Archive for the ‘Sowing tips’ Category

Growing beans is quite easy and rewards are fantastic. Being part of a vegetarian diet, beans are getting more popular year after year. You can grow runners, borlotto beans or french beans very easily even in smaller gardens, or the dwarf ones in pots on your patio or balcony. These beans need very similar conditions, while growing broad beans is completely a different matter.

Sowing:

For an earliest crop sow your bean seeds indoors at a minimum temperature of 15 Celsius, about three weeks before the last expected frost in your area. An ordinary all purpose compost is suitable for the beans, cover the seeds with as much compost as the the longest side of the seed. With other words sow the seeds as deep as big the seed is, this rule can be applied to any seeds in general.

If you growing lots of beans and do not have the space for sowing them indoors, sow the seeds outside when the temperature reaches around 15 Celsius during the day. If the seeds sown too early outside they can start rotting in the cold, wet soil. Normally late May or early June is the best time to sow outside, 15-20 cm apart. Germination takes 7-14 days, depends on variety and temperature of course.

Growing:

Runner beans and climbing french beans and borlotto beans need support. The usual choice is a wigwam especially in a smaller garden or allotment plot. Plant out the the bean plants when there is no frost expected in your area, one plant to each supporting cane. They will grow up on the poles nicely. If you grow a larger amount of beans than a twin row of canes are the perfect solution, as on the picture above. The climbing varieties are much more productive than the dwarf ones. Prepare your soil before planting out, dig a deep trench and put  in some fresh grass cuttings, shredded newspaper, then cover these and plant the beans on the top. This will provide some warmth and feed the plants as well.

Dwarf beans can be grown in larger pots, containers in your patio, or in rows about 15 cm apart.

Broad beans are ready to harvest now from an autumn sowing. These great long pods are from the Broad Bean Aquadulce, which is a very hardy variety, the standard for overwintering.

One great thing is about broad beans that they are ready to harvest in late May, when there is hardly any other veg available to pick, from an October sowing, and it is really satisfying to sow the broad bean seeds outside in the autumn. An other main reason is for the autumn sowing is to avoid the damage caused by black flies. These insects love to feed on the top of the broad beans and on the joints of the flowers, but with overwintering the plants you can easily avoid this, as the plants will flower and the pods will be ready sooner than the black flies can do any damage to the crop.
The advice is to pinch out the growing tips of the plants as soon as they are in full flower, this will help to avoid black fly attack and the plants will put their energy towards producing tastier and bigger pods rather than vertical growth.

Sowing:

Sow the broad bean seeds outside in the open ground in October-November for an early crop, under cloches in January or March-April. Alternatively the seeds can be sown inside in February and later transplanted out when the seedlings about 30 cm tall. Harden off the seedlings properly by keeping them outside during the day and putting them back inside for the night. Do this for 4-6  days before planting them outside to their final position. This is very important with the broad beans as the cold spells in March can easily damage the young, inside grown plants.
Sow the seeds in double rows 5 cm deep, 20-25 cm between the rows and leave 70-80 cm between the double rows. Plant them in blocks, this way the plants will protect each other from wind.

Growing:

Once the seeds sown the broad beans need no or little attention. Make sure they have enough water when in flower and keep them weed free. The only thing what you should do is to pinch out the growing tips when the plants are in full flower.
After harvesting the pods make sure you leave the roots in the soil as they contain plenty of precious nitrogen.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is a culinary herb from the family Lamiaceae. Originally native to India where it is cultivated for thousands of years. Basil grows wild now in the Mediterranean and used mainly in Italian cuisine, salads, sandwiches. The Italian tomato dishes being so popular here in the UK it is a must to grow some basil together with your tomatoes.

Sowing the basil seeds

If you want to grow the herbs on your windowsill the best time is to sow is March. If you planning to transplant the plants outside later on or if you will grow the basil in an unheated greenhouse then wait until late April.
Sow the basil seeds into small, about 7 cm, pots or a seed tray or into bigger pots if you do not want to transplant them later on; 0.5cm deep. Keep the compost moist by watering from underneath, so the tiny seeds and seedlings will not be disturbed. Keep them at a temperature of 15 Celsius and above.

Transplanting the basil seedlings

When the plants are large enough to handle, 3-4 inches tall, you can prick them out carefully and transplant them into bigger pots, or why not try to grow them in a nice windowbox. Creating a herb windowbox will add a nice scent and a useful feature to your patio area.

Growing basil successfully require plenty of sunshine and warmth. If you plant the basil outside make sure that you choose the sunniest location in your garden. The plants like a bit of dry condition and lots of sunshine. This will help to bring out the best flavour possible from your basil plants.
Growing them around the tomato plants is a common practice by many gardener. Leave about 10cm between the plants, so they have plenty of space to mature.

If the basil plants wilted from lack of water they will recover fairly quickly when watered properly. Make sure that the leaves do not get much water as water on the leaves can encourage fungal diseases to appear on the plants.

Harvesting

You can start using the basil leaves quite early, gently pinch the biggest leaves when the plants are about 15cm tall. Do not cut the whole stem as this will stop the plant growing. When the plants grow to 20-30cm tall you can pinch out the growing tip to encourage the plants to grow more bushy. Remove any flowers as they appear, this will help the plants to concentrate their energy on growing more delicious leaves.

The different blend of essentials oils (most important is the eugenol in the sweet basil) are responsible for the different taste of the many basil varieties. The most common Mediterranean variety is the Sweet Genovese.

Most of us enjoy the basil in tomato based Italian dishes. Add the fresh leaves only at the last moment as the cooking will destroy the flavour of the basil. The dried basil looses most of its flavour too, if you want to store basil leaves your best choice is freezing. Just place a bunch of leaves into a small plastic bag and pop it into the freezer.
If you have a sunny windowsill or a heated greenhouse you can enjoy this lovely culinary plant, called by many as the king of herbs, from March to October.



Sweetcorn is a popular vegetable to grow in every allotment, garden in the UK.  The supersweet and sugar enhanced F1 varieties are the most popular for their really sweet taste and ease of growing them even for a beginner. The cobs are much tastier than the supermarket ones, as the sugar turns to starch rather quickly after picking.

Sowing the sweetcorn seeds:

The best time is to start sowing the sweetcorn is middle of April.  Sow the seeds inside in small, about 7cm pots or in those larger seed cells 2cm deep, 1 or 2 seeds per pot. Using ordinary compost is fine. Sweetcorn seeds ideally need a temperature of 15 Celsius and above to germinate successfully.

The seeds can be sown directly outside from middle of May, but be prepared to loose some plants this way as mice and birds can find the seeds easily in the soil. Raising the sweetcorn inside is much recommended and it’s really worth the extra work.

Transplanting:

Before transplanting the seedlings outside make sure that you acclimatize them to the outdoor conditions. This is easily done by leaving the plants outside for the day and putting them back inside for the night. Do this for 3-5 days before planting out in middle of May.

Sweetcorn needs a well dug, rich soil. Dig in plenty of home made compost or well rotted manure a month before planting out.  Grow the plants in blocks, leaving 40-50 cm between the plants. This will help with the pollination, it is done by the wind in the sweetcorn’s case, and the plants protect each other from the wind too.  If you have only limited space you can grow smaller veggies between the plants, like dwarf beans, lettuce.  Water the plants in dry spells, especially when flowering.

Harvesting:

Test the kernels before picking your sweetcorn, if the juice is sort of creamy and the kernels are soft then the cob is ready to be picked. Normally they ready when the silk is turned brown and just starting to shrivel.

Cook your cobs as soon as possible to avoid the sugar turning starch. Hmm… best on a hot barbeque straight on the plot!

Sowing the leek seeds:

The seeds can be sown inside in the winter if you want crops in the autumn, however it is most common to sow in early spring indoors or later on directly outside. Sow the seed in a seed tray or in seed cells about 1cm deep in fine seed compost, it will help to separate the seedlings later on without damaging the fine roots. Outdoor sowings can be done in a well prepared seedbed if you wish to transplant the plants or directly to their permanent position. If you sow the seeds directly it will take the hassle out of transplanting the fragile seedlings later on, which is preferred by many gardeners. Germination can take 2-3 weeks. After the seedlings appear start thinning them out, leaving about 5cm between the plants. Later on, if sown in a permanent bed, thin the plants to 20-25cm apart.

Transplanting:

A more traditional way is to transplant the seedlings from an earlier indoor sowing, into a well prepared bed. This is normally done in June, when the seedlings 17-23 cm tall. Make 12-15 cm deep holes, slightly trim the leaves (this is to compensate for any root damage during transplanting) and place the seedlings gently into the whole, setting each plant so that its leaves lie along the row not across it. That way you will be able to hoe between the rows more easily without damaging the leaves. Do not fill the holes with soil, just gently water the plants in regularly. Water the seedlings well in the first few days and when there is a dry spell.

Lobelia seeds are very tiny, rather dust-like, but do not be scared, it is easy to sow and grow them. Actually one of the easiest annual flower and the rewards of the shiny flowers are really worth the try to grow these beauties in your garden. If you have hanging baskets around your house or shed, then in those you can grow the trailing varieties, like our cascade mix. The bush varieties mostly used in borders, smaller garden tubs or why not try your favourite biscuit’s tin to grow lobelia in.

Sowing:

Sprinkle the lobelia seeds on the surface of a good seed compost and do not cover the seeds with anything, the lobelia seeds need light to germinate. Gently firm the compost down after you sprinkled the seeds. Keep the seed trays, pots at a temperature of 18-24 Celsius. The germination can take 14-20 days. Sow the seeds from February onwards, generally about 7 weeks before you want to transplant the seedlings. Placing the seeds into a polythene bag can aid germination by keeping the seeds warm and moist. Water the lobelia seeds always from the bottom, so the water will not disturb the tiny seeds.

Transplanting:

When the seedling are large enough to handle transplant them into medium sized pots, tubs, baskets  in bunches of 5-10, it is really not an easy task to transplant all the little plants individually and there is no need to do that. Many gardeners just sow the seeds into the tubs they want to grow the flowers in and later just thin the seedlings as it is necessary. Gradually acclimatize the plants to outdoor conditions before planting them outside after all the risk of frost has passed in your area. Be careful not to brake the plants, but do not worry too much as you will have more than enough as we offer a large number of seeds at low price. Lobelias like a moist, rich soil, and a shady location.

Dumping off is a common disease of the lobelia seedlings. It is a fungal disease and it rots the stems by the soil surface. To avoid this problem you can improve the circulation in the greenhouse, make sure you water the plants from the bottom, do not wet the foliage and avoid temperature fluctuation as much as possible.

Sweet peas are as popular as ever, and nowadays a wide range available, both old fashioned heirloom varieties and modern, long stemmed cut flower varieties too. Most of the flowers are highly scented and have a long flowering period, especially if taken care of (will expand on that a little later).

Sowing:

Many experienced gardeners sow the seeds in the autumn (September-October) into a cold frame or open ground and then plant them out later before the winter. This is not advised in the North of the country though. You better off sowing the sweet pea seeds in the spring, in March and then plant them out to their final position when the seedlings are 5-7 inches tall.

The sweet pea seeds have hard coats. To aid the germination the seeds can be soaked overnight before sowing. For most successful germination, crack the seeds a bit by rubbing them between two sheets of medium grid sandpaper and then soak them for about 10 hours. With this method you will crack the seed coat and the let the water in through the cracks before sowing into fine seed compost. This is not absolutely necessary, some studies show no difference in germination rate if you just sow the seeds without any treatment and soaked seeds sowing. However this method will speed up the germination.

Sow the seeds about an inch deep into small pots. A propagator or a windowsill will be a good place to germinate the seeds, keep the temperature at around 15 Celsius. The seedlings should emerge in a week time and when they grow out of their pot, plant them into their final position.

Growing:

The sweet peas are climbers, so they will need some support. They like an open, sunny location and a fertile, well manured soil. In the autumn dig deep where you want your sweet peas, add lots of organic matter, a handful of bone meal, this way you will give the best possible start to your sweet peas. The most common method is to train the plants onto a wigwam built out of canes or build a row of canes, but any frame, trellis will do the job perfectly. If you grow the flowers for competition, it is a common practice by many that the side shoots and even the tendrils are snipped off. The idea is that the side shoots, tendrils and the flowers running to seed take energy which ought to be directed towards producing bigger and better blooms. And the sweet peas respond very well for such a hard job and will produce larger blooms. Combine this with regular feeding and you beat everyone at the local allotment show. If you remove the tendrils you will have to replace them by tying the plants to the canes, but you might have to do this job anyway to give the plants a better support. If you want a lovely display in your garden and some cut flowers in your home, there is no need to go to such lengths, enough to cut the flowers to encourage the plants to produce more fragrant blooms.

Cos lettuce is more popular year after year in the kitchen garden around the country. The crisp texture and sweet flavour make well worth a try to grow this type of leaf veg.

Early crops can be sown under glass from mid January until end of February. Sow the lettuce seeds into half an inch deep drills. Prick out the seedling when large enough to handle and grow them on in small pots, and when all risk of frost has passed they can go outside to their final position. If you don’t have the space inside, then you can sow them a little later in an unheated greenhouse or directly outside from mid March to June. Thin out as the seedlings emerge and you can eat these thinnings too, leave 6-10in between the plants. Little gem requires smaller space as it is a really compact type cos lettuce with a very sweet flavour.

Start cutting the crops as the hearts begin to form and by the time you harvest the last plants the hearts will be fully developed. This way you will enjoy long cropping with only one sowing and the when the hearts are fully mature the plants don’t keep very well, especially in dry conditions and many gardener ends up wasting the delicious lettuces.  If you want an all season supply then it is a good idea to sow an other lot when you just start to cut the crop.

Come sowing time! Spring is approaching fast and everyone is getting ready to sow some tomato seeds. They are fairly easy to grow from seed and if you have a warm windowsill in your kitchen then the germination will not be a problem.

For the tastiest fruits many gardener grow the tomatoes in a greenhouse, polytunnel or even in a conservatory. However outside growing is rewarding too, just make sure you grow the plants in the warmest, sheltered area of your plot, garden.

Sowing the tomato seeds

Ideally label and fill a small pot or a seedtray with seed sowing compost, firm down and water. Scatter the seeds thinly as most of them will germinate be careful not to over sow at this stage. Place the pot on a windowsill or warm light shelf to germinate, and within 2 weeks, you should see seedlings, and they will be big enough in around 4 weeks to move on to individual pots. Sow seeds about a cm deep, keep the temperature 12-25 Celsius and the seeds germinate within 14 days. Make sure that you keep the compost moist during the entire growing process, and warmth is very important too. If you sow the seeds outside in an unheated greenhouse or propagator, wait until all risk of frost has passed in your area. And do not worry you can sow them as late as end of April, the plants will go faster in the hopefully warm spring and you just have a slightly later crop.

Move the tomato plants by gently holding the seedlings by their stalk and carefully moving them out with the help of a dibber or such like. Grow the plants on for 3-4 weeks before transplanting them to the final position after all risk of frost has passed.

When the roots are showing at the bottom of the pots it’s time to transplant the tomatoes.

Moving into their final position

Once the plants have 6-8 pairs of true leaves (more importantly when there is no frost expected), then it is time to move your tomatoes to a growing bag, border of your greenhouse or a warm fertile place in your garden. Break up the compost in the bag and scoop out some so that the root ball fit in the hole. Water well and place it in a warm spot. Oh and make sure you made some holes in the bottom of the bag for the excess water.

If you are growing indeterminate/cordon tomatoes, then you will need to support the plants with a cane and tie the plants to it carefully.

Ideally tomatoes grow on one single stem, expect the bush varieties, so snap out any shoots that grown in leaf joints, and once your plant has produced four or five trusses of flowers, pinch out the growing tip (the very top of the tomato plant). Doing this will ensure that all the growing energy is put into producing fruit rather than plant growth. You will need to keep doing this as the plant will try and grow more sideshoots. You also need to feed once a week with fertiliser, and water daily, or even twice a day in dry and sunny spells.

These are just our recommendations, individual growing conditions affect the germination of the seeds and the growth of the plants.

It is time to sow the pepper seeds now, actually we are sure that some of you keen gardeners has done so already as early as January. With chillies is all about the temperature, as they are originally from a very warm part of the world such as India or South America. The most popular variety is still the Jalapeno and the Habanero type peppers.

Sowing: The chilli seeds really need some attention, so make sure you use a fine seed compost. Some gardeners prefer to use vermiculite and compost mix, you can buy them in any garden centre.  Sow the seeds about an inch deep and cover with perlite if you prefer, however it is not necessary. The temperature should be between 20 and 25 Celsius, so it is only possible to germinate the peppers inside your house. Aid the germination by sealing the seed tray or the pots, whichever used for sowing, into a plastic bag, surely you have one somewhere in your home. The bag will keep the moisture in as well, but be careful here and do not overwater. A warm windowsill, if there is such a thing, or for best results you can try the top of your telly, is the best place to germinate the chillies. Keep the temperature as even as possible during the process, well we know it is hard so again if you seal the sown seeds into a plastic bag will help a lot. Germination can be slow and eradicated with some chilli peppers, with the world hottest chilli everyone is struggling.

Growing: Once you have success with the germination, just transplant the seedlings into individual pots and keep the seedlings and the plants above 20 Celsius during the entire growing season, conservatory or a greenhouse are the best places for your pepper plants.  Again it is a hard job even if you have an unheated greenhouse the temperature will drop quite dramatically during the cold english nights, but do not worry you will have some good results if the sun starts to shine every now and then.  The habanero peppers need a warmer and longer growing season then the smaller bush varieties like tepin or the Bulgarian carrot. And yes, you do get better results if you feed the plants. Tomato fertilizer tend to be the choice of many gardener, but you can experiment and use any general veggie feed too.

These are just our recommendations, individual growing conditions affect the germination of the seeds and the growth of the plants.