Dear biodynamic garden enthusiast,
Belated happy Beltane or labour day, whatever you might have celebrated on the 1. May.
Weather
We might have enjoyed summer temperatures and abundant sunshine all over the British Isles, which made the soils crack and warm up fast.
Though in anticipation of colder and more unsettled weather forecast you are probably wondering what to do about your “warmth loving plants” or “tender annuals”?
You most likely will have sown your tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, Squash and Pumpkins and Sweet Corn for outdoor planting a while ago, hoping that an early spring was on the wing, and your seedlings might even have become a bit leggy by now.
Make sure you have them as far away from a heat source as possible and give them more bottom heat than heat from the top. Also, if they are close to a window, having the window popped open for fresh air to harden them off, would be a great interim solution.
Transplanting and Potting up
As the morning temperatures from Sunday 4. to Friday 9. May are forecast to be close to freezing in the mornings, it might be an idea to consider potting your plants up into a pot, which is 1 inch larger than the previous one.
You might be aware that the last day of frost on average is on the 25. May in the South East of England. If you are near the coasts and particularly on the west coast you got a 2 week head start with warmer weather. In the North and in higher altitudes things are generally
2 weeks later.
Transplanting time from 1.-15.May
The best time to transplant fruiting vegetables is, when they have developed their first flower or flower truss in the tomatoes. If you pinch the tip of any of the fruiting plants and train 2 leaders, you will generally get 1 ½ times the yield from the same growing area
(Do not follow previous instructions Sweet Corn).
Make sure each time you prick out or transplant your plants that you give them a richer mix and treat them with the soil activator (500), time permitting. Where possible add a handful of calcified seaweed, hoof and horn or fishmeal for the cucumber and the tomato family.
Leave out the calcified seaweed for tomatoes, as they want a more acid environment, but possibly add a handful of basalt to prevent blight and other diseases.
When you finally plant your “warmth loving plants” outside, make sure you dig a hole of
1 foot (30x30x30 cm) deep and wide and add a couple of spades of half rotted chicken or horse manure to the topsoil and a handful of each concentrated organic fertiliser, as mentioned above, in the bottom of the hole.
If you have ever made bone broth, don’t throw away the bones; instead smash them and add them to the planting hole for heavy feeders and fork it all into the lower soil layer (horizon B/subsoil) for the roots to grow down.
Water the hole until the water is visible and then fill back the topsoil and transplant the seedlings, firming them down well and watering the transplants liberally to root them fast and well.
Be aware of two things:
The Ice Saints
To be on the save side, I would wait with transplanting outdoors until the Ice Saints are over.
Who are they?
St. Mamertus (or, in some countries, St. Boniface of Tarsus), St. Pancras, and St. Servatius. They are so named because their feast days fall on the days of May 11, May 12, and May 13.
Those days typically seem to bring colder or even frosty weather. Though Kew garden records show the 13. May to be the warmest, with a sharp drop in temperature after that date.
Whatever the folklore says, I would be weary this year to plant out my warmth loving plants before the 13. May.
Moon and Venus Node
On Wednesday 7. and Thursday 8. May the Moon and Venus are crossing the ecliptic of the Sun. This time is usually considered detrimental to plants and soil life if we sow, transplant or move the soil.
Enjoy your delicious fruits of your labour.
Happy gardening
Hans-Günther
