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Gardening Tips

Here are a few gardening tips to share with you .


Talk to the old boys
There’s every chance that the same people have been working your neighbouring plots for years. They’ll be the ones who can tell you what grows well on the site, what to avoid, and all the other tricks that will get you on your way. From my experience, allotmenteerists are a lovely bunch, and they’ll only be too happy to help.


 Grow veg you like
Again, sounds obvious, but if you fought with your mum over eating sprouts, then don’t bother growing anything you’re not going to eat – as tempting as it is to deck the whole plot out with every vegetable under the sun!


Sow seeds
It’s important to sow seeds at the right time: April/May is better for seeds sown in the open. Before that, the ground may be too cold and wet. Only hardy seeds should be sown outdoors. The less hardy need protection and should be sown under glass in a sheltered spot or greenhouse. Check the packet. Plants grown in a greenhouse or frame need to be gradually acclimatised to cooler outdoor conditions before being planted out.



Planting Seedlings
Seedlings should be planted into a moist soil and lightly watered in. Once established, wetting the surface with a light watering will only en-courage a lazy root system. You can protect new plants with bottle cloches (2 litre pop bottles can be cut to suit). Raise plants in pots, then plant out sturdy plants and also grow varieties which have resistance to disease. If you have a shed, a good idea is to harvest the rainwater, but don’t use it on your seedlings as it may contain algae.



Enjoy it!
This is the most important one of all. Get to know people on your site, as fellow plotholders can give you lots of advice and encouragement. And remember -it’s also a tenant’s duty to keep boundary hedges cut and trimmed and their plot free from weeds, so make sure you do your bit!





Pinch & Prune for More Tomatoes
Pinch and remove suckers that develop in the crotch joint of two branches. They won’t bear fruit and will take energy away from the rest of the plant. But go easy on pruning the rest of the plant. You can thin out a few leaves to allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit, but it's the leaves that are photosynthesizing and creating the sugars that give flavor to your tomatoes.

TIPS