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Seasonal Tips for April & May - Veg - Peas & Beans

  • Continue to sow hardy crops such as peas and broad beans outdoors to create a succession of crops, sow a short row every 2-3 weeks and don’t forget that you can harvest the young leaves of peas and broad beans and use them in salads. Prepare the soil first by digging it over to aerate the root zone. If your soil is claggy and not very crumbly then line your seed drills with Westland John Innes Seed Sowing Compost with Sure Start. Sow the seed evenly into the seed drills and cover over with more compost. Protect the sowings from wildlife with cloches or fleece. You can also sow these seeds into pots, trays or root trainers in a cool greenhouse until they are large enough to plant out.
  • Keep a check on seeds sown in early spring and keep the developing plants free from weeds. Provide stakes to support early growth.
  • Seeds sown in pots and modules can be planted out when the roots fill the compost and are starting to show through the drainage holes. Place them in a cold frame for a few days to acclimatise to the outdoor weather and be ready to protect with fleece for the first few weeks outside.
  • Runner beans and French beans can be sown in a frost-free greenhouse from April. This gives them just enough time to grow into plants large enough to handle and be hardened off by the time the last frost has passed. That makes them ready to plant out in mid to late June. It is better to sow them later, from early May if you live in an area where the last frost is later. Plus you can sow a second (or even third) crop 2-3 weeks later and even sow outside in early summer. Sow into individual flowerpots or large modules full of John Innes Seed Sowing Compost with Sure Start or use Root Trainers that allow the roots to develop undisturbed until they are ready to plant out.
  • Runner beans can be sown into ready prepared trenches towards the end of May and into June. Be prepared to cover them over with cloches, or horticultural fleece if a frost threatens.
  • Build runner bean support frames while the plants are still small so that they have something to climb up as soon as they start to grow.
  • Sow peas and sugar snap peas in shallow trenches filled with Multi-Purpose Compost with added John Innes.

Other useful tips for April and May:

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