I think all those which are going to come through have done so by now. First off the starting blocks was Simpson’s Special, and last was Hugh’s Huge, but he soon caught up and even overtook the others, joining Clarke’s Beltony Blue for 100% germination.  6 Alderman (the “commercial” variety) and 7 Simpson’s Special (out of 8 seeds for each variety).  All up by 21st March, and most of them in fact barely a week after sowing.

Clarke’s Beltony Blue did show purple colour in the stems when it first germinated.  The most odd thing is Simpson’s Special which looks distinctly yellowish compared to the other three; the seedlings look healthy and I understand it has “green and cream” coloured pods, so it will be interesting to see how it develops.  We will start hardening them off this week, after the cold weather forecast for this weekend.