Lets get sowing

There is nothing better to lift your spirits on a dull gloomy day than to sow some seeds in the greenhouse. Although it is still too early to sow most crops there is still lots that could be sown especially if you have the protection of a greenhouse even if it is not heated.

I have not heated my greenhouse for years now and have not had any problems to date yes I have to sow a bit later for some crops. But that dose not matter as the crops always catch up eventually but I have noticed that the harder you grow the plants the better they perform when you plant them out. But at this time of the year there are some crops that once I have sown them I bring them indoors and place them on the window sill to get a bit of heat. Tomatoes, chillies and aubergines all need an early start and a bit of heat to get them off to a good start so they are all put on the window ledge. but brassicas, lettuce, peas are quite happy being sown on the unheated greenhouse if it is going to get really cold I just through a bit of fleece over them for a bit of extra protection. I also start off a few pots of salad leaves, radish and first early potatoes in the greenhouse so we get some early crops before we start cropping outside. It is forecast to rain again tomorrow but hopefully the weather man will get it wrong again and we have a nice dry day so I can do a bit more outside.

A New Type of Grow Bag

Grow Bags have been around for years they where rectangle in shape and had three holes for you to cut out to plant your toms in. It was always filled with lumpy peat based compost usually sold for 99p but now there is a new Grow Bag on the block. See it Grow have launched a new Coir grow bag that is Eco friendly and packed in 100% recyclable plastic.

See it Grow Coir grow bag

The bags them selves come with a dried and compressed block of Coir compost which also makes the delivery cheaper compared to standard Grow Bags. Pull up the sides of the bag and add 2.5lt of luke warm water and just watch the bag grow the whole bag will have expanded in 15min. Eleanor my daughter was very keen to clam the bags for herself  the bright colours and small size (compared to standard grow bags) will make them attractive to children.

Eleanor adding water to the Coir

When the bag is full it's time to get your hands in and fluff up the compost now where ready to plant i have opted to try them with the Grow Bag staple Tomatoes. But having said this they are no longer planted with toms as mr frost put a stop to them growing they have now been planted up with something a bit more colorful. Fushia's is what we have gone for as it's all we had left in the greenhouse got to be honest and they are doing well in them.

Bag ready to Plant

Now i must admit that have never been a fan of Coir i tried it back in the 90's when it first become all the rage mostly due to Geoff Hamilton. But just never got as good a results as peat but i am surprised at the results this year one point i will make is that Coir dose need a lot more feeding than Peat and the same goes with watering. But i would suggest adding a slow release fertilizer to the compost prior to planting will reduce the amount of extra feeding needed the same would be true for swell gel to help cut down on the watering.

Toms Pre Frosting 

I would say that these are a great idea and will become popular with new and old gardeners they are defiantly worth looking out for in your local garden centre.

They will be great to get the Kids interested in growing due to the bright colours of the bag and the compact nature of the bag. I will let you know how they perform through the growing season later on in the year has anyone else used they grow bags do let us know comment below.

For more details why not visit there website www.seeitgro.co.uk