Potting up time in Spring

The only rule in gardening is every year is different. The timing for starting seeds to bringing on young plants to moving them outside is always set by the subtleties of weather and cold. With the recent extreme cold and the possibility of an unexpected cold snap still, the whole process has been slowed down this year. Do not be fooled by pleasant warm days.

The main way to slow down the growing process is to leave the small plants in their smaller pots for a few weeks longer than usual. If the plants are not shooting up and becoming stringy then let them be. When they are moved to larger pots (here 2 litre) the plants will accelerate growth and should be ready for moving slowly outside in a few weeks. There is no hurry.

Chilli peppers are particularly susceptible to outdoor cold so again it is worth delaying potting these up to larger pots. For the ones that are growing well it does no harm to try one outside in its finished pot as a tester, kept in a protected position. The remaining chillis are spread around windowsills or near grow lights and should stay indoors for another few weeks.

Out in the garden the main concern is overnight chills. Soil beds, unless protected, will still be cold. However, climbing beans can start to move outdoors to harden off and onion seedlings actually benefit from being moved out. Radish is an old gardener’s way of measuring the time to plant out as they grow quickly in good conditions. This year, some hardy Eastern European tomatoes have been moved outside and are doing well enough.

The wild weather of the last few months may slow down planting out but it does also show the benefit of over-winter planting. The broad beans in the raised bed suffered in the cold but are coming back now while the garlic, shallots, red onions and white onions are all coming along well. Gardening across the years (over winter) is one way to adjust and get used to our changing weather patterns.

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