Inside the greenhouse our tomato plants, sown back in February, are now about 6 inches tall and lifting the lid on their propagator. After being started off in a heated propagator, they were moved to an unheated one to free up space. Now is the time for them to be planted into the greenhouse border raised bed and into large pots. Each tomato plant in the raised bed will be given a halo collar to make watering easier and more effective. A further sowing of tomatoes was made last week to provide plants to put into our growhouses outside in the garden. These won’t be planted out until early May.
Outside in the garden we are ready to apply nemaslug to the soil. The recent dry conditions have delayed this as the nematodes are best applied to wet soil, preferably on a rainy day. We haven’t had many of these of late, and there are none on the immediate forecast. The nematodes can sit in the fridge until rain comes. Luckily, the slugs and snails don’t like dry soil either!
Due to the dry conditions, we will be continuing to water all our crops outside; whether grown in pots, raised beds or the ground. Spring rain is important to fruit bushes and trees, as well as garlic so it’s essential to keep them well watered. We will also be watering inside the greenhouse to keep all our little plants and seedlings healthy. At the moment we are using our blinds during the day to shade the little plants as temperatures are soaring during the day. The heater is still being used at night to keep the temperatures on an even keel.
In the wider ornamental gardens, it is time to put plants supports in place. Our peonies, which put on a stunning display in early summer, are now around 4 inches tall. We like to put the supports in place early to ensure the plants grow through them as naturally as possible. The peonies are growing fast now and I can’t wait for them to put on their spectacular display.
