Seasonal Tips for April & May - Potatoes & Roots
Outdoors, if the soil is crumbly and not stodgy, sow leeks, carrots and parsnip. Make a shallow trench in the soil about 1in (2.5cm) deep, line the base with Multi-Purpose Compost with added John Innes, water gently and then sprinkle the seed thinly on top. Cover over with more compost. - Beetroot, turnip, carrots and radish can be sown in shallow drills lined with compost, without extra protection. However if you are in an exposed position, or the weather is particularly harsh, a covering of fleece or a cloche will help speed germination.
- Plant onion sets out into the garden. Add a dressing of Growmore Garden Fertiliser to the soil before planting. These tiny onion bulbs should be pushed gently into the soil with their tips just showing. Plant them 10-15cm apart.
- Plan to sow a few seeds of each vegetable every two weeks so that they mature at different rates to provide a succession of produce for the table. Some crops such as carrots can be sown in small amounts right through until July so that you get plenty of fresh carrots all through the summer and autumn and into winter too.
- To avoid your carrots being affected by carrot fly choose to grow a good carrot fly resistant variety such as Carrot ‘Flyaway’ which shows excellent resistance to this pest. Alternatively cover over the emerging seedlings with fleece; pegging it down thoroughly all along the edges to prevent the carrot fly adults gaining access to your crops. This will stop their eggs being laid along your rows of carrots, and prevent the potential larval damage to the carrot roots.
- Continue to plant chitted First Early, Second Early potato tubers 5-6in (12.5-15cm) deep and about 12in (30cm) apart. Cover over with fleece to protect emerging shoots from frost. As shoots appear cover them over with more soil. This encourages more tubers to form underground. For more information see Choosing, Chitting, Planting and Harvesting Potatoes.
Other useful tips for April and May:
