The arrival of longer days means the start of the main growing season. Our expert JOA GROWER offers more ad- vice for all budding gardeners.
SPRING time is here again, and probably the busiest time of the year for us gardeners. The days are now longer, which means more time to spend on the vegetable plot. Early potatoes should be coming through the soil by now and will need ‘earthing up’. Using a hoe gently draw the earth up around the young shoots. Don’t worry if you completely cover them. They will soon grow back through. This can be done several times during the next few months. This should make the plants provide a bigger crop. The same can be done to your main crop varieties as well. When it comes to the onion patch, do keep on top of the weeding, as too many weeds will really affect the bulbs growth. Be gentle and try not to disturb or damage the onions. It’s probably best to just hand weed them. April is a great month to sow some root vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, beetroots, and swedes. Carrot seed is so small that I tend to mix it with a small amount of dry horticultural sand, and then sow it direct into the vegetable bed. This helps to distribute the seed a bit thinner and also helps a bit with germination. When the seedlings come up you may want to cover them with a sheet of horticultural fleece as this protects them from carrot root fly. There are a few varieties that are resistant to this pest, but just like blight resistant potatoes nothing is 100% safe. To sow Parsnips (never use old seed as it doesn’t last from one year to the next) make a trench 1-2cm deep and place 3 seeds every 15cm. When the seedlings are big enough to handle, pull out the 2 weaker ones leaving just one to grow to maturity. Personally, I think that beetroots are better started in trays or pots. Transplant them when they are big enough to handle. Don’t try this with the carrots and parsnips though. You will damage their long roots, which will cause them to fork, and create lots of small roots, instead of just the one. As we move into May, all the tender things such as sweetcorn, runner beans, French beans, outdoor tomatoes, courgette and squashes can be sown or planted out, particularly towards the end of the month, as hopefully we will be clear of frosts by then. They may need a little bit of hardening off, depending what conditions they have been grown in. The larger garden centres (or plant supermarkets as I like to call them) tend to keep their plants at a much high temperature than smaller nurseries. (We grow all our plants without heat!) This then causes the plant to go into shock when exposed outdoors, which obviously slows down the plants natural growth.
Top tips for purchasing plants this spring
THESE days purchasing plants, rather than seeds, is becoming more and more popular. Perhaps people have less time these days to get their seedlings started or not the appropriate space like a greenhouse or a large window sill. The most popular place to buy plants from is the big garden centres, where plants will have probably been grown elsewhere and not on site. That means the quality may vary, because it will be down to the staff to care for them. They are also more likely not to be able to offer you much advice. There are also many places to buy plants online, although again plant quality will vary a lot from company to company. If possible, do try and choose one that specializes in vegetable plants rather than all sorts. Farm shops and hardware stores often stock plants outside the front of their shops. This can be quite a good choice, as they usually receive weekly deliveries, and the plants do not look too old and tired. Obviously, I think the best place to buy from would be from a small local Nursery, where the plants have been grown by the people working there. They should be able to give you good advice on how to plant and grow your purchases and also provide a large selection to pick from. Wherever you buy from, look for good strong sturdy plants. They should look as if someone has been taking care of them. And if possible always try to buy Certified Organic!