January is the quiet month outdoors. The winter crops (garlic, broad beans and onions) are in the pots and beds and waiting for the big frost and snow. Winter salads (chard, pak choy and lettuce) have grown well and should stand through the cold. Now is the time to head indoors and leave the garden …Read More about January: Starting Chilli Peppers
Posts relating to seeds
Starting some tomatoes
Starting tomatoes from seed is the best way to get plants already suited to the place where they will grow. Shop bought plants can be in shock. However, starting seeds indoors can be tricky especially when extra cold outside results in the house heating system being turned up. The lack of sunshine indoors and chills …Read More about Starting some tomatoes
Early tomatoes
While it is still still too early to start summer tomatoes from seed indoors (end of February), it is well worth starting some Russian and Eastern European tomato seeds. These are early tomatoes that need 8 weeks indoors before slowly moving outside. As their names imply (eg Sub-Arctic Plenty) these are more sturdy plants that …Read More about Early tomatoes
Repotting tomato seedlings
To get good results from summer tomatoes it is best to start the plants indoors in a propagator or individual pots and repot them to larger pots two or three times before the plants go outdoors. Now if a good time to be starting tomatoes from seed, preferably starting a small batch every week for …Read More about Repotting tomato seedlings
Hardening off gallery
The process of moving seedlings from the warmth and protection of the house or greenhouse outdoors into the garden is called “hardening off.” This most delicate time in plant growth, following weeks of careful nurturing of small plants from seed, leaves the gardener at the mercy of outdoor elements often unpredictable and fast changing. While …Read More about Hardening off gallery
Indoor gardening
For city gardeners without the luxury of a greenhouse or a garden shed, indoors is the only option for bringing on plants for later planting outside. If possible, a room with the central heating turned down (or off) provides a good starting nursery for the several weeks before moving plants outside. When the dinning room …Read More about Indoor gardening