The spring season this year has been a bit of a mess with extreme cold in March and extreme heat in April, continuing into May. These unusual conditions make starting plants from seed and nurturing small plants quite difficult. Cold temperatures at night following hot days can damage young plants. Better to skip over spring …Read More about Summer gardening 2018
Chilli Peppers
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 …Read More about Potting up time in Spring
Starting summer chillis
With snow forecast for the weekend here, it may seem strange to be talking about growing chilli peppers. However, in the northern hemisphere, it is important to get chilli peppers started early in order to have any chance with the short summers. Between now and mid March is ideal for starting the seeds indoors with …Read More about Starting summer chillis
Planning for summer
Summer may be some way off but it does no harm to start thinking about just what you want to achieve in the garden (or on the balcony) this year. This all starts by ordering the seeds in the next week or two and being ready to start them indoors after Valentine’s day in February. …Read More about Planning for summer
Kitchen table gardening
The first rule of kitchen table gardening is keep it clean. A heavy plastic table covering works well. For those gardeners without the luxury of an outdoor heated greenhouse the kitchen table makes an ideal workbench. Preparing plants from seed early on in the season (before summer planting starts) means there will be pots of …Read More about Kitchen table gardening
Finishing chilli peppers
The late bit of sun for October has helped turn the remaining chilli peppers to their end colours. The wet weather after the early summer heat meant none of the plants reached their full potential. This is caused, in part, by the plants sitting in wet soil (even with good drainage). This said, it can …Read More about Finishing chilli peppers