Friday 28th March 2014

Nigella

We talked about seed sowing today as now is the time to start sowing half hardy annuals.Hardy annuals like ammi, nigella, calendula, larkspur can be sown in Sept/Oct for the next year but can also be sown now in March/April. They will flower slightly later than autumn sown annuals. It is best to sow annuals in modular trays so you don't damage their roots when you are potting them on. You can use multi purpose compost just ensuring you take out any big bits of bark etc - use your fingers to make indents in the modules and put one or two seeds in each cell and cover with a little compost. Pot on into individual pots when there is sufficient growth as they will quickly run out of nutrients.Water with a can with a very fine rose or water from beneath - it can be helpful to use capillary matting in the tray to keep them damp.

Nicotiana

Half hardy annuals like cosmos, zinnias, nicotianas are frost tender and should only be planted out after mid May. They need a temperature of at least 10 degrees C to germinate so use a heated propagator or sow them inside but check them daily and keep them watered. It takes at least 6 weeks from sowing to being able to put them out and some grow more slowly then others, e.g.cosmos seeds grow very rapidly whilst nicotianas take a long time to germinate. Sow half hardy seeds in a seed tray - some seeds are very tiny so you can mix them with silver sand and sow very finely and cover with vermiculite before putting under glass or cling film. Prick out into small pots (F7s) using a dibber and holding the seedling by a leaf.

Book recommendations:
Annuals & Biennials by Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix
The Great Vegetable plot by Sarah Raven

Activities in the garden this week:

• moving gooseberries and making raised vegetable bed
• planting out peas from guttering and sowing mix of carrot and onion seeds 
• tidying, weeding and planting out including planting broad beans among the alliums
• finishing herb beds
• more seed sowing of salad crops in gutters
• continued work on the path

Planting out peas from the gutter