Container Gardening with Compact Rapid Rootrainers

Herbs All The Year Round!

Herbs are really so easy to grow and if picked fresh add an extra special zest to food that can't be achieved with the dried varieties. The beauty of growing your own herbs is that you can keep a tray of parsley, mint, chervil, coriander, sage and thyme on your windowsill and you don't even have to go outside in the rain to pick what you need!

One of the easiest ways to grow your herbs is to take a Compact Rapid Rootrainer tray, fill it with good multipurpose moist compost and sow your seeds into the cells, cover with the propagating lid and leave for about a fortnight to germinate.

Once the seedlings begin to emerge the tray can then be placed on a windowsill where it gets adequate light and as the plants grow the lid can then be taken off and used as a drip tray.

Remember that herbs do not tolerate north facing windows and prefer a window that get at least 4 hours of direct sunshine per day.

Without a plentiful source of light most indoor herbs will slow down or even stop growing. If you find this happening you should reduce the picking of the herbs as well as reducing the watering. Make sure the indoor temperature is not in excess of 65 degrees until plant growth restarts.

It must also be remembered that not every herb likes living indoors.

Herbs like coriander, cress and dill are annuals which when harvested and cut need to be re-sown in order to produce a continuous crop. So it is a good idea to keep 3 trays of these herbs at different stages for a continuous supply.

Herbs that are grown indoors should be clipped or have leaves picked regularly to encourage new growth and it must be remembered that potted herbs dry out more quickly than those in the open ground, although if you are using Rootrainers the structure of the cell encourages a maximization of all water to the roots.

Herbs with large soft leaves such as basil need a fine spray to humidify the air on hot days. Indoor herbs should be fed every 2 weeks with a liquid fertilizer to help maintain vigorous growth.

Top Tips for using Rootrainers

Rootrainers are so easy to use and make seed sowing a pleasure. Here is a whole host of Top Tips, to get the most out of growing with Rootrainers.

The Five Inch Rule
If you prepare the ground well and place in plants with a five-inch deep mature root system, little should go wrong. Plants suffer no check and are deep enough to withstand most vagaries of weather.

Rooting Cuttings
Rootrainers are ideal for cuttings. Take your cuttings, dip into rooting powder and just insert in a cell.

For Large Seeds
When planting large seeds, such as beans, gently press the seed down into compost with your finger.

Large Leafed Plants
If using Rootrainers seed trays with large leafy plants use every other cell or use the Compact Rapid, which has been specially designed for this purpose.

Fragile Plants
Rootrainers are ideal for fragile plants, such as sweet peas.

Emerging Seedlings
As soon as seeds begin to emerge from the soil, remove lid or take trays out of the propagator. The Rootrainers lid cleverly becomes the drip tray.

Small Seeds
Small seeds can be first sown in seed trays and then pricked out into Rootrainers.

White Fly
One brassica grower claimed he had never suffered from white fly since he had used Rootrainers.

Under Bench Heating
Under bench heating will promote even quicker root growth, without inhibiting top growth.

Cuttings and Pot Size
Most cuttings benefit from a shorter pot to encourage early air pruning of the root system.

Watering
Remember that as the season warms up you will need to water your plants and seedlings thoroughly to prevent drying out.

Stem Cuttings
Stem cuttings can be taken all year round but do best in Spring and Summer. If you use The Rooterpot you can be sure of success in ONE season.

Planting Out Plug Plants
Remember when planting out plug plants to make sure that the top of the soil plug is completely covered to allow the plant to seat.

Water
Water collected from a water butt should not be used to water seedlings. Use tap water which has stood for a couple of hours to allow the chlorine to disappear.

Houseplants Love Aquarium Water!
Don't throw the water from your aquarium away, keep it in bottles for your houseplants and watch them flourish.

Lilies And Tulips
Lilies and Tulips should never be planted together because they suffer from the same diseases.

Planting Tulips
Tulips should not be planted in the same spot for 2 consecutive years, but if African Marigolds are planted where the tulips have flowered there will be no problem in using the same spot again.

Azaleas
Azaleas like acidic soil and it is a good idea to water them once in a while with a mix of 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to 2 pints of water.

If you have any tips that you'd like to share please add to the list below: Drop us a comment.

The Flower Garden - Sweetpeas

Sweet Peas are an excellent early cut flower to grow and they thrive if you have a polytunnel. They are also very hardy and very easy to grow. They produce a good crop of long stemmed and sweet smelling flowers, whilst taking up only a small area of ground.

Two sowings should be made, one in November for inside flowering and a second in January for outside flowering. The Deep (Sherwood) Rootrainer and the Rowplanter are ideal to sow into.

Fill the cells of the Rootrainer tray with good multi-purpose compost and wet it thoroughly then sow one seed into each cell about 2cm deep. If you are using the Rowplanter, place the seeds 15cm apart.

If you have a heated propagator then place the tray into it or else cover the tray with the propagating lid and leave until the first seeds emerge.

At this stage the trays should be transferred to a bench in the polytunnel (if you have one), or they can be left in the greenhouse to slowly grow on. When the plants have three leaves, pinch out the tops so that the resulting side shoots become stronger and more vigorous than the main stem.

In February/March they can be planted out in the polytunnel in double rows with the plants spaced 15cm apart. If you are using the Rowplanter, you will simply need to slide the rows into the prepared trenches.

It will then be necessary to fix a vertical net to allow the plants to climb or alternatively to tie each plant to its own cane with sweet pea rings.

All that is then needed is to water well and harvest the blooms regularly, not leaving any to form pods.

As soon as the blooms become short stemmed, pull up the plants and replace with the summer crop.

Remember that you can leave the plants in Rootrainers until the weather is warm enough to plant outside.

Plug Plants

If you have not had the time to sow seeds early on, or the facilities to look after them, then buy bedding plants as plugs from the garden centre is the answer.

They will grow on quite happily, without the need for heating and special conditions, until the weather is warmer and they can be planted out into the garden.

Most types of bedding plants are available as plug plants and are sold in the garden centres and mail order catalogues in modular trays.

Once you have brought your plug plants home:

• Fill a Deep (Sherwood) Rootrainer with moist multipurpose compost
• Dib the plug plants in and firm the surface
• Water well with a fine spray so as not to damage the delicate stems
• Place on a sunny windowsill or in the greenhouse till all danger of frost is passed (late May/early June) and the plants can safely be sited outside

Once ready for transplanting simply open the ‘books’ and transfer the plant to its position with absolutely no root disturbance at all.

Rowplanters
The Rowplanter is also an ideal product for growing plug plants. The Rowplanter is based on the traditional method of gutter planting. This method has been proven to give plants a head start and with this product transplanting was never easier. When they are ready for transplanting, you simply gently slide the whole content of the row out into the prepared trench and there is absolutely no root disturbance and the plants are sited exactly as you wish.

Which Rootrainer? - What Size Cell To Use

How deep? That is the question.

Before the appearance of Rootrainers, growers had little opportunity to experiment and compare the merits of different depths of plant pots and in many cases they chose to downsize.

Air pruning of the root (the process whereby roots stop growing downwards when they meet air) occurs more quickly with a smaller pot. This process is not dissimilar to normal pruning that produces a bushier plant. In the case of roots, the air pruning encourages lateral growth and thus develops a stronger root system.

Some growers claim the quicker a plant is in its final growing habitat, the better. Plant too deep and the roots may be below the best top soil and be inhibited by poorer soil. There may also be a better balance between root development and top growth.

However, deep plants may be stronger and more mature, more resistant to disease and environmental changes. Under-bench heating will promote even quicker root growth, without plants having their top growth inhibited.

Deep pots enable growers to plant out earlier and to take advantage of well prepared beds, and good top soil. Growers will find they have different answers and Rootrainers can meet these different needs.

Basically, fast growing root structures, which is true of most vegetables grown in deeply well prepared beds, prefer deep pots, particularly for early growers. Plants that have to over-winter, like perennials may also benefit from deep pots. But annuals that go out after the frosts, into warm, shallow flower beds, and plants required for pots and hanging baskets require a shorter pot.

Most cuttings benefit from a shorter pot to encourage early air pruning; likewise, plants with slow root growth. Some such plants may need to be deeper before they go on out. They can be started in deeper pots and left, or they can be started in smaller pots for early strength and potted on into larger pots if required. This is a particularly easy process with Rootrainers because the pots are identical apart from the depth, meaning that the plant is not disturbed at all.

The ultimate choice is in the hand of the grower which is perhaps what makes plant growing so interesting.

With Rootrainers, instead of "pots" we talk about "cells", where each cell grows a single plant. The shape of the cells is designed to generate a far stronger root system than conventional plant pots. However the choice of size is no different whether you are dealing with a Rootrainer cell or any other plant pot.

Haxnicks and The Incredible Solar Electric Flight

This summer an incredible expedition is set to take place - a group of adventurers will pilot 4 backpack flying machines, known as paramotors, across 2000km, from Monaco to Morocco. The route will involve numerous challenges, such as crossing the notoriously dangerous Pyrenees, and flying over the straits of Gibraltar. Amongst the pilots are Damian Cardozo and Tom Hughes, both from Haxnicks.

Paramotors, for those that don’t know, are backpack engines with propellors, which enable the pilot to fly under an inflatable parachute. The pilots will fly west from Monaco, along the French coast, before crossing the windy Pyrenees and heading South down the Spanish coast, eventually reaching Gibraltar. From here, they will undertake the final challenge, flying over the straits of Gibraltar to arrive in Morocco.

The mission aims to raise sponsorship and awareness for Ataxia UK, a charity which funds research into the causes and potential treatments of the disease. Ataxia is a neurological progressive disease, which over time destroys the body’s coordination.

Check out the pilots, and indeed the whole mission at www.theincrediblewebsite.org, which follows the mission progress along with a whole load of other incredible events, and also has links to donate should you so wish...

Haxnicks Raised Bed System - The complete growing solution for small spaces!

Haxnicks, the plant protection specialist, has developed an easy-to-build Raised Bed Growing System that requires little maintenance and is ideal for growing vegetables, salads and herbs in small garden spaces. The 100% FSC-certified timber raised bed measures 1 metre by 1.2 metre and comes with an optional fitted frame and choice of two protective covers.

Haxnicks Raised Bed Growing System is made up of four parts. The Raised Bed Base is easily built using the four lengths of FSC-certified, pressure-treated timber and rust-free corner-joining brackets. The single bed is 15 cm (6 inch) deep, but if greater depth is required, extension brackets are supplied to secure multiple tiers of the bed base.

The Raised Bed Frame provides a 50cm high, arched, black-metal framework for the protective covers. It slots securely into holes in the joining brackets of the timber base. The covers can then be fitted and secured at the corners for a snug fit.


Create a mini-greenhouse with the PVC Weather Protection Cover , it warms the soil for earlier planting and retains warmth and humidity for quicker growth. Flaps at either end make ventilation easy. Made of heavy-duty, clear PVC, it provides robust weather protection for newly-sown crops.

The Micromesh™ Pest Protection Cover helps retain soil moisture whilst providing the best possible protection from insects, including aphids and carrot fly, and other pests. The ultra-fine mesh allows air and water to easily pass through, but protects against scorching and other weather damage.

Haxnicks Raised Bed Growing Systems are available from all good garden centres or call Haxnicks on 0845 241 1555.