more peaceful after watching them. I feel more hopeful, like all is not lost in the world after all. I hope this doesn't sound too dark. But honestly...with the senseless wars, climate instability and no meaningful steps to turn that tide, upside down politics/economics, celebrity/$$$ worship and all the rest, it's just sooo nice to be out in your greenhouse and your garden learning and sowing and harvesting in peace and quiet. Which of course makes me go out into my hoop house and garden to do more of the same! It's a beautiful thing. Thanks.

The big Big message for me is to remember that germination is a stage, in small cells, moving plants on as soon as they are ready. I know that, but I forget it and try and keep them going too long in the cells as the cold weather drags on. Resolution for 2023 is to plan better to transplant!

My favourite part of your videos is when you tuck your plants into the soil, so firm and cozy, yet so simply. I could just watch that all day. Here’s to another growing season. Thank You Lord ❤

It is just as lovely to read the pleasant comments of your viewers as it is to watch your videos. What a lovely atmosphere you have provided us. I look forward to growing gardens in eternity. No bugs or death!

Charles, you are the Mr. Rogers of gardening. Your videos are fantastic - never change.

Charles, I've been reading bits and pieces of your children's no dig book to my 4 year old and he has become fascinated by life in the soil. Doesn't yet care much for the plants haha but I couldn't be happier and he is constantly asking me to do some gardening. This cool season I think will be very memorable for hopefully him and me. I couldn't possibly thank you enough

Charles, a big thank you, l just lifted a bed of potatoes using your method of no dig planting, with mulch topping. l had my best results ever, all the guys at the allotments were amazed. I think you have a fair few converts here, north east England, Regards Jeffrey

That was just the ticket I’ve treated myself to the 40 cell tray this year , and as it’s now mid February I’m starting to sow more seeds , I think I may get some 15 now as for me growing at home will be ample. Thank you for all you guidance over the last few years. It’s because of you that even at 74 I’m able to grow veg in no dig beds❤️

You are such a wealth of knowledge and experience. It may not feel like it at times, but people like me are thoroughly inspired by people like you. Thank you for making the content you do.

The only problem with this video is that I didn't want it to end, as with all your videos, Charles :-) Perfect timing on sharing this, as many of us are about to venture onto using your CD60s and other of your trays for our first times. Thanks so much.

Thanks Charles. I visited your home and garden last October. Great to see you on here. I’m following your latest book and 2023 calendar. You’re an inspiration.😊

Sir Charles, 🙂 what I like about your videos is the music, and your confidence. Everything proceeds along deliberately, and the amateur gardener gets the feeling that they can do this. Thanks again!!

Happy to see trays in the US

I like how little space is needed in your method. I sell transplants at market, but no one wants small ones, they want the size at the hardware store. The year my pepper plants were small, people just walked on past them so I couldn't even tell them about transplant shock.

Another fantastic topic... it's a science experiment in the garden instead of a lab and you are a great scientist recording and presenting this info for us to consume.

I love my CD60s! Excellent investment for any seed sower.

I’ve just ordered some trays. I’ve never bought trays or pots before as I’ve always used whatever I could scrounge, but thinking that I deserve to be spoilt as my age - and it’s my birthday next week 😊 Keeping fingers crossed that changing will bring better results than normal 🤞

I picked up some 15 + 30 trays before winter ready for this season. Made my own potting mix from compost made over winter, a 6mm mesh board was fantastic for it! Got the radishes germinated and growing in the trays and i'm DELIGHTED with how much compost they use. With a limited supply of the best home-made compost, it feels even more valuable then ever!!

well done, you are awesome

Bravo Charles, c’est la propagation qui est parfois difficile. Pas trop tôt, pas trop tard, avec juste la bonne quantité de composte et un arrosage adapté. Tout un art! Ce serait peut-être bien, pourquoi pas, dans vos vidéos courtes (short), de faire une série, « aujourd’hui je sème X… ». À vous de voir…

Greetings, Charles, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA 🇺🇸 🌞🇺🇸 Thanks for always sharing your special knowledge. I love watching you teach. Happy Valentine's Day 💗

I’m so glad I came across this video! I will be switching to smaller cell trays. I was always worried that transplanting much smaller seedlings would make them fail. You have shown me differently. I’m excited to get back into the greenhouse and put this new knowledge to work!

Like all those before me, I really enjoy all your videos. I try not to get despondent when my seeds don't germinate or the fact that my seedlings are 'leggier' than I am. I'm coming to the conclusion you might just be a wizard!!

You’re just my cuppa tea charles 🌱🌸🌱

That's good to have that roughly two week benchmark before moving things on 👍🏼

These modules and this method are ideal if you can, like Charles, be on hand to take care of them. I would caution that people who are away from home all day, and/or live in a dry climate might want to go up a size or two on their modules and pots. With workday and commute time, many folks are away for 10-12 hours, and I've seen small modules dry out to the point of total desiccation in that time. (I'm in the arid west of the US, where daytime temps can reach 90 degrees F before the nights get above freezing.) Likewise with transplanting. I use larger pots and modules because the larger root space means the plants can wait for me to have time for transplanting. (I'm running a mail-order business, and customers can't wait.) Like everything in gardening, module size depends on the climate and circumstances.

Thank you 🙏🏼 definitely need to get your seed trays ! 🙏🏼

Thank you Charles!!!

Bonjour Charles, toujours un plaisir de voir ta serre au travail , moi aussi j’ai commencé mes semis avec mon compost à bientôt 🙏🙏🙏

As always…enjoyed your video!

I bought some of your cell trays last year and had the best germination success rate ever with my cucumbers and squash, etc. Not only did they all germinate (I guess in previous years some had rotted off) but I had the best plants and harvests ever too. Sooo pleased with the results. Thank you! And thank you for all of your advice; multi-sowing and no-dig has revolutionised my gardening! 😊

i like You! Super genuine,excellent advice, interesting quirks. Fun to listen to. Glad you're here. Im Zone 7b/8b,, nowadays. Piedmont North Carolina which gives us a similar zone slightly different climate activity and extremes but close enough that you are my go to guy!! Thank you

Excellent video…learned quite a bit..thank you!!👏👏🌞

Hello Charles, thank you for this video, because it takes several years that I sow all my seeds In plates with small cells. Then, I transplant directly into the vegetable garden without repotting. In addition to the gain in quantity of soil, I have noticed that the vegetables pick up better in this case. Thank you again and a big hello From Dordogne in France. Bonjour Charles, merci pour cette vidéo, car cela produit plusieurs années que je sème toutes mes graines Dans des plaques avec de petites alvéoles. Puis, je repique directement au potager sans rempotage. Outre le gain en quantité de terreau, J'ai remarqué que les légumes reprennent mieux dans ce cas. Encore merci et un grand bonjour De Dordogne en France.

Thanks Master 👍💪

Thank you for this excellent refresher. I learn something new every time.

Well done Sir 👏👏

Nice!

Great stuff Charles! I've bought some CD30 and they're brilliant! So easy to pop the plants out when it's time to plant!

Brilliant video, just what i needed to watch and learn for my new journey. Thank you

Hi there, I just started on my growing journey, and you have really help me along. I’m just about to start making my beds and sowing my first seeds. Thanks a million 👍🏾

I agree that Barry's last sentence is a good one. tl;dr Seek the option that most resembles nature that you can reasonably provide. And I think Chrales advice here is more in line with nature. I raise 7 species of animals in addition to producing quite a few of my own veg and fruit. And I find myself frequently asking how the animals I raise, or their nearest wild cousins, survive in the wild. After all, the wild animal cousins don't require me to feed or water them or protect them from predators. They get along well enough on their own, and without synthetic chemicals or steroids or antibiotics or vaccines or hoof trimming, or castration or docking of tails I might add. For example, chickens do not live in pasture. Pasture raised chickens is a neat idea, and a substantial bit better than industrial dirty diseased large coop type of living. But pasture is not natural for chickens. Pheasants live in the prairie. Prairie is much different than pasture .. height and density of cover. Turkey live in woods. Grouse live in woods. Jungle Fowl (from which modern domesticated chickens are supposedly derived) live in jungle. Quail, as with most of the others, thrive on edge of prairie and woods. Chickens are close cousins to all these. Chickens love the woods, especially the edge of woods. In fact I find that they seek it out with great delight. I'm currently seeking ways to mimic that in a pasture setting. I will get there eventually. It is similar with veg growing. All the organic, natural, sustainable, regenerative .. whatever the current buzzword is ... type of veg growing seeks to eliminate synthetic chem in favor or using compost, to put it shortly. So, back to Barry's last sentence, what is the correct amount of compost in which to place a seed? Let us look to nature. The veg plants we raise are not found in nature, but they do have close wild cousins .. some closer to wild than others, but the concept remains. I think you hit the nail on the head here, Charles. There is a tremendous variety of wild annuals. Many, no doubt, will do well in soggy conditions. But the majority, if we may assume, do well in moderately nutrient dense soil with good drainage. We can adjust for the more soggy loving plants, if we want to grow, e.g. rice or whatever. But I think most wild annuals take up a very little space of moderate soil with good to fair drainage. And there is some babying of the seedlings we propagate that we must do that is due to their being a domesticated cultivated variety. And this is not too cumbersome and is covered extensively by Charles videos. But, to bring it to an end, I think nature would agree with Charles here.

I find such pleasure in your videos, thank you

great video charles

Fantastic 😊

I am in zone 4b and I have to wait. Good luck everyone! ❤

You reminded me that I bought some last year.Will get them out tomorrow and sow some seeds.

Great video as always. Thank you Charles & team

Thank you for always sharing your knowledge with the world.

every year I think WOW how will I fill such a BIG space! Then a few months into the growing season and I start to worry that I will not fit it in and have to intestinally plant lol 😝

👍So lernte ich früher schon. Immer wiederholen bis es sitzt. Danke für den Beitrag Charles 🌱 Lg aus der Eifel

Thank you

I’ve wanted to purchase these! Timing and younger seedlings is the ticket for so many crops.

Thank you Charles for your beautiful and intresting video's.

I bought a tray when they first came out. It was too big for my purposes so I cut it in half. Nice to see the smaller trays. 👍😊

Cool video…I was daydreaming seeing you saute greens!

Thanks!

I have a load of your CD in cells was literally wondering this exact thing today - so thank you for answering my question!

So much to learn from you…started my no dig beds last year…and currently following the calendar for sowing…starting from today…as you said …starting my garden love on valentines and getting a video from you today was amazing…thank you so much for your knowledge 😊

Love all your shared experience, online classes and seed trays! From the US, Zone 6b

Thank you for this video - very timely. I have just bought some of your 30 cell trays and they fit perfectly on our windowsills.

Thank you so much Charles for sharing your experience and knowledge with us. My 60 cell seedling tray's and other smaller ones arrived. Will be testing them soon in Canada, zone 6a. Can't wait. Happy gardening to everyone! 💗

Excellent video, I was making the same mistake of too little compost in trays, and bonus of close up of transplanting. Back to basics, perfect.

I just got some of your modules Charles. Cant wait to start using them. Happy sowing to everyone!

Ty for another great video

Maravilloso video, me encantó! Realmente aprendí mucho viéndolo, y la manera tan didáctica de Charles de enseñar hace que lo asimile inmediatamente. Me nutre ver sus videos! Agradecidísima del regalo que nos hace al compartir su sabiduría. Tendré en cuenta para cuando haga mi siembra inicial en los semilleros, la calidad y tamaño de éstos. Y el ahorro de compost. Muchas gracias Charles desde Pucón, novena región maravillosa de Chile! Un abrazo enorme 😊😊😊❤❤❤❤

Love the trays you use. I have ordered from USA as I am in BC, Canada. Using them now!

Thank you for this video! Perfect timing as today I am planning on sowing some seeds as per your Sowing Calendar 2023🌱🌱🌱 Such a beautiful day for it here in UK too🌞

Very good, good advice, thank you! 😍👌

Excellent video Charles. Thank you. I’ve got your trays to try this year which I’m excited for. I always enjoy seeing you in your home and transition to the garden. Bringing how you manage your creator side of things as well as the content itself. Great! As for compost, seed sowing isn’t too bad I find, it’s potting on to 7cm pots that I seem to get through a lot. I do grow my tomatoes in pots too but that’s how the greenhouse is designed right now so at that stage I use the homemade compost from horse manure mixed with multi purpose. Take care and keep up the fantastic work!

All the way from South Africa, hi!! Realy enjoy your channels. I have learned so much about no dig gardening from your channels. Even applying it in my flower beds!

I’m testing tomatoes, peppers and onions in winter sow containers along with inside starts. I am holding back starting them too soon except the onions. The tomatoes and peppers get too big and prefer not to up-pot. Read they will grow just fine once it warms up. Prefer to keep the growing outside and winter sowing was terrific last year for brassicas and some flowers. Love the new heavy duty trays and cell packs available to the public. Was so done with the flimsy plastic. As many times as I had to repurchase those I could have used that money elsewhere.

Another delightful video Charles! I love your dibber! No need to be on your knees with that! I’m gonna make one of those

Thaks

Grazie sempre consigli utilissimi

Your compost always looks so splendid. I’ve planted in tray as dense as 512 cells in a 10x20 tray. I also generally pot up or plant out when the roots are along enough that the soil plug is quite stable. Great video as always.

Charles, I'm counting down the days til I can get sowing, at 64, that day is better than Christmas.

I watched all these type videos three years ago and learned so much then. I had a physical accident in late July of that year and so I lost so much work at gardening as everything just became a jumbled jungle. Now three years later....I've prepped the outdoor beds and hope to do just a tiny bit of gardening. Beet root for beets and greens. Then a small herb garden would be great. The first year I tried beets everything grew wonderfully. I'd made the tiny plants and pricked out and then had plantings staged three weeks off. I thought gee it worked just like Charles said it would!! Then every other year tried it didn't work. SO ...we'll try once again!

Great video Charles, was amazed you grew broad beans and sweetcorn in the CD Module trays, I have always grown these in root trainers, I'm getting some of these, ok a little bit pricey but will last for years and will save on compost, A thankyou goes out to your viewer as well for putting question forward .

I coated the inside of one of my CD 60 cells with wax polish, sealed the end & filled it with resin incorporating a short piece of solid fibreglass rod (cut up fishing rod). I use the resulting cast to form a perfect cavity for 'potting on' anything grown in these cells (brassicas, tomatoes, peppers...) into pots or larger cells.

Very informative thank you. My seed preparation space is very limited so I bought some of your trays last year. They help a lot but I could still do with more space on windowsills , cold conservatory and my tiny greenhouse, especially now, as my growing space has increased having gained an allotment not far from my home garden beds 😀

Looking forward to this as I found I was constantly having to water as they dried out very quick. Still going to buy more though as great space saving 😊

Fiz o seu método em terreno totalmente pedregoso e nasceu e tudo que plantei...as pessoas não acreditavam que num solo onde não nascia nada tinha várias plantinhas.. muito feliz.. gratidão

A really first class video Charles, every aspect carefully explained and demonstrated when necessary. ATB Woody 👍

Ya I brought you're 30 plant trays last year found them very good less compost falling off when planting out & grow much faster

Alright, I guess that's awesome way to plant seedlings since I don't have a green house and I do grow mine in ingrown lighting. Just need to timing the right time to repot until large ones for bigger plants .. thank you Charles! 😊

Really enjoyed this, great to see a bit more info on the cd60s. Looking forward to your talk in Norwich next week.

Brilliant Question from the follower especially regarding the CD60s....Like them, I had a mixed bag last season with the successful germination and transplanting times. Thank you very much Charles for being very detailed and precise with regards to the amounts of compost needed and the very important principle of compost not being able to be compacted, Last season I hesitated in fully filling the cells of the CD60s despite having watched you do it in countless of videos, Thank you for going into detail with regards to seed sizes and applicability of different cell tray sizes and above all, thank you for re-explaining the dibber and its measurements and where to get the spacing specs. from on your website. Very proud owner of Equipment "Chez Dowding"...CD60,Dibber and now CD15 and of course, NO dig books...A sincerely heartfelt thank you Denmark

Absolutely brilliant video Charles. I've always been nervous to plant out when things are so small because on my allotment they can get slugged or hit by pests. I love your video on keeping down pest damage though, so I've been trying to take that into account too.

great!!!

I wanted to share that I was (still am) having tremendous success with planting a variety of chicory greens, endive, lettuces and bok choy under my plastic covered hoop (the ones I plant tomatoes from spring on). They are slow growing, but strong for sure. I water them maybe 1x every 15 days. It rains a lot here and the edges of the hoop get plenty of water and I just water the 2 rows on the center. I have never done this before and got inspired by you. Much of my beets that I planted late in the season (2022) didn’t develop the bulb (?) but the greens look healthy. Will they resume growing as the days get longer? If so, that will be great. I might be able to pickle them and then plant green beans in the space they are now. I have learned so much on this channel. Not an inch of space is wasted and with food prices going up, its the wisest thing to do. Thanks

Great video new subscriber, just moved so new to gardening

Also wanted to add that I used to wonder about compaction of the bottom of the hole when using a dibbler. But I think you answered that in this video when you talked about being able to pack soil into seeding trays with compost only, realizing that all the organic matter simply doesn’t compress as much as a mineral soil would.

Hi Charles nice multiple usp on the car driving over and more importantly the compost saving. The tray’s will pay for themselves in no time if buying compost in. I know what I’m getting for Father’s Day.👍🏻🤠💗🙏

Excellent video, as always. I think the main thing to consider is that cell trays aren't permanent homes for the seedlings. They won't stay there forever.

I love my Containerwise trays, best things I invested in, every year I buy a few more. I have one with the very small cells, but haven't used it yet, I don't have a greenhouse and my trays dry out too fast. I think if they were in a green house it'd be better.

I just purchased a variety of your trays here in the states. I'm very excited to give them a try, tired of the flimsy ones that last no time. I'm a long time follower, and your books have really expanded my knowledge and skills. Thank you for all that. 🥰

Hi Charles, another great video. I know your just like me loving this time of year prepping our seeds and garden getting ready for the growing season. I grew Brussels sprouts many years ago once and failed. I haven’t grown them since (Help Help) me to understand what to do and when to do it on them. Sharon and I love them but I just can’t seem to have success with them ever. (Old guy from Arkansas)🇺🇸God bless you and family.

Hi Charles. 1. I had great success with all the CD trays. I bought the smaller ones for crops I grow in smaller numbers just to keep things growing at the same rate. One simple tip I use another CD tray to push down into a filled one to create sowing holes - keeps holes uniform and depth can be controlled by pushing pressure on top tray (and quick) 2.Like many others I do have a polycarbonate greenhouse. So any sort of sunlight leads to very warm temperatures but obviously nights are chilly. I do have a thermostat heater. I'm looking to start to start toms, chillies, aubergines now. What is the min. ambient temperature I need my greenhouse to be to ensure healthy young seedlings? Obviously can set the thermostat accordingly. Don't have space to bring things inside the house at night

It's amazing to how little soil u need to get seeds going