Sunday 31 May 2015

Hardening Off And Planting Out

My surprise frost last week stopped me planting out too quickly but I'm in full flow now.  I've been hardening off plants all week (putting them in and out of the greenhouse to acclimatise them to living outdoor) and today I finally managed to get some in the ground. 
 Sweetcorn, summer and winter squash, oca, chicpeas, tomatilos and tomatoes have been planted out so far, hopefully I'll get beans and more squashes out tomorrow.
I love these root trainers - great for things like sweetcorn that don't like root disturbance.
All plants seem to go well in them. I'll plant these up with beans now ready for a second flush of them in late summer.
Who else is only just planting out their greenhouse grown transplants? Or am I behind everyone in my little frost pocket?

29 comments:

  1. I've been waiting to plant out too. My garden is a wind tunnel so anything not hardened off wouldn't last 5 minutes ! I hope it all survives, I couldn't wait any longer.

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    1. I'm sure it'll be fine now. They soon get used to the outside conditions. Make sure you stake anything tall!

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  2. I normally plant out on the 3rd of June, but I did plant out two sneaky squash a couple of days ago just to test the ground.

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    1. We'll my squash are out now so fingers crossed!

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  3. Most of my hardened off plants went in yesterday, it is raining now and has been all night, the rest will go in at some point this week. I have put half my sweetcorn into quite big pots for mini cobs. I normally do this and it has worked every time.

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    1. Seems like I'm not as far behind as I thought I was! I've got the emergency flease ready encase it goes cold but I think we're due for a bit of heat now!

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  4. Yup here too. nearly finished planting the climbing beans yesterday and they have been watered in nicely overnight. Think I might be working in the greenhouse to day though as it is very wet out there at the moment. My first lot of sweet corn failed, so I am still waiting for my second sowing to be big enough to transplant (plus that bed is still full of weeds!)

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    1. I've still got loads of beans to go in and I'll plant some direct as well for a second flush of beans. My brothers sweetcorn failed as well this year.

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  5. Our plants had to out last week, surrounded by fleece as we went away, not sure if they will give a good harvest. Bean seeds went straight in the ground as had no other space indoors, no sign yet of those.

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    1. The god thing about the beans is if you have to plant some more they swoon catch up in the summer time.

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  6. Mixed weather doesn't help Kev. Last year a lot of our veg bolted to seed because it was so dry. This year it's every season in a day. Going to sow some swede directly into the ground outside this week.

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    1. It's been like April this last week, showers all the time then hot and blowy. I've sown my swede in modules and it looks ready to go out.

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  7. I planted a few leeks yesterday

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    1. My leeks went in yesterday. I've planted a whole 4 by 10 bed this year as we never seem to have enough.

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  8. nice to see your squash and corn have gone in the same bed, I did the same :-)

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    1. I call it the two sisters as I can never understand planting the beans in there as well as they'd be so difficult to pick!

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  9. how do you harden off if you don't have a greenhouse or cold frame? I'm pretty late to the party this year, I only have a few herbs (germinating as we speak) so far, and I plan on doing potatoes when I finish building the raided beds, or a potato bin as a last resort lol, I'm just learning about veg growing ( read that as I don't have a clue how to grow anything but herbs) so also I'm not sure on how much I'll be able to actually grow being so late in the year.

    help!

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    1. Just sit your plants outside in the sun every day, bring them back in to wherever you have been growing them at night and do this for at least a week, then leave them out overnight but in a sheltered place near the house for a couple of nights and then plant them into their final place.

      If you have cloches, either bought or homemade, you can put them into these after the week of them being outside during the day.

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    2. Fantastic thank you! :) Um...i don't think anywhere in my garden is sheltered! It's too windy! i'll go out tomorrow and see, the side of the house may work :)

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    3. SUe has answered your question but there's still lots you can sow and grow. Your best bet might be to go to a garden club pant sale and see what plants they've got for sale. Other than that you could still plant things for a later harvest. Only last week I was planting pop corn, it's more of a gamble to plant later but I always forget something and plant it later and it seems to do well. How much space have you got to grow in and is it ready for plants?

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    4. i'll have to have a google and see what's in my area, there isn't a lot, unfortunately :( and it's getting there too, as i'd have to walk or get the bus, oooh i'd love to try popcorn, maybe next year though, when i have more knowledge haha :)
      I've no idea how big the garden is, it's a fairly decent size and i have at least 3 quarters that are going to be used , i'm going to make my own raised beds, so i dno't have to do too much to the garden itself, as i don't trust myself and my limited knowledge to plant straight into the ground yet and it's all uneven, really it needs dug out, but at the minute i've limited resources, so beds it is.
      Ive got an old drawer with no bottom so far that i'm going to put my first herbs in, and i'm going to stake it so it doesn't blow away,which would be just my luck!

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    5. Get some pictures up on your blog and I'm sure we'll all give you some advice! There's plenty you can grow in pots and some of the best tomatoes I ever grew were just outside against a wall.

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    6. I certainly shall! It is on my to do list for tomorrow, i'm terrible with maths and square footage and things like that (Wizardry if you ask me, not for the mere mortal ;) )

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  10. I had to replant green beans last week as the ground must have been too cold and wet, only a few plants sprouted but the next planting came up properly. This time of year, hardening off for me amounts to getting the plants ready for the hot humid days in full sun.

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    1. My beans do get eaten by mice if I'm not careful so that's one reason why I start them inside. Our hardening off is the otehr way round, getting them used to cold snaps!

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  11. Corn is a hard one to transplant. Usually I don't even bother with sprouting them but just sow in the the ground because of that root problem you mentioned. It's kinda odd to see the stunted corn though. I never saw anything like those root trainers before though. Good idea!!!!

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    1. the root trainers are great, everything seems to romp away when I plan tthem in these. They're expensive though and that's way I only have enough for a few crops.

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  12. Since we've moved now to our smaller farm and making the way towards real self sufficiency (we kinda just played with it the last decade) I find myself happier and happier with our pigs! We just used them to dig up a small patch of sod untouched for decades so we could plant sweet corn there. They dig and root and fertilize as they go. Amazing farm critters

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    1. Pigs are on the list but my fencing would have to be upgraded to let them near the veg garden! You guys don;t seem to struggle with the weeds like we do over here. I often look at American plots and wonder how they keep the weeds down, on virgin ground I'd be fighting the weeds like mad!

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