Spring is officially here, which means it’s time to start tending properly to your garden, especially if you plan on growing vegetables. The best time to plant vegetables in the UK is spring, but depending on what you plan to plant, you need to make sure the conditions are best.
Gardening expert Michael Griffiths warned fellow green thumbs that there are a number of common mistakes people make when trying to grow vegetables. He shared his top tips for ensuring your vegetables grow to their full potential, and the main mistakes to avoid. In a recent TikTok video, Michael said: “Most beginner veg growing mistakes happen right now in the spring, so here’s three I used to make so you don’t have to.”
1. Ideal soil temperature
Michael said: “Soil temperature beats air temperature. It might feel mild but most seeds won’t germinate until the soil is seven to 10 degrees centigrade.”
If you are considering planting vegetable crops, Michael recommended planting peas and broad beans now, while holding off planting vegetables like tomatoes.
The Royal Horticultural Society agreed that delaying early sowing until the soil has reached the optimum temperature is the best course of action. The RHS suggested a method of speeding up the process by warming the soil by putting cloches, clear plastic sheeting or even bottomless plastic bottles over the soil a few weeks before sowing or planting out.
These should be kept on the seeds and plants to protect them from the ever-changing weather for a few weeks or until the weather warms up. Colder weather can stop the germination of seeds.
2. Chitting potatoes
Michael said it’s the perfect time to chit your potatoes. Chitting is the process of encouraging seed potatoes to sprout and develop shoots before they are planted.
The gardening expert advised to put seed potatoes in a place that’s bright and frost-free. The little sprouts you can see on the seed potatoes mean an earlier harvest.
3. Plant undercover
If the weather and temperature of the soil aren’t ideal, Michael recommended using small greenhouses to plant vegetable seeds. He said: “A windowsill greenhouse or even a heated tray will let you sow tomatoes and chillies now and give you a jump on the season.”
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