Proof that vegetable growing can be done by anybody. From a couple of under 30s – one who grew up growing and one who has just got going…
Having checked on the strawberry runners we potted up a couple of weeks ago, each of these have now rooted into their pot. Therefore, it was time to cut them loose from the parent plant so they can form their own plant.
These will just be kept watered now until they have formed their own strong plant. They will then die back over the winter and grow back next Spring to be planted out for next year’s strawberries.
Today we potted on Emily’s Gogorez peppers – they definitely needed some more room!
They’re also currently doing a little better than mine at the moment!
We filled the pots up about half way with soil, and then topped with compost:
Next, we made some room in the centre of each pot large enough to fit the peppers:
After that, it’s a simple case of pushing the compost around the stem of the pepper and making sure it’s nicely secure in it’s new location…
We needed some bamboo canes to support the plants as they continue to grow upwards over the next couple of months, and of course as they start to grow the peppers themselves.
As above – we tied the stems of the peppers to the canes with some string, just to keep them upright, and to help take away some of the strain.
And voilà –
I’ve never grown cucamelons before, but I re-discovered a small packet of seeds in my seed box. They’d been there for a couple of years since my sister thought it would be a good idea to buy me a “grow your own cocktails” kit for my birthday. Needless to say, I tend to prefer to buy my cocktails ready made for me! However, I read up about them a little bit online, and they promise to grow a tiny watermelon shaped fruit which tastes of cucumber with a hint of lime – interesting!
Nevertheless, I thought I would give the seeds a try, as if they weren’t still viable now, they never would be!
The seeds were sown in a very similar way to usual. I filled a 1/4 seed tray with seed and potting compost, moistened it with a fine rose watering can and then firmed down the compost as shown.
The seeds were then placed on the compost, pressed down gently and then covered with vermiculite. The seeds were left in the greenhouse covered with a sheet of glass and some newspaper to exclude the light until they germinated.
Last weekend, they were ready to prick out. We filled 3″ pots with multipurpose compost and watered them well to moisten the compost.
I then pricked six seedlings out. When pricking out seedlings, you should avoid touching the stem where possible as this is the most delicate part. Instead, hold the seedling by one of its first true leaves and gently persuade its root into the hole already dibbered in the pot.
Each seedling should then be gently firmed into the compost so as not to leave any air gaps between its roots and the compost in the new pot it has been transplanted into.
After transplanting, we have kept them in a cold greenhouse to protect them from any strong winds or heavy rain until they have got established. This would also hopefully protect them from any frost, but hopefully we’re past that stage now we’re in June!
As you can see, they are romping away. Only 4 days on from transplanting, they’ve already grown another leaf!
I’ll keep you updated on progress!
**From 20th April 2018**
…Better late than never with this post!
Despite the overly enthusiastic title of this post, peppers really aren’t the quickest growers. These were sown back in February, and some two months later they are ready to be potted on.
Step 1. As you can see above, the 6 peppers were big enough to move on to larger pots (or, at least 5 and 1/2 of them had come on well to date!). I raided the garden for whatever pots I could find.
Step 2. The new pots were filled with compost, roughly 3/4 of the way to the top. I only used a multipurpose compost and 3 weeks on nothing has died – so no problems there!
Step 3. Make a hole in the middle of the pot big enough to fit the incoming pepper.
Step 4. (as above) Turn the pepper upside down, and, gently supporting the stem in between two fingers, pinch the pot with enough force that allows the plant to fall through – you may need to alternate between the sides.
Step 5. Slot the pepper into the hole you’ve just made in the new, bigger pot – as below…
Step 6. Fill the pot up with some more compost, enough to ensure that the stem of the pepper is not too exposed, as this won’t be helpful to its growth once it starts to be left outdoors as it could be blown over in the wind. Instead, we want a strong, sturdy plant to give it the best chance. Don’t worry if this means some of the lower leaves are submerged.
Step 7. After repeating the above steps for all of your pots, they’ll need a good watering. The pots should be moist but not completely saturated:
The process for potting on is very similar for a lot of plants and vegetables, but I don’t think it hurts to demonstrate that fact!
The peppers can be left outdoors during the day for the next few weeks (as long as the weather is set fair), but to begin with they are best brought indoors overnight. They’ll need to be watered regularly to keep the compost moist.
