HANDLE WITH CARE

Garden Organic's Anton Rosenfeld shares his secrets for success with transplanting seedlings

Growing healthy transplants is essential for giving your plants a good start in life, but it does come with a few challenges. Here, I will show you how to navigate around these with some simple organic growing tips.

CHOICE OF COMPOST

Spending a bit more money on good-quality peat-free seed compost is a good investment.

Seed compost is used in much smaller quantities than potting compost so a little goes a long way. A seed compost should have a fine texture, so it allows germination of smaller seeds. It should also wick the moisture evenly throughout so that seeds don't get trapped in dry pockets.

Lastly, it should be relatively low in nutrients. Seedlings should not be overfed, and high nutrient concentration can actually inhibit the germination of some seeds. If you can only get hold of multipurpose compost, which is often a bit too coarse for sowing seeds, mixing it with a rehydrated coir block (available in many discount shops) will help to improve the texture.

TIMING

One of the most common mistakes for keen beginners is to sow things too early. For tender crops, working backwards from the latest spring frost is often a good strategy. A French bean will be ready to plant out two to three weeks after sowing, so if you're still getting frosts in mid-May- and if you sow it earlier than the beginning of May - you will quickly end up with a collection of plants that are too big for their pots. These root-bound plants often just sit and sulk when planted out and take a good while to recover.

POT OR MODULE SIZE