Pricking Out Lettuce

Lettuce seedlings getting too cramped. Need transplanting (pricking out). But this cold windy weather has caused a problem.



I like to prick out tiny seedlings at this stage, just as the first true leaf (the one which looks like the plant) is emerging between the two cotyledons. However, with the weather being so bad, I have left it rather too long. So am now forced to transplant them, weather or no weather.




I am putting some in the container outside, which we prepared earlier. No, they are not weeds growing in the centre, they're our spring onions!

Instead of giving them a full spacing of 20cm (8 inches), I am cramming them up a bit (10 cm). If they all take, we can remove some before they are fully grown to make room for the others.

We need to keep a close watch-out for slugs.

With the winter now fast approaching, I am not too hopeful of success.



Old plant trays are really useful at times like these. After washing out and filling with soil (or compost), I am putting some lettuce in as an insurance, in case we lose those outside. I haven't covered the tray (you can buy perspex covers for these trays in garden centres), but have made sure they are well-watered and kept warm but out of the sun. If they wilt too much, I will cover them later (and/or spray with clean water).

You can buy non-heated propagators in garden centres, which are this size (half full seed tray) and ideal for placing on a windowsill. I saw one this year which had a base tray to hold 3 propagators.

The trick with transplanting is to be very gentle with the plants. Take care not to bruise them, and not to disturb the soil around the roots any more than necessary.

Dealing With Ground Elder

ssGround Elder is one of those really difficult perennial weeds which always seem to establish themselves around the roots of our plants and/or in other difficult positions. Its roots spread out far and wide and are difficult to fully access. If not completely removed, it can re-grow from bits of root left in the ground.

Here it is under paving, wrapped around the roots of a conifer hedge, where it is virtually impossible to dig out. Until recently no weedkillers were capable of destroying it without also destroying the hedge.

Glyphosate has changed all this. This is a systemic weedkiller which can enter through the leaf pores (stomata) and travel in the sap down to the roots, thus making it possible to kill the weed. Unlike previous systemic weedkillers, it is inactivated in the soil, so presents no risk of harming the hedge.

With the warmer weather approaching (we hope!), now is a good time to apply this weedkiller, which works much better when the weeds are growing quickly.

I use an old kitchen spray as a spot weeder to spray, especially the stomata on the underside of the leaves. You can buy glyphosate sprays in the garden centres. Take care only to treat the weed. And do not apply so much that it runs off.

Glyphosate is also available in gel form and comes in a bottle with a brush in the cap. This is useful where access is limited.

Always wear gloves when dealing with weedkillers, and be careful not to touch anything else before washing your hands.

Glyphosate is safe to wildlife and pets, once it has dried.

Cutting Revival

After 12 days, our wilting dahlia cutting has now revived (actually, it has been revived for a couple of days now). I don't know if you can see the pinky-red edges. This is usually a very good sign.

The pot is feeling rather light, in need of some water. I am going to add a little around the stem of the cutting to ensure it does not dry out. Any excess will then be mopped up by the surrounding compost. This way, we can be sure it will not become water-logged, thus preventing air getting to the base of the cutting (oxygen is essential to the rooting process).

The idea with cuttings is to keep the compost just moist enough to prevent the cutting from drying out, but not so wet that it will block air passage, thus causing the cutting to rot.

Basil Re-Pot

At long last basil has grown enough to be re-potted (basil was the first planting way back in March).

It really needs thinning out a little, but it is notoriously difficult to split up. So if I put it into a 10 cm (4 inch) pot, it should have plenty of room to spread out.

I think it must have been the cold temperatures which have made it grow so slowly. Still, at least we have some basil, even though I did have to germinate it in a propagator.

Get Hoeing

The recent rain has germinated annual weed seeds. This dry spell is an ideal time to get the hoe going, before these weeds start seeding. Because the soil is drying fast, be careful not to go too deep, since this will cause too much water loss. Keeping the hoe to the top 2 cm or so is sufficient to kill the weeds, which will shrivel in the sun.

Hoeing will also help keep the slugs at bay. These do not like moving on loose dry soil.

Because hoeing loosens the top layer of soil, it will sever the capillarity link between the soil surface and the lower layers. This prevents water wicking its way up to the surface of the soil and being lost to the atmosphere. In other words, hoeing in this way conserves water.

The loose surface layer will be very useful later in the summer, since it insulates the soil against the hot sun (because it contains more air). As it dries, it turns lighter in colour, thus lowering the surface temperature by reflecting the sun's rays. This also helps reduce water loss and helps the roots perform more efficiently.

Coriander Finished

Just as it was starting to get going after re-potting, the coriander has started to bolt (run to seed). So cut up and put in freezer. Still, we have had our money's worth out of it.

Coriander is notorious for bolting at this time of year, but this variety was supposed to be resistant. Just shows that we cannot always go by what is written on the packet.

Seeding is mostly a photoperiodic (controlled by daylength) response. Had the season been a bit warmer, there would have been a much heavier crop by now. Maybe next year?

Panned Soil

, beAs you can see, the recent heavy rain followed by sun has baked this soil surface into a hard crust (pan). This is partly because there is little structure in the soil to resist this, but mostly because it was broken up too finely before planting.

This pan needs to be broken up immediately, since it is preventing oxygen getting down to the roots. And roots cannot take in water without oxygen, contrary to what we might suppose. It is also preventing other essential gaseous exchange.

A Dutch hoe is an ideal tool to use, since this will also kill off any small weeds which might be gaining a hold.

To give a soil more structure, we can add organic matter to it in spring. This will be broken down by the soil micro-organisms to form humus which has the effect of sticking the finer particles together to form larger ones (crumbs). Not only do these allow gases to access and leave the soil more easily, but they also resist this panning.

Time to Plant

Plants in storage tell us when they are ready to return to the soil. The buds on this dry begonia tuber (overwintered in the garage) are telling us the time is right. This tuber will develop very quickly in damp (not wet) soil, especially since this soil will have warmed up considerably in the spring sunshine.

I like all plants to show some sign of life before attending to them. And because they grow more quickly than those planted earlier, there is less time for attack by slugs, fungi and the like. This makes growing more successful.

Normally I plant out my stored dahlias at this stage. I don't know why I put them in earlier this year - especially as the season has kept so cold. Well I do know - it was to get earlier growth. But, as I have said before, things catch up. I bet I haven't saved more than a few days.

From 'Death', Life

I know I go on about it, but I am always amazed at how plants will struggle to survive the seemingly impossible. I over-winter my outdoor pots in the garage behind a translucent glass-fibre door, and, to be honest, I thought these geraniums were a goner this year after being subjected to the winter frosts protected only by a sheet of newspaper.

Once plants lose some water and become a bit limp, their frost-resistance greatly increases. This is partly because the sap becomes more concentrated and freezes at a lower temperature, and partly because the cell contents shrink away from the cell walls, so even if the sap does freeze there will be room for expansion without rupturing the walls. Some plants do actually add chemicals to their cells to lower the freezing point.

I know the pots look untidy, but they seem to survive best like this. I never cut out the dead until the new growth starts, and then I cut back to the new shoots. I have tried cutting back earlier, but it doesn't seem to work, not for me, at least.