The month of March is here and its always a big one in the calendar for gardeners, after a long cold winter our fingers are itching to get back out and touch the earth and March always seems to be a great starting point. The daylight hours are much longer, the spring sunshine has started to make an appearance alongside those beautiful spring bulbs. March always seems more cheerful with the promise of spring in the air, it’s the start of the gardening season for most.
There are so many jobs to be doing in your gardens and on your allotment plots but the main one for most is sowing seeds and planting on seedlings. Now is a perfect time to start seed sowing if you haven’t already and you can find all our top tips over in our seed sowing blog from last month.
Here are some of the top flower and vegetable seeds to sow in March and April:
March:
- Tomatoes
- Brassicas
- Calendula
- Peas
- Parsnips
- Carrots
- Beetroot
- Chard
- Herbs
- Salad seeds – lettuce, radish and spring onion
Seeds to start sowing at the end of March-April:
- Sunflowers
- Cucumber
- Pumpkins
- Squash
- Courgette
- Salad seeds – lettuce, radish and spring onion
- Runner beans
- French beans
- Zinnias
- Cosmos
- Nasturtiums
As we are moving into spring you will find that you may have to pot on/pot up some of your seedlings into bigger pots to allow them to develop better root structure before planting them in final positions after the risk of the last frost has passed. The main seedlings that will need potting on into bigger pots will be your aubergine, chilli, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, squash and pumpkins. We would recommend you potting on your smaller seedlings into our Seed & Cutting compost and then using our Multipurpose or Fruit and Veg for planting out in final positions.
Equipment you will need for potting on:
- Peat Free Seed & Cutting compost is recommended.
- Seedlings
- Bigger pots
- Tray for the pots
- Labels
water
Step one
Place your pots into a tray and fill them all half full of compost, using your finger make a hole in the middle of the compost.
Step two
Remove your seedling from its current pot as gently and possible, trying to avoid touching the seedling as much as possible. To do this you can push the seedling out from the bottom of the pot and then handle the seedling by the root/compost.
Step three
Add the seedling into the hole you have made, you want the leaves of the seedling to be just above the rim of the pot, you can adjust this by making the hole shallower or deeper.
Step four
Add your peat free compost around the edges of the seedling being as gentle as you can and gently pressing it down until it is just below the top of the pot. Covering most of the stem will help the seedlings grow a stronger root system and most plants will grow more roots our from their stem. So don’t worry if you have leggy seedlings, it can be resolved by potting them on, just make sure that when they are re potted the seedlings are placed in a sunny/warm position with lots of light as this will help stop them becoming leggy again.
Step five
Water your seedlings, label and place in a warm/sunny position.
These seedlings will take a few weeks to establish bigger root systems and outgrow their pots, at this point it will be around the time that these established plant will be planted into final positions as long as the risk of frost has passed. You may be planting into different areas like polytunnels, greenhouses, garden pots/containers or borders and we have a perfect selection of compost to suit every Peat Free gardening job.
Fruit & Veg
An all-natural nutrient rich, all-round, Fruit & Vegetable compost for your produce growing needs. This versatile product will support and feed your plants and young fruit bushes/trees for 3 months without the need for chemical feed top ups. For Organic growers this is a perfect product to grow healthier food for your table
Containers & Baskets
Our superior blend compost is the perfect mix for gardeners wanting a high-quality professional standard product with which to use in their Pots, Containers, Window Boxes, Planters & Hanging Baskets, and Veg Trugs.
Bed & Borders
Our superior blend compost is the perfect mix for gardeners wanting a high-quality professional standard product with which to use for planting out Perennials, Evergreen Plants and Shrubs.
Multipurpose stage 2 & 3
Our superior blend compost is the perfect mix for gardeners wanting a high-quality professional standard product with which to use in their Pots, Containers, Window Boxes, Planters & Hanging Baskets, and for planting out.
Make sure you tag us on social media using our hashtag #rocketgrowers to show us your RocketGro gardening adventures and you can be in with a chance to win a monthly prize.
Happy Growing
The RocketGro Team
