More Tips on Tomato-growing in Patio Planters.

Tomatoes are one of the most rewarding things to grow, because they taste SO delicious when freshly picked - Some say you'll never eat a supermarket tomato again.

Using patio planters makes growing your own tomatoes easier than ever - You can choose between the Climbing Tomato Patio Planter, which has a three sided metal climbing frame, or the Bush and Trailing Tomato Patio Planter, designed for tomatoes that are happy growing without a climbing frame.

Also, you can use one of the three general use Vegetable Patio Planters (we recommend the deepest one for climbers, or the medium one for bush tomatoes.)

If you're using a planter without a frame to grow climbing tomatoes, you'll need to provide some kind of support - 2 or three ordinary garden canes should be adequate, then use some of our Soft-tie to gently tie the plants to the canes as they grow (it's a good idea to leave space for the stems to grow when you tie around them).

If you plan to grow from seed we recommend rootrainers for the best start, or you can buy some small plants from your local garden centre who will be able to help you choose the right sort of tomato.

Two tomato plants should be enough to fill a Tomato Planter. The planters have drainage holes in the bottom, but for tomatoes we recommend adding a thin layer of gravel/stones at the bottom of the planter to assist with drainage. Then fill with a good-quality multi-purpose compost to about 4cm from the top of the planter.  Water the plants and allow to drain before planting them - also water after planting, but be careful not to soak the compost.

Do not place tomatoes outside until after the last frosts - Keep them in a light sunny position. As the plant grows, side-shoots must be removed (just pinch them off with your fingers) - Otherwise you'll end up with lots of foliage, and not much fruit - side-shoots grow from the joint between the main stem and the leaf branches.

Lower leaves should be removed if they start yellowing, to reduce the chance of infection. Frequent watering is vital but we have to add dry periods lead to splitting tomatoes.  You can also just rub off Aphids with your fingers, or spray them off with water. Finally you will have a better crop if you feed your planter regularly from mid-summer onwards, with a good liquid feed (many are available in your garden centre).

As soon as the fruit is ripe, pick and eat! - This is a) delicious, and b) encourages more fruit to grow. Best of luck with it.

Gutter Planting Success

Sarah Raven in her article "The Veg Patch, Part III: How to Sow Seeds" which appeared in The Daily Telegraph, shows how by a series of experimentation she has achieved nearly a 100% germination success rate by using lengths of guttering to sow her seeds in. She advocates sowing "at least half the vegetable crop into gutter lengths filled with a non-peat-based potting compost.

The Haxnicks Rowplanter offers exactly the same benefits which Sarah outlines in her article, and is much more convenient than the unwieldy method of traditional gutter planting.

The Rowplanter comes in manageable lengths that can be placed in a small protected space. They have their own tray to hold them, so they will not fall over, and there is a propagating lid to assist the germination period.
The rows (gutters) do not need a large amount of soil preparation and sowing into the rows takes no longer than if you were sowing directly into the ground, but there is no need to bend and stoop, it can be done at a table or on your greenhouse bench.

Sowing can be done with care and spacing can be evened out and when germination takes place thinning out can be done in the rows without any kneeling or bending. This means this method conserves seed as well.
Sarah Raven says this method, traditionally suited to peas, is also ideal for serial sowing of salad crops, leafy greens (mizuna, rocket, chard, spinach, chervil) and herbs (coriander, parsley and basil).

Radishes can be left in the rows and eaten straight from the rows without being planted out and the rows are also ideal for parsnips provided they are transplanted before they are 2,5cm high. Even carrots can be grown in the Rowplanter lengths and if left till the seedlings reach 4cm in height you will be sure of a "baby carrot crop right through to Christmas."

The Birds!

Spring has sprung, and all that sort of thing, and I'm sure you're all getting pretty busy in the garden. I wanted to write a little article about a very underestimated product, which has been doing some pretty amazing things.

We have had reports from Spain telling that it has been the best thing for keeping wild boar off the crops - Tales from St. Tropez claiming that nothing keeps a yacht more free from seagulls and their droppings - and also praise from the gardens of England - One of which I've pasted below for you to see - And the name of this 'many-beast-repelling' and magical product? Birdscare!

Here's a letter i received from Warwickshire: 

Hi, I must let you know about this item. Do you realise you can make a fortune with this stuff. We have had a heron problem for over 3 years and lost a lot of fish/frogs and tried EVERYTHING to no avail, the thing keeps coming back for the restocked stuff.

I love wildlife so would never hurt it BUT really was a real pain. We put netting, old tyres supporting canes, fruit netting, poles suspending even more netting. It looked like a rubbish tip on speed. What a sight - AND we couldnt see what we had left. He still got in - under - through and even on.

We put on this line (with some scepticism!) and were stunned. Not only did it WORK but it WORKED immediately. Down he came, cocked head on one side, took a look/listen/see and WENT without even coming close. We have watched for nearly 3 weeks now - he came back twice but we have not seen him since! Only snag is we are scared it will break in really high winds we have sometimes. But nevertheless we are DELIGHTED. You should tell ALL. Tx

So if you're being hunted by wild boar, (or even if you just want to keep your plants unpecked),  take a look at the Birdscare Humming Line.

Growing Brassicas From Seeds

Cabbages, kale, kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussel Sprouts are all varieties of the same species of Brassica oleracea which is native to the Mediterranean. Brassicas thrive on transplanting and some gardeners even swear by transplanting them twice.

• For Brussel Sprouts sow the seeds in March early April
• For 'Spring Cabbage' make two sowings 4 weeks apart in February
• For Summer Cabbage sow in March
• For Winter Cabbage sow in May
• For Summer Cauliflower sow in March
• For Broccoli sow in April

Deep Rootrainers make an excellent start when growing from seed, just fill with compost (preferrably peat free) and cover with a clear propagating lid and leave to germinate in a warm place.

Once plants start emerging use as a drip tray under the tray and grow on in a good strong light place, A Haxnicks Hardwood Plant House situated on a sunny wall is an excellent place.

When plants are ready plant out into a deep, rich well composted and moist soil. Make 15cm deep holes with a garden stake and place the seedling into the hole. Don’t close the hole with soil but rather water the plant which will close the hole with the right amount of soil.

Watering of the young plants is vital until they are well established and weeding is just as essential.

If pests are a problem or you want to bring on growth a little quicker then we do recommend our Victorian Cloches, these provide instant weather protection and additional warmth for faster growth.

Tip for this post: I'm very aware we spend time recommending our own products - but we welcome your contributions if you have better or even just different solutions please share them with us. We'll always publish your comments free of 'moderation'.

Finally, a little extra - some light reading for you, enjoy: Vegetable Growing Month-by-month: The Down-to-earth Guide That Takes You Through the Vegetable Year.

Growing Garlic Easily

Garlic is a rather special plant to us here at Haxnicks, apart from the usefulness in cooking and the fresh smell  in the garden it really is one of the easiest vegetables to grow.

It is recommended that Garlic is grown in a rotation system with carrots, onions, leeks, and probably may other root vegetables, but we find it makes a great space filler between roses and other flowers, Garlic also wards off unwanted pests with it's smell. Container growing is also very worth doing if growing only for the shoots, which give a subtle and yet distinct zest to salads.

Cloves of garlic (Propagation of garlic is not usually done from seed, but rather from partially-grown cloves).

To grow well it needs a cold period of at least two months. It is thus essential to sow from mid-October to allow the roots to develop before the cold weather sets in.

1. Fill the Rowplanter rows three quarters full with a multi-purpose compost
2. Tap the rows on the bench to settle the compost and then place in the holding tray
3. Separate the cloves of garlic (The cloves of garlic can be sown indoors in the Rowplanter by planting each clove upright (the bottom of the clove lowest in the ground) to a depth of 2.5cm deep,10cm apart.
4. Push with the base down so that the top is just below the soil.

Once ready for transplanting, the entire row can be gently slid out into the prepared trench with absolutely no root disturbance.

Once the leaves go yellow brown stop watering the garlic and it can be harvested 2 to 3 weeks later and it should then be left to cure for 3 weeks.

Once the bulbs are thoroughly dried store them in a cool, ventilated place away from sun.

Tip: You can use pretty much any Garlic cloves from any shop... just break apart the cloves and each clove will produce it's own plant.

Haxnicks Releases New Range of Patio Planters

It's still freezing outside, and Spring seems a thousand miles away, but it's time to get growing - and we would like to get some opinions from you our customers.

This season Haxnicks has several new additions to its hugely popular Patio Planter range. There are now available from Garden Centres up and down the country and of course as usual on our website.  But we want to know what you think, we want to hear from you.

Most Patio Planters come in a range of attractive rustic shades, and we are trying to brighten up the range when they are stting outside the back door. But what colours do you like, should we try using patterns.  Do you have a favourite?

Raised Bed Patio Planters
We making 3 Raised Bed planters - a full sized Patio Raised Bed, one special half-sized Balcony Raised Bed, and a quarter-sized Space Saver Raised Bed.

No matter what space you have available to you, we are trying to ensure as many of our customers as possible can get their green fingers working!

But are we missing a size? Is the depth right? Are they strong enough (they should be!)?

Cane Support Patio Planters
We also thought it might be fun to get some upwardly mobile growing going on on your patios, so we have introduce a Three Cane Patio Planter and a Six Cane Patio Planter, for all the peas, beans and tomatoes you could want.

The Patio Planters have pockets in built that you can slot the canes into, giving a strong and easy to assemble feel to the product.  But we would love to hear from you our customers. Are these flexible enough? can you grow all the plants you want to? is it strong enough?

Carrot Patio Planter
Finally, we thought the carrot deserved some recognition - So here is a carrot-coloured planter, with sufficient depth to grow your own delicious carrots.

It is a generous 11" (30cm) deep which should be enough space for downward growth, we've tested, we experimented, but now we want your opinion? Deep enough, wrong colour? Please let us know.

However tight you may be on space, there's now a way to grow a huge range of vegetables with minimum difficulty - and the patio will look great too. Please view the whole range of Haxnicks Patio Planters.

Happy Planting!

Growing Leeks - The Haxnicks Way

The leek is an unique vegetable which belongs to the allium family and is also a relative of the onion.

Leeks are often overlooked as vegetables and yet they are the most undemanding and one of the most rewarding vegetables that you can plant. The plants are exceptionally easy to raise and are relatively pest free as well as not minding cold conditions.

The leek is usually grown in the cooler part of the year and prefers a lightly limed soil. Leeks are usually grown alongside carrots, onions, garlic, parsnips and other root crops, but rotation is important and where possible leeks and onions should not be grown on the same patch for at least three years.

The leek grows slowly and steadily over a relatively long period of time (4 to 6 months) and so the sooner the seeds are sown the larger the leeks will grow. In gardens leeks are usually transplanted from seed beds when they reach a length of 15 – 17cm and are as thick as a pencil (about 3 months of growth).

1. Fill a Slim (Rannoch) Rootrainer Tray with good quality peat free compost
2. Sow the seeds thinly into each cell in at the earliest mid-February/March (about 4 to six seeds in each cell)
3. Cover the tray with the clear propagating lid
4. Leave to germinate in a warm but not too warm place
5. Remove lid once plants have emerged and use as a drip tray under the tray and grow on in good light

Once the plants are ready, plant out into a deep, rich well composted and moist soil.

Make 15cm deep holes with a garden stake and place the seedling into the hole. Don’t close the hole with soil but rather water the plant, which will close the hole with the right amount of soil.

As the leeks mature mound up the soil to keep the shanks blanched white.

Watering of the young plants is vital until they are well established and weeding is just as essential.

Leeks are harvested by first loosening the plant with a fork pushed vertically downwards several inches from the row and then they can be pulled out with no damage and not too much soil disturbance.

We like to end on a Tip and so why not use our Speedhoe to keep those weeds down. Speedhoe is a well recognised easy and chemical free way to keep vegetable patches free of weeds.