Top 10 Tips for Growing Salads and Greens

It’s not too late to grow salads and greens during the summer months. For great results follow our Top 10 Tips:

1. Use the Instant Planter to grow a late crop of your favourite salad vegetables. It has twice the depth of compost of standard growing bags, so it’s perfect for plants with deep roots. The rich layer of finely balanced compost contains everything your plants need to thrive. It includes a wetting agent to make watering easier and a water storing gel, which makes the water you use go much further and also helps retain moisture in the compost to support your plants during hot and dry weather. Choose some quick maturing mixed salad leaves from the wide selection from Unwins Seeds. Can you suggest any varieties?
2. Sow spring cabbages such as Pixie or Greensleeves into pots and modules ready for planting out in September and October.
3. Keep the salad season going as long as possible and continue to sow lettuce, salad onions and even radishes. Look out for reliable winter lettuces that can be grown under cloches into the winter such as Winter Density.
4. Continue to harvest salad crops as and when needed. Where possible remove alternate plants to leave plenty of room for the remaining plants to develop.
5. Feed developing plants using an appropriate, quality fertiliser. Choose Nutri Fruit and Vegetable Feed for great results.
6. Remember to keep protecting salad plants from slugs and snails. Use Eraza for fast effective control or a barrier of Slug Blocker to prevent these pests from reaching your vulnerable plants.
7. Keep the vegetable patch well weeded so that the weeds do not compete with your plants for vital moisture and nutrients.
8. Keep a watch out for caterpillar eggs on your cabbage plants. Look out for clusters of orange yellow eggs beneath the leaves. Let these hatch first to ensure that they are not ladybird larvae, a very beneficial insect for gardeners. Caterpillars will hatch as tiny wriggling strands, which can be removed by hand.
9. Earth up around Brussels Sprouts and firm in around the stems to give these plants better resistance to heavy wind and rain.
10. Bend the outer leaves over the top of developing cauliflowers to keep them white and clean.