As the days start to get a little longer and the first buds are appearing in the garden, you may well be starting to think about growing some of your own veg and flowers this year.

Over the next few months we’ll be running a grow with us feature in our newsletter. We’ve selected some great vegetable and flower varieties from our new Gro-sure range and month by month we’ll be showing you how to sow the seeds, prick out, pot on, plant them out and finally we’ll be enjoying the fruits of our labour, when the summer gets here! Sign up to receive the newsletter here.

In the veg department we have been busy sowing Lettuce Sansula, Pepper Diablo and Ringo and Tomato Pannovy, all of which can be grown in pots on the patio and so are ideal for those of us with limited space. And for those with a veg patch or allotment to fill we will also be growing Cabbage Cilion.

For stunning containers and baskets we’ve selected Busy Lizzie Jambalaya, Lobelia Half Moon, Geranium Bulls Eye Cherry and Petunia Bravo Mix.

If you have space inside, in a greenhouse, porch or a bright windowsill you can start straight away and give your seeds a real head start.

Week 4

A few weeks have passed since we sowed our seed and we’ve had some fantastic results already. All of the seeds sown have germinated and we are now faced with trays full of little seedlings all growing away well.

In the next couple of weeks we’ll have to start pricking out and potting on our little seedlings (those that we didn’t plant in module trays) but in the meantime we need to make sure we continue to give them the best environment possible in which to grow and strengthen;

1. If your seedlings are growing on a windowsill remember to turn the trays or pots regularly as seedlings will also grow towards the light. Regular turning will ensure your seedlings grow nice, straight stems. It’s important also not to let the temperature drop too much at night otherwise they may have problems with a cold shock.

2. Keep the compost nice and moist at all times. Don’t allow it to dry out at this tender stage in your plants development.

3. Ensure there is good airflow between your seedlings and that the compost is not too wet. Cramped seedlings and wet compost can quickly lead to ‘damping off’, a fungal disease that can quickly wipe out whole sowings. Treatments are available to deal with ‘damping off’ but as with many diseases prevention is the key (some of the Gro-sure varieties are coated with a fungicide to help with this).

Look out for our next issue, in early April, when we’ll be pricking out and potting on our seedlings.

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