Lots of potted up tomato seeds went home with new owners last night. Please send photos of your plants as they grow and we will post them to the website.

Short instructions:
1) when you get home, place the pot in a saucer. water it gently, without dislodging the seed.
2) put it in a windowsill, south facing if possible
3) keep the soil moist
4) after 3-4 weeks, transplant it to a bigger pot. when you do that, try to avoid touching the plant, particularly the stem.
5) in early april, it’s time to harden off the plant – this means putting it outside in a sheltered place during the day, then bringing it back in at night. after two weeks of hardening off, you can plant the tomato in the ground in a sunny spot. you will need to stake the plant and pinch out the shoots as it grows.

GENERAL VEG SEED SOWING
EQUIPMENT; small pots, planting trays, and trays to catch the water, Cold frame (not essential). Compost – Best peat-free for seed planting according to ‘Which’. – No.1. New Horizon growbag, 2. New Horizon multi-purpose compost. 3. Westland West + Peat free multi purpose compost
HOW TO PLANT SEEDS
1. Fill the pot with compost and firm it down. If using paper pots place them snugly into a planting tray.
2. Plant the seeds,
For small seeds (tomato etc) put on the soil 2 seeds per small pot cover with a fine sprinkling of compost.
For large seeds (Pumpkin etc) push the seed down into the soil to a depth of about 1-2cm. Plant only one per pot.
Peas, Carrots, Parsnips and probably leeks do better in a long pot as they develop a long tap root. Paper pots can easily be made longer or even a toilet roll tube would do.
For very fine seeds that are difficult to handle, mix the seeds with some fine, dry sand and sprinkle over the surface of the compost. They do not need to be covered with more compost.
3. Water using a watering can with a fine rose, or what ever you have, careful not to wash seeds away. Do not allow soil to dry out, if this is likely cover the whole tray or individual pots with a clear plastic bag.
4. Put pots and planting trays on a tray to catch the drips.
5. Place in a light, warm place.
6. When seedlings are large enough to handle move them to their own larger pots (this is called Potting On). Be careful not to damage roots and stem, do this by teasing the seedling out of the soil, hold the leaf – and I find a lolly sick or pencil useful to move the soil away and get the roots untangled. Paper pots have the advantage here as they can be torn open, only pot on the strong seedlings the weaker ones are discarded. Some people plant the whole paper pot outside at this point. Check it’s the right time ie danger of frost is over if it’s a tender plant. The paper pot takes a little time to rot down and the roots will be growing – the danger is that the roots will be restricted, stunting the plants growth. This scenario is avoided if the paper is taken off before planting out.
7.Hardening Off. This is a term for the process of acclimatising the plants to their final outside planting. Over a period of 2-3 weeks the plants should be put out during the day and brought in at night, only do it if the weather is not freezing, and put them in the shade if the weather is very hot (if only!) A cold frame is the ideal kit for this, they are just put in with the top open in the day and then the top is shut at night.
FROST
The RHS has a guide to the last expected frost, and from what I can work out for London it seems to be May 15th I don’t think this takes into account the heat island effect that makes it warmer here than the surrounding. This could mean that our last frost is upto two weeks before this date. This means that tender plants are safe to be put then.

COMPANION PLANTING
It’s a good idea to plant flowers and herbs near to veg as they bring beneficial insects to the area. Some veg (carrots, and peas in particular) are irresistible to pests, a way to fool them is to plant strong smelling herbs near by, Good companion plants are Poached egg plant (Limnanthes douglasii) Nasturtiums, chives, garlic, Marigolds, Sage
PROBLEMS
Greenfly – when planting out if you get a lot of greenfly be brave and squash them in your fingers or spray with soapy water. Other insects ladybirds and their black grubs are good leave them alone.
Damping Off disease – this is when your seedlings wilt and die, don’t give up throw the soil out wash the pot and try again.

SEED SUPPLIERS WITH A GOOD SELECTION-
organiccatalog.com Tel: 01932 253 666

WHICH VEG TO GROW
Bob Flowerdew has helpfully put together a list of veg and rated them in terms of how easy or hard they are to grow here are some on the list,
Easy – Broad beans, Runner beans, Cabbage, Courgettes, Garlic or Shallots, Kohlrabi, Peas, New Potatoes, Sweetcorn.
Moderate – French beans, Beetroot, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Parsnips, Main potatoes, Radishes, Spinach, Tomatoes, Turnips and Swedes
Hard – Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cauliflowers, Carrots, Celery, Leeks.

RHS Excellent website for everything you need to know RHS website