Blog: Desperately running out of room!
April is a month when potting on tender plants is essential, and where running out of space under glass is an annual ritual, only it’s worse than ever this year.
It’s the weather’s fault. High pressure’s been in control virtually all month, meaning sunny days and frosty nights – so many that I’ve lost count. The only precipitation we’ve had has been hail, so the soil’s as dry as a bone. This has meant postponing planting out the sweet peas, usually in place by now. I’ve only just started hardening them off.
The conservatory is absolutely chock full of young plants. The relentless sunshine (imagine complaining about that) has led to hot temperatures under glass and fast growth. Contrast that with the freezing nights, and for tender plants, that’s a big problem.
Space is at a premium
I rely on space opening up in the conservatory before the tomatoes, chillies and peppers move into their permanent positions. That relies on Pelargoniums (geraniums), cannas, ginger, bananas and other ornamentals in big pots moving into the greenhouse before hardening off and going outside. Trouble is, the tomatoes are already flowering and desperately need potting on.
I did get the great swap-around rolling this week by giving the greenhouse a clean (massive spiders) and potting on tender plants like the overwintering Agapanthus, cannas, tuberoses and Pelargoniums. It’s only 8′ x 4′ and too small for my needs! One door is jammed shut, so I have to shimmy in and out, and there’s no room to turn around.
Most of these plants just need a top dressing. Scrape off the old compost and add fresh, watering it in well. I add some slow-release fertiliser pellets to keep them pepped up.
Some cannas had rotted, so it’s a matter of cutting off the dodgy bits and planting up the healthy rhizomes in new pots. All of the Agapanthus were seriously pot-bound, so they had to be completely repotted, but only in one size up. They like to be snug in their container.
Cordon tomatoes in the greenhouse
This year, I’m only growing cordon tomatoes in the greenhouse – Rosella, my favourite. I’ve shoehorned 10 plants in the bed, eight in a very rich mix of home-made compost and Dalefoot comfrey compost. The other two are in a large pot.
Moving in and out daily are the sweet peas, Flamingo Flamenco Mix from Chiltern Seeds, until they can be planted out. Adding my shabby chic shelving unit gives more growing space, so I squeezed it in and moved some of my pots in. That’s stage one over with – now to pot on the bush tomatoes, chillies, peppers and other exotics in the conservatory. A busy week ahead!
