Top 10 Topical Gardening Tips Spring 2024 by Ray Broughton
- If the seed is small and black, try using cornflower to sprinkle on the surface before sowing. This will make distribution of the seed much easier, as the seed will be visible.
- Why not try and grow potatoes using barley straw. This method is relatively simple if you feed the straw weekly with a Potassium (Tomato) fertilizer. This will ferment the straw and make it too warm for wire worm and slugs.
- Soaking wildflowers before sowing in malt vinegar for 30 minutes will help to breakdown seed coat dormancy and give better germination.
- If you have apple mildew on your apples, always make sure that there is air flow through the plant and feed the plants in mid-April.
- To eradicate black spot on roses spray SB Plant Invigorator as soon as the leaves have fully developed in mid-April.
- Remember when compost making, you do not need to have a large amount of air in the compost bin. Bacteria and fungi do need Oxygen but much less than we do.
- Have a look at the new Lupin cultivars, which are much easier to grow than the traditional Lupins.
- If you have an outdoor tap, it is advisable to have a one way valve fitted on the tap to avoid water seeping back into the house, especially if you are using a fertilizer dilutor. This may not be necessary if you have a house built after the 1980s as most houses after this date have a one-way valve system installed to prevent this problem.
- An interesting fact is that the white fly is a moth.
- If a plant is pot bound just cut the roots vertically down and do not disturb too much of the surface roots as these contain root hairs which absorb water and nutrients.
