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Tuesday 14 April 2009

Snow In April


Sometimes it snows in April.

I’ve done it myself – it’s all too easy. The UK gets a week of
beautiful weather, and you find yourself sowing seeds and buying
little tender plants. My advice is, wait up, woah there, hold your
horses! Before you know it, the cold weather’s back with a
vengence, and your little plants are looking pinched and miserable. All too
easily they can get a cold shock from which they probably won’t
recover.

The phrase is; ‘hardening off’ – the process whereby young
seedlings and plants slowly adapt to being outdoors after being raised in the
comfort and ease of a heated greenhouse. The trick is not to sow or
buy too early. Plants sown later – say late March/early April - will
quickly catch up with earlier sowings.

Once your seedings are a reasonable size, 4 or 5 inches, put them
outside in a sheltered spot during the day, and bring them in at
night. Do this for a week, and if it gets really cold again, keep
them inside while the cold spell lasts

You’re young plants will thank you for it.

Written By Tom O'Leary

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