Kitchen Garden Magazine

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Undercover

April is such a month of promise. Crops go into the ground, the sun often shines and what do we care for the odd cold night when the days are so bright and stretching out with the evening? We may get a few of the famous showers, or even hail or snow, but plants seem to know that this is a month to get moving and gardeners have to move too to keep up with that growth

Hot tip for the month

Soil can really dry out in the borders of a greenhouse or polytunnel. A sprinkle of water over the top of dry soil can run through without wetting, or will simply dampen the surface layer. Some plants, like tomatoes and sweetcorn, can root deeply, searching for the essential moisture, but it is important to provide them with a good start. Take a little time to get the soil and subsoil thoroughly wetted before planting if you want the best crops.

Dig a hole about 30cm (12in) wide and deep for each plant. Fill this with water, let it drain, then fill it again. Repeat this until the subsoil is thoroughly soaked as well as surface layers. Do this about a week before planting tomatoes to allow excess water to drain before young plants are put out. The hole is filled with damp compost at planting time, but by then the surrounding soil has a store of water that will last for weeks.

Sweetcorn

Make the first sowings this month for ripe cobs in late July and early August. Make a second sowing three weeks later for a staggered crop. Cross-pollination between some varieties can lead to poorly filled cobs. Sow one variety at a time to avoid this. Most modern varieties produce well-filled cobs with yellow kernels.

Try ‘Indian Summer’ for multicoloured kernels and a really sweet flavour. Sweetcorn needs a bit of warmth for good germination and avoid wet compost at all costs. Sow a few pumpkins at the same time.
These can twine among the growing stalks of corn.

Tomatoes

These will grow rapidly through April and will be ready to plant out towards the end of the month. Growing plants may need potting on into larger pots if leaves show signs of nutrient starvation or if growth is stunted in any way. Check roots to see if they have filled the compost. If you didn’t grow your own from seed, check garden centres for young plants. Remember that cherry varieties are the first to ripen and can be most reliable in a poor summer.

Choose strong green plants for growing on and remember to harden them off for a week or so. Don’t pinch out sideshoots until the young plants have established themselves in their final home. Use good compost, or well-rotted manure in the planting holes. Add a bit of dried seaweed or wood ash to provide potash for these greedy plants.

Provide canes or strings to support the growing plants. The lower end of the string can be wound round the rootball and buried. The other end can be tied to the frame. Canes need to be strong enough and long enough so that they can be pushed well down into the soil – you don’t want them breaking or bending under the weight of the crop.

For much more advice, see this month's issue, available to buy online!

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