A GOOD TIME FOR SEED SOWING
Spring weather seemed to be running a bit late this year,
but then a warm sunny spell towards the end of May warmed up the soil just
enough to let us get on with the seed sowing.
Root crops such as carrots, turnips and leeks, and salads
such as lettuce, rocket, beetroot and radish all need a firm level surface with
a good tilth. So choose a dry day and get that rake moving.
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| Sowing peas |
Once the outdoor seed bed is prepared give a light dressing
of fertiliser high in phosphates (potato fertiliser) for root crops but a
balanced one such as Growmore for salads, then rake in before taking out seed
drills. Most crop rows are spaced a foot apart
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| Tulips and pansies in a tub |
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| Sowing salads |
Leeks are sown thinly in a seed row and left to grow to
pencil thickness before lifting, topping and tailing and transplanting into
permanent rows by dropping them into a deep dibble hole and watering them in.
Early peas such as Kelvedon Wonder are best sown in a six inch
wide trench a couple of inches deep and space out the seeds along the bottom of
the trench in three rows a few inches apart.
A hardy annual flower border can be sown any time from early
April onwards. Again they germinate best if the ground is well prepared with a
deep friable tilth, but not manured or composted and adding fertiliser will
give them a boost but then excessive growth will result at the expense of
flowers. Annuals flower best on well cultivated but poor soils.
Back in the greenhouse seed sowing continues in seed trays
and cellular pots. Cabbage, cauliflower, kale and brussels sprouts are best
sown thinly in shallow seed trays using a well drained seed compost. Once they
have germinated they can be
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| Iceland poppies |
Take care to protect young plants from slugs and snails and
pigeons which like to feed on all brassicas as well as young pea foliage, and
if your land is infected by clubroot grow some of the clubroot resistant
varieties of cabbage (Kilaxy), cauliflower (Clapton), sprouts (Crispus) and
Swedes (Invitation).
Sweet corn is best to go direct into smaller cellular trays
for germination then a few weeks later they can get potted up into bigger pots
so that you have a strong plant at least a foot tall for planting out.
Most summer bedding plants such as Impatiens, petunias,
salvia, antirrhinum, French and African marigolds can all grow from seed, but
in spring the garden centres are just bursting the these plants in cellular
trays as plug plants just ready to take home and pot up. Grow them on for
another three weeks or so and they will be ready for their summer quarters in
tubs, beds and hanging baskets.
Wee jobs to do this week
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| Planting early potatoes |
Recent sunny weather
has warmed up the ground so we can now plant our potatoes. Start off with the
first earlies such as Casablanca and Foremost, then second earlies such as
Charlotte and International Kidney then go onto the maincrops where choice is
wide so pick one to suit your own needs. For a good baked potato Amour is a
winner, Lady Christl has taste and great flavour and Sarpo Mira has good blight
resistance. I like to plant sprouted seed potatoes in a deep drill lined with
compost to get them off to a flying start. Add some potato fertiliser to keep
them well fed for a heavy crop. Space the sets about a foot apart in rows two
feet apart for earlies, but give maincrops a bit wider spacing between the
rows.
END
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