Just a few lines on my visit to this year’s show. There were a lot of large rocks and giant size pebbles at the show this year. Another trend seems to be more colourful plantings than the rather restrained green of last year. The best in show was the Telegraph Garden designed by Ulf Nordfjell and it was really a lovely thing to behold:

This modern small garden (’Nature Ascending’) also caught my eye:

One of the Courtyard gardens ‘Pottering in North Cumbria’ was one that I’d like to take home for the great plant selection and simple but effective design.

Once your seedlings have two or more pairs of leaves you can think about potting them on, that is to say, upgrading them into a bigger pot with more space for their roots to fill. I’ve just done this to some of my tomato plants. Remember to hold them by the leaves and not the stem, you can afford to have an accident and remove a leaf as the plant will probably recover, a crushed or broken stem is fatal for tiny plants.

Gently transfer to a pot with fresh compost, to help prevent disease spreading, and gently lower into pot and backfill with more compost to fill any gaps. I like to tap the pot on the table a few time to settle the compot into any air-pockets and then firm gently. Don’t forget to water them.

You can prop up any leggy plants with small canes (I have re-used chopsticks in the past with success) use string tied in a figure of 8 loop to cushion the stem against the support.

I have started to plant my potatoes at the allotment now that the weather has become milder and my seed potatoes have chitted. The potatoes in the picture are a maincrop variety called ‘Valor’.

Those green shoots will grow away in the soil when they are planted to just above their own depth. Because we haven’t totally finished with cold nights yet, you will need to watch the forecast and cover them up if frost is forecast. Apart from giving them a soaking every 7-10 days (more if they are in a pot) they are usually an easy crop to grow successfully.

Pests and diseases may trouble them from time-to-time but can often be avoided by growing a first or second-early variety that is harvested before the pest can get going, and before diseases like blight start to spread.