We have had a mixed week of weather but the garden is warming up now and we can start to sow vegetables both out in the garden and in pots or trays to plant out in April and May.
This week I will discuss sowing some vegetables. It was lovely to meet so many of you again at my talks at Betchworth and Nags Hall at the end of last week and the last of my spring talks, at the end of next month will be about growing veg at home so, if you want a lot more information be sure to book! There is more information at the end of this post.
To buy or not to buy – Vegetable plants
If you want to save time and make things a bit easier you can buy vegetable plants rather than grow from seed yourself. This will save you time. They can be a great way to start if you are a beginner or have a small plot and no greenhouse.
However, some veg plants are better than others! It can be a big help to buy tomato plants or courgettes but do not buy them too early – you can’t plant out courgettes till May.
You probably won’t have room in your garden for more than 12 Brussels sprout plants or cauliflowers so buying plants can be a good plan. Usually all the plants will mature at the same time and you don’t want too many ready at once so buying a pack of lettuce seedlings once a fortnight is a good plan if you don’t trust yourself to sow a few seeds every two weeks!
Each Brussels sprout plant will produce about 700g of sprouts over several weeks. This makes plants worth buying.
But never buy plants of root crops like carrots or radishes. Each plant produces one root so they are not good value. And root crops must not be transplanted. It bends the roots so you get a very oddly shaped crop.
You can sow cabbages, cauliflowers, calabrese, kale, onions and lettuce direct in the garden where they are to grow, thinning out the seedlings. But it is a bit risky (slugs might eat them as soon as they appear through the soil), and you will need to transplant some to fill gaps and remove overcrowded seedlings. It is usually better to sow them in seed trays, grow on the plants and then plant them out in the veg plot at equal distances.
I covered how to do this last week. You will need to ‘harden off’ the seedlings, getting them acclimatised to outside conditions, before planting and you must protect them from slugs and snails.
You should plant out the seedlings while they are young and growing strongly. Plant them out before they show signs of starvation – purple or yellow leaves. Make sure they are well watered before planting them out and keep them watered as they get established.
Onions can be sown direct in rows but it is easier to sow them in cell trays. Sow three or four seeds per cell. You can plant out the small clump. You can harvest one or two plants as ‘spring onions’ as they grow, leaving one to mature or leave them to grow into bulbs as a group.
Courgettes and other squash should be sown in individual pots. Fill the pot and sow the seed on its side, pushed about 1cm deep. The plants are ready to plant out when they have fully expanded seed leaves and one true leaf. Do not keep them in the seedling pots too long or they will become stunted and try to bloom and not grow well when planted.
Root crops must be sown direct where they are to grow. But they can be sown in large patio pots of multipurpose compost. Unless growing very long carrots or parsnips, a pot 30cm deep will be perfect . Because there should be no weeds you can sow the seeds all over the surface, rather than in rows, and there should be no pest issues and the roots will be clean and easy to prepare. Never transplant carrots.
Radishes are very quick to mature and are often sown in the rows together with carrots. The radish seedlings will appear in a very short time and the radishes will be harvested before they have a chance to crowd out the carrots which will still be very small.
If the weather is cool outside it can be helpful to ‘pre-germinate’ seeds before sowing. It is especially useful for seeds that take a long time to germinate or have to be sown early, like parsnips, when it can be cold. Use a plastic, lidded container and put some kitchen paper in the base. Add enough water to make it moist and sow some seeds on this and replace the lid and put it somewhere warm.
Check the seeds every day and as soon as you see tiny white roots emerging you must sow them immediately. Treat them carefully so you do not damage the roots. You must sow the seeds when they are ready because if you leave them so the roots become too long you will damage them.
This method is also useful for chillies and peppers which need very high temperatures to germinate – warmer than many propagators provide.
Growing Veg talk
If you would like to know more about growing vegetables at home I am giving a talk on April 24th and 25th. I am sure it will help you get good crops this summer and is designed to be of benefit whether you are a beginner or more experienced. You can get more details and book your talk HERE.