April is the perfect month to sow a wide range of vegetable seeds. Buy packets of seed, that you want to grow, and some compost as well.
BY JOYCE RUSSELL
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Wash a few pots and have some labels and a pen to hand. The aim is to provide the best conditions that you can. Get sowing, get growing, the time is now!
Broad beans & Peas
These can be sown outdoors now. Sow a double row over a trench filled with compost.
Watch out for slugs and snails as seedlings emerge. Cover with a cloche if nights are cold.
Beans, climbing
Plants are frost-sensitive so start seed in pots and plant out when frost risk is passed.
Beetroot
Dig compost into the bed and scatter wood ash over the top. Sow 5cm apart in drills and thin out when big enough.
Brassicas*
Sow in pots and pot on as needed. Plant out when 15cm tall. Add lime to acid soil and allow plenty of room between plants. Protect against cabbage root fly.
Carrot
Sow in drills in loose soil when above 10C. Weed and thin as needed. Cover against carrot fly.
Courgette
Sow one seed per 8cm pot at 20C. Plant outdoors over a hole filled with compost when risk of frost is passed. Protect with a cloche or fleece until warm enough to remove.
Cucumber
Sow one seed per 8cm pot. Grow in a greenhouse or polytunnel above 15C. Take care not to break stems when potting on.
Leeks
Still time to sow thinly in trays of compost. Plant out and grow on as soon as you can.
Salad
Sow salad leaves direct in drills in the soil. Start lettuce in pots to grow small healthy plants.
Pumpkins
Sow seed in pots at 20C. Pot on when plants have two true leaves. Put large plants out over holes filled with compost and allow plenty of room between plants.
Spinach / Chard
Sow thinly in rows and protect from slugs. Thin as needed to allow room for large plants
Sweetcorn
Use the deepest pots that you have and sow one seed in each at 20C. Tiny plants fail in cold, wet compost or in hot and steamy conditions.
Tomato
Still time to sow seed for summer crops, but do it fast. You may be safer to buy in plants.
Note: seed potatoes and onion sets do well if planted in early April
* Brassicas include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and kale
