Thinning strategies

Is it too late to thin? When ensuring the healthiest, tastiest and most generous crops, it's never too late, says Bob

- Bob Flowerdew

WHETHER it's flowers, fruit or vegetables, we gather better, larger and more uniform crops when we grow well-spaced kinds. Overcrowding inevitably produces more, smaller items to harvest.

Sowing thickly is fine if, once the seedlings are up, they are quickly thinned to a reasonable spacing. Obviously, if you're after smaller, faster crops, then these can be left closer to each other than for larger, later-maturing types. But this should never mean crowding, and the reason's simple.

More of the same is every bit as competitive as a load of weeds and, worse, they are after the same resources. The same goes for the fruits and flowers. The more you leave, the smaller they'll be. Which is no problem if all you're after is the show, or for wildlife. But if you're picking, then the smaller they are, the more you have to handle to get anywhere near the same weight.