Weather
It’s been exceedingly wet for the whole of January and according to my measurements we had in the south east three times the rain compared with the highest rainfall in November and almost 5 times the rain compared with normal precipitation in January.
There seems to be no let-up and further fronts are likely to approach the British Isles at times and then become slow-moving as they butt up against high pressure to the north or northeast of the UK.
Thus, some southern and western areas remain most prone to seeing the wettest conditions, with more danger of flooding.
Parts of northeast Britain may also be wetter than normal. Some snow is likely, especially in any colder airmasses that filter south or east
According to the long term forecast we can expect at least another two weeks of unsettled, wetter and warmer than usual weather pattern all over the British Isles.
Why sow in a nursery rather than directly into seed beds?
Sowing in the nursery in trays or modules has given many advantages:
- Seedlings are germinating faster
- They grow faster
- It’s easier to water them and control the temperature and humidity
- Pests and diseases are minimal in an enclosed space
Nursery procedures
Over time 4 ways of sowing seeds has evolved for our cultivated plants.
1 Sowing directly into the garden beds
2 Sowing in seed trays making little seed drills to then prick out later
3 Sowing into modules, which will be the home for the seedlings until they are transplanted
(Preferably use paper-based modules and stay away from plastic)
4 Commercial growers worked also with soil blocks
So, before making our mixes we have to decide if we want to sow into seed trays or into modules.
What difference does that make for our sowing mixes?
Option 1 We have dealt with this subject in our last post
Option 2 Sowing in Seed Trays
To germinate seedlings in seed tray, we need to make a mix that is well drained, rich in potassium and phosphorous and poor in nitrogen and humus rich enough to hold sufficient moisture for seedlings to germinate. The idea of sowing in seed trays is to grow strong roots (radicals – vertical roots like when you are sprouting seeds).
Making Your Own Sowing Mix for Option 1
Use one third of rich garden soil, one third leaf mould (if that’s not available, use preferably well-rotted compost made from kitchen waste which is low in nitrogen) and one third of sharp sand. Mix the three ingredients all well together and bag it up for later use.
If you’d like to go more sophisticated make a sowing mix as indicated below for different soils:
light, sandy loam heavy, silty loam
parts parts
Loam 3 2
Compost (well rotted) 1 3
Leaf mould 1 3
Sharp Sand 1 1
Option 2 & 3 For the Pricking out/Potting Mixture and Mixtures for Modules use following Ingredients
Once seedlings start developing their lateral feeder roots, we want to encourage good root development to end up with a module or a box with pricked out plants full of roots.
That ensures that plants will root well after transplanting and will grow on faster than directly sown plants. The only disadvantage with these nursified plants is that they have to be hardened off before transplanting and will need more watering in their life in the bed than directly sown plants as their roots don’t tend to grow as deeply.
Here is a list of ingredients and proportions for modules or pricking and potting mixes.
light, sandy loam heavy, silty loam
parts parts
Loam 7 1
Compost (well rotted) 2 5
Leaf mould 3 3
Sharp Sand 1 2
Add Organic Fertilizers gram/wheelbarrow (0.08m3/80 litres)
grams grams
Garden Lime (Ca) 30 50
Bonemeal (P&Ca) 300 400
(for rooting)
Woodash 300 400
I trust these indications above give you a guideline how to elaborate your own mixtures.
Making these mixtures is like cooking. As you get more experienced you will find your own touch and according to the materials available will learn to adjust the mixtures for successful nursery work and abundant crops.
Enjoy your preparations for the growing season
Hans-Günther