Posts Tagged ‘sowing tips’

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.

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!

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.

L. latifolius is the well know perennial sweet pea. Native to Central an Southern Europe and can be found in Japan and in North America where it is an introduced flower. Once it was widely grown in many English garden. Despite its lack of scent it is getting more and more popular again among keen gardeners. The mixture of seeds available are produce white, pink and purple flowers, wich makes a stunning display and give a year after year enjoyment.

The plant is a climber, so best to grow on trellis, on a south facing wall, or you can try to grow them in hanging basket for a cascading effect. Easily grown in any type of soil, but thrives in a well drained rich and warm soil. Prefers a sunny location, perhaps near to your patio where you can enjoy the beautiful flowers all summer long.

The sweet pea seeds can take long time to germinate, you can help the germination by soaking the seeds overnight, but most importantly by keeping the sown seeds in a warm place, at around 20 Celsius and the compost moist at all times. When the seedlings are large enough to handle just prick them out and grow them on at cooler conditions before planting out the strong and established plants to their final position. Choose their location carefully and support the plants as they grow or they can be left to grow as they wish if you have a wild corner in your garden.

The plants can reach a height of 2 metre and more and will need some attention or they will take over your whole garden.

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.