Your organic vegetable garden in April |
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After a long winter, things should be moving at last. Seed sowing can really get started. Vegetables, as well as weeds, will really start growing now. Regular hoeing will stop weeds becoming a problem. Remember to check under cloches too. Weeds grow particularly well in the warm conditions. Get to know what vegetable seedlings look like, so you don’t hoe them off by mistake. Try our Seedling Quiz. Cover the ground with black plastic to stop weeds growing until you have time to deal with them. |
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Beetroot seedlings at 3 weeks old |
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Contents
Things to do in the vegetable garden in April
- If frost is forecast, protect early young potato shoots, in unheated greenhouses and tunnels, as well as outdoors. Earth them up or cover with newspaper, net curtain or horticultural fleece overnight.
Peas supported by
twiggy sticks or netting- Support your peas! Peas sown last autumn or earlier this year need something to climb up. This can be twiggy sticks, or widemesh netting.
- Give plants a head start by raising them in modules and paper pots. Click here for details of what can be sown now.
- Shade seedlings in the greenhouse or on a windowsill on sunny days. Young seedlings are fragile and can quickly wilt and die.
- Continue to prick out seedlings before they become straggly.
- Dig in overwintered green manures three to four weeks before you want to use the ground, or before the plants start to become tough, or begin to flower. Using a sharp spade, turn the plants back into the soil, chopping them up as you go.
Remember not to sow small seeded crops directly after digging in grazing rye green manure. - Prepare runner and climbing French bean supports if you want to save time later in the year. To cut your carbon footprint, try using hazel poles or other long branches instead of bamboo canes. If you have bamboo plants in the garden you may find some are big enough to use.
- Apply soil improvers such as well-rotted farmyard manure and compost this month according to the needs of the plants that will be growing there. Garden Organic members can see our Get Started Guide, Managing your soil which gives tips on how much to apply and when.
Growing veg in pots
Last year, our One Pot Pledge campaign got thousands of people growing something edible for the first time. If you would like advice on growing a range of vegetable in pots, click on the OPP logo above.
Potatoes
Old compost sacks make
good potato planters- Planting potatoes: Wait until soil is warm enough before planting potatoes. A good indicator is when the grass starts to grow. If you live in a warm area and you got off to an early start last month with your spuds, then they may be ready for earthing up. Start this process as the shoots start to show, paying special attention to them if frosts are forecast.
Garden Organic members can find more information in our factsheets:
- Grow your own potatoes in containers
- Growing potatoes in a dustbin
- Growing Potatoes
- Growing potatoes without digging
Find out more about Garden Organic membership
Planning soil fertility
- Plants grow best when the soil conditions are right. What you feed your vegetable plots will depend on what you are going to grow next, what was there last, and the basic fertility of the soil.
Its best to plan in fertility building alongside your cropping plan. Our Crop Rotation factsheet is designed to help you do this.
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Apply garden compost at a rate of up to 1 wheelbarrow load per 5 sq m (2.5 gallons per square yard), manure at half that rate.
If you haven't made compost before, check out Composting - helping you to Grow Your Own or buy a copy of Garden Organic’s latest composting books.
If you are short of homemade compost, you can find a range of organic fertilisers and soil conditioners in the Organic Gardening Catalogue
- Order comfrey plants for May delivery. Once established, their leaves can be used to make your own liquid tomato feed.
Russian comfrey plants – Bocking 14 - are a must in any garden. The leaves, (which can be cut several times a season) can be used as a compost activator, a mulch to feed the soil, made into a liquid feed or mixed with leafmould to make a base for a potting compost.
The Garden Organic booklet Comfrey for Gardeners
Gives you all the information you need to grow and use this versatile plant in your garden,
Sowing and Planting
If you are new to sowing seeds in the ground or in pots and trays, why not have a look at our ‘Sowing seed’ activity sheet.
Sowing and planting outdoors
As the soil warms up, a greater range of crops can be sown directly into the soil outdoors. Seeds will germinate more quickly, and seedlings grow faster, often outstripping earlier sowings.
- Grow a selection of varieties of a particular crop - this will stagger the harvest, so everything isn't ready to eat at the same time. Check out your seed catalogues for ideas.
Sow lettuce
M these crops may also be raised in modules for transplanting. Beetroot – early and maincrop Broad beans – last sowings of the season M Calabrese - quick cultivars such as Belstar and Green Sprouting Calaloo Chickpeas, from later in the month Early carrots - protect against carrot fly Maincrop carrots - protect against carrot fly Coriander Haloon M Kohl rabi M Lettuce Parsnips Peas - early, maincrop, mange tout and sugar snap Salsify Scorzonera Spinach M Spinach beet - also known as leaf beet or perpetual spinach M Spring onions M Chard – Swiss, Rainbow, Ruby and other varieties Plant outdoors
Summer cabbage Onions raised from seed Onion sets Potatoes
Sow in a seedbed to transplant
- An outdoor seed bed is useful for raising transplants of crops that don't mind root disturbance. Generally it is used for autumn and winter brassicas, such as cabbages, Brussels sprouts, kale and sprouting broccoli, and for leeks. These vegetables are in the ground for many months, so it makes best use of space to start them off in a separate seedbed. They can be sown at much closer spacing than at their final planting.
Brassicas - sow at 4-5 cm x 20 cm (2in x 8in). Transplant when around 15cm tall.
Leeks - sow at 2.5 x 15cm (1in x 6in). Transplant when about pencil thickness, but they can wait longer before being moved.
Cover the seedbed with fleece or fine enviromesh where necessary to protect seedlings from cabbage root fly, leek moth or allium leaf miner.
| Leeks | Brussels sprouts | Sprouting broccoli | Autumn cauliflowers | Kale |
Sowing in trays, pots and modules to transplant
Raising plants to transplant outdoors gives you a head start on the season. It also helps to keep plants safe when they are young and particularly vulnerable to pest damage. Where space is at a premium in the garden, crops can be started indoors before the space where they are finally to grow becomes available.
M - these plants resent root disturbance and are best raised in module trays only. H - sow in a heated propagator or other warm place (around 15°C). M Baby beetroot Brussels sprouts M H Celery M H Celeriac H Courgettes – sow in 3-5cm pots in the second half of the month in warmer areas or for growing under cover H Cucumber - indoor varieties H French beans - sow in rootrainers or small pots M Kohlrabi Lettuce Summer cabbage Autumn cauliflower Spring onions H Sweet corn - for early crops in warmer areas; sow in rootrainers or deep pots H Pumpkins - in the second half of the month, in warmer areas
H Tomatoes - for growing outdoors or under cover - In exceptionally mild areas of Britain you may be able to sow dwarf French beans, and even sweet corn, outside and under cloches. In most areas this will have to wait until late May.
- Stop forcing rhubarb now. Remove covers, mulch with garden compost or well rotted manure, and don’t pick any more stems until next year.
Growing conditions can vary dramatically across the country, and also even within a locality. If you are new to growing and are unsure about exactly what to do when, try asking other vegetable growers nearby. And be guided by the weather and soil conditions.
Pest watch
Attracting wildlife to the garden is one of the best ways of combating many pest and disease problems. Encourage creatures into your plot by providing places for them to hibernate, live and multiply!
- Sow some easy to grow ‘attractant’ plants that will attract and feed beneficial insects that help control pests. Try pot marigolds, candytuft, coriander, chervil, buckwheat and phacelia for a start.
- Dig up any 'volunteer' potato plants growing from tubers left in the soil from last year’s crop, as soon as you see them. They could be carrying the disease potato blight. Garden Organic members - Click here for more information on Potato Blight
- Don't plant potatoes into cold, dry soil. The potato shoots are more prone to attack by the fungus, Rhizoctonia solani in these conditions. Shoots may fail to emerge when attacks are severe.
- Use cloches or frames with netting or fleece to protect young crops, peas and brassicas in particular, from pigeon damage.
- 'Damping off' can be a problem in young seedlings. Garden Organic members can see our Get Started Guide 'Growing from seed' for more information.
- Slug control. Garden Organic members can access our factsheet on slugs and snails.
Protect young cabbage from cabbage rootfly- Protect young cabbage and other brassica plants from cabbage rootfly from the moment they are planted out. 'Brassica Collars' can be made from a 12cm square of carpet underlay. They are also available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.
- Where flea beetle, cabbage root fly or aphids are a problem, cover brassicas
with fleece as soon as the seeds are sown.
See our organic factsheet, Flea Beetle in the members area, for more information.
- Where leek moth or allium leaf miner is a problem, cover leek seedlings with fleece to protect them from egg laying adults in April.