its partly to do with this very late sping realy so a lot of the lower plants will suffer from lack of sun . how about using some more seeds but keep the origional ones and see what works best . we are nearly half the way threw a year but some trees still look like there in mid winter .

A lot of seedlings are simply sitting waiting for it to get warmer, you'll just have to be patient Hank.

The answer is under heating (soil warming cable)

Its a simple bought cable with a plug on the end and the cable can sit approx 1inch under fine sand or compost on a flat ridge sided tray, or make a frame to hold the sand/compost in,

it wont burn a lot of electric, but provides a gentle heat through the sand/compost and you can sit your pots on the top of the sand/compost.

This method keeps the roots warm through out the night and helps the roots grow, I keep my warming bed going night and day while the weather is so cool for this time of the year,
Ive sown peppers last week using this method and yesterday they showed through the seed tray .

the Tray i have is approx 4feet long by2 feet wide and the warming cable just sits on the bottom in a snaked like pattern from the top to the bottom of the tray and approx 4 inch gap between each section of the cable "so the cable is seperate from itself and dont touch,

Its a safe way of keeping your seed trays or pots warm and even if you get the sand/compost damp through mist spraying this wont do any harm to the cable or tray and can help to provide a moist air for the plants.
If you use clay pots with the warming cable idea your plant roots will get more heat as the clay retains heat better than plastic.

When the weather gets better then you can unplug the warming cable and still use the sand tray for standing pots on.
These cables can be bought from garden centre's or thompson & morgan mail order or the www sites.

Tried & tested many years ago and they work.

Thanks guys, patience ( I never had much) plus a warming cable. Going for one this afternoon. I've already set some more of each 3 weeks ago but just 1 solitary tomato has shown up as yet. Strangely enough the rocket lettuce shot up very quickly in a seed tray and is now out in the garden. Thanks again.

A lot of us are having the same problems,Hank..but like you,my salad stuff is growing away well..some heat is needed for the others..

I've had some in a heated propagator for quite a while and they are very slow even there. I wonder if the low light we've been having is a factor - maybe things will improve with a bit of sunshine.

I would think the low light is part of the problem.

How can I power a soil warming cable when there is no electrical source in the greenhouse, or near it ?
If it doesnt use much electricity would a large rechargeable
battery be effective ?

Not sure about a battery Diane, but I use a long electric lead which I used to use with a caravan.
I'm not sure others would approve of this method though ?

As mentioned by MG above, light, not using cables, is the problem.
Soil cables are fine for germination if set up properly. Heat mats, preferably with a thermostat, are a lot better. The problem is after germination.
Everything is so far behind, eg, my tomatoes sown mid march that would normally be ready to go into their final pots soon, are only about 3 inches tall.
If i'd have known things would be this bad I'd have put them under the artificial lights that I use for the onions.
And my dahlias, started in January, on both heat mats and soil warming cables, have never produced cuttings so slowly.

Hi scrumpygrat,
Well why is it that my toms are between 5 & 7 inch tall and i only sowed them in april by using the warming cables/clay pots and in the greenhouse that was only heated of an evening?
I dont get anymore natural sky light than you, i dont use artificial lights,
The reason i dont use the lights is because this is deep countryside and owls etc fly into the greenhouse glass if the lights on all night.
But i do use seed compost followed by good vacuumed packed fertilized potting on compost.

Tomato's grow in heat and warmth hence when i water from germination i only use warm water, and they stand on the fine sand thats heated via the warming cables until i start to stand the pots outside for the hardening off during the daytime & bring them in of a night.

If it was'nt for all this rain we're having here my toms would have been out two weeks ago.
If i'd put them out two weeks ago because of one or two nights when the temp had fallen the same toms would be dead now, "it's that warmth of a night thats made the differece & making sure the glass in the greenhouse is really clean.
Im all for the warming cables and the clay pots / warm water watering & good compost for the potting on stage.
But having said this when the weather picks up the toms and a few other plants will soon catch up if the area they'll be going into is made ready to recieve the plants.

I have made a top cover made of polythene that covers the full length of the tomato run, it keeps the rain off and really helps in the growing of the toms, its only to cover just the top of the plant, the sides are not covered and this lets the air in and rain around the soil area but not the tomato hence no skin damage But the from green to ripe stage is quicker.

wow and i thaught id answerd the question lol . funny old world .

Just to re-iterate what nosey and MG say, sunlight is the key ingredient.
I would accept dungy's argument if it wasn't for the fact that my plants were receiving ideal,regulated heat, above and below. And I cannot believe that plants sown in April are 5- 7 inches tall and were ready to put out 2 weeks ago. Impossible.

C'mon Dungy, I think Scrumpygrat has thrown down the gauntlet.

scrumpy sounds cool to me lol .

Dungy lives a lot further south than Cheshire and the light will be stronger there - probably more sun than we've been having too.

You did answer the question NP - just more concisely!

The way that some of you guys answer all these questions reminds me that I know pretty well less than nothing about this game, but at least I know where to get help.
I'd like to offer a big thankyou to all

your welcome hank .