April

April

The greenhouse

• Sow herb seeds
• Ventilate the greenhouse on hot days, but close vents again in the evening
• Look out for signs of pests, such as whitefly, red spider mite, and greenfly and treat immediately

Tip: Grow your own summer crops

Warm, bright conditions in March and April ad perfect for growing a variety of crops in heated propagators. Along with old favourites like tomatoes, why not try cucumbers, aubergines, okra, chillies or courgettes?

Fruit and vegetables

• Look out for pests and diseases on fruit trees. Think about spraying for severe problems
• Prune fig trees
• Choose flowers such as limnanthes to grow among crops, to attract hoverflies
• Help pollination by dabbing pollen from flower to flower with a paintbrush, pastry brush or feather!
• Pull succulent pink rhubarb stems
• Crops to sew outside now include carrots, broad beans, peas, beetroot, radishes, lettuces, onions, parsnips, sprouts and cabbages
• For better fruiting feed fruit trees and bushes with granular feed such as sulphate of potash

Tip: Sprout your potatoes

Seed potatoes should be laid out in trays in plenty of light to develop shoots (this is called chitting). Get your early and salad potatoes ready now and main crop following later in the month. Once sprouted, plant out in rows or grow in pots.