Planting out vegetable plants

Most vegetable plants that have been grown in pots can be planted directly into the garden soil when the weather is suitable and the danger of frost has passed. Some vegetable plants such as broad beans, peas, and leeks are hardy and can be planted out earlier. Make sure you understand whether the plants you are growing are ready to plant out before you do so. A late frost will kill a crop of plants that have been planted out too early. Whenever you plant them, the method is the same; simply follow the steps below.

Step 1
Ideally your plants should have been acclimatised to the outdoors for a week or two before planting out. This is called hardening off. Place your plants outside during the day and then take them back into the shelter of a frost free greenhouse at night. This will help to toughen them up. When you are ready to plant out. water your pots of plants so that the compost is thoroughly moist. This makes it easier to remove the plants from the pots,
and reduces the risk of damaging the roots.

Step 2
Prepare the planting area by digging over the area first with a garden fork. Choose a day when the ground is not too sticky or wet so that it is easy to work the soil. Remove all weeds, especially perennial weeds and their roots. Break up any large clods of soil until the surface is made up of fine crumbs of soil; this is called a fine tilth.

Step 3
Work out the correct spacing for your plants and position them in their planting position so that you can make sure that you are happy with where they are planted. Dig a hole for each plant and loosen the soil at the bottom and on the sides with a hand fork. Mix Organic Multi Purpose Compost or John Innes No 2 into the hole and also with the soil you have dug out. Add Organic Growmore, or Organic Chicken Manure Pellets to the soil/compost mixture.

Step 4
Take each plant out of its pot and position it in a prepared hole, making sure that the top of the roots is just below the level of the surrounding soil. Fill in around the roots with the soil/compost/fertiliser mix and firm in gently. Water each plant and keep them well watered throughout the growing season. Tall plants such as runner beans, peas and outdoor tomatoes will need additional support and stakes to support their growth.