Down to earth: Growing seedlings
It’s still winter, but with bulbs beginning to bloom spring is just around the corner. For really keen gardeners, getting the propagation house in order will be a top priority. If you’re interested in propagating some of your own seedlings then here’s a few tips to get you started.
Organise a hot house with shelves or make a cold frame (see NZ Gardener August 2008). Even a warm spot on the deck or windowsill will do, if space is limited.
Buy seed-raising mix or make your own. Mix peat and Wainui sand together half-and-half. Fill clean punnets or trays with mix and sow seeds in shallow furrows, covering with sieved mix. Pat down with a brick, and water with fine spray. Label. Cover with moist newspaper and then plastic or glass (usually several punnets at a time). Keep moist, but don’t overwater. Check for germination in 7-10 days (earlier for many brassicas). Remove paper and glass. When seedlings reach their first true leaf stage then you can prick them out.
Get a potting mix or make one. Mix approximate thirds of peat, Wainui sand, and sifted compost together. Add fish meal or blood and bone to mixes for fruiting crops (like tomatoes) and other heavy feeders (like brassicas). Fill punnets, trays or pots with mix to the top. With a fork, gently lift the seedlings (pick the strongest ones) by the leaf, not the stem, and pop into a hole made in the mix. Firmly press down around the seedling and then top off with more mix. Label, especially if growing several varieties. Water well. Leave in a warm, sunny place till seedlings are ready to plant. Then leave outside for a few days to harden off before transplanting.
Fruit care
Plant strawberries into well-prepared beds.
Plant fruits and nuts in sizeable holes with compost and ensure good drainage. Firm well and stake.
Spray stonefruit and pipfruit with cutonic copper vs bacterial diseases before and after bud burst, or use liquid seaweed as a tonic.
Use all-purpose oil or lime sulphur for scale insect on citrus.
Plant perennial herbs and flowers around the orchard to attract beneficial insects.
Complete pruning and mulching of fruit trees before bud burst.
Apply fertilisers, eg rock phosphate, lime, boron and wood ash, to fruits before spring growth.
Vegetable care
Start sowing early crops (eg tomatoes, peppers) in a propagation house or cold frame.
Dig in green manures/crops or cut and mulch with black plastic for upcoming spring plantings.
Prepare ground for early potatoes and other early spring crops.
Remove heavy mulches or weeds from ground where you want to sow or plant early crops to improve soil warming.
Cloche for frost protection and soil warming.
Liquid fertilise in the morning once a week, especially nitrogenous brews like diluted liquid manures and urine.
Weed beds, especially around alliums (garlic, onions, shallots) as competition now will limit yield.
Mulch with seaweed or seagrass around brassicas, garlic, broad beans and greens.
Plant rhubarb and asparagus into well-prepared beds. For asparagus dig trenches 25cm deep with compost, lime (or bones) and fertiliser (rock phosphate, ash). Plant crowns 30cm apart in zigzag rows with walking space between each row. Cover with mix of extracted soil and compost. Mulch with seagrass or seaweed.
Hothouse:
Prepare propagation area for main sowing, eg make seed-raising mix, gather seed, etc.
Prepare beds for early hothouse crops like Siberian tomatoes.
Complete plan of garden cropping and spring rotation.
For transplanting: Leafy greens (spinach, lettuce, endive, cabbages)(best 27th –28th August). Onions (best 16th, 23rd-25th August). Broccoli and cauliflower (best 26th August). Early tomatoes, peppers, eggplants (best 20th-21st August) with bottom heat. Flowers, eg delphinium.
Sow direct: Radish, spring onions, carrots, beetroot (under cloche) (best 16th, 23rd-25th August). Peas (under cloche)(best 20th-21stAugust). Flowers, eg nasturtium.
Plant: 15th August. Salad greens, spinach, cabbages, early onions and early potatoes. Flowers, eg divided perennials.
General garden care
Remove overcrowded trees and shrubs. Prune trees for greater sun on edible garden.
Plant trees and shrubs.
Clean and fix garden tools. Make a tub with used cooking oil and sand/sawdust mix to dip tools in after use.
Sol Morgan, GroWise Consultancy
