by Caroline Broome | Apr 6, 2016 | Flowers, Gardening Posts, Your Stories
At last Spring is finally here! Not wanting to wish my life away, but it’s been a long underwhelming winter. I’ve been sowing seeds since February but now it’s all systems go: As one batch of seedlings needs potting on, it’s time to sow another batch. T&M plug plants have been arriving regularly. This year I decided that I would be well and truly geared up in the greenhouse: 9cm pots washed and stacked by colour (perhaps a little too obsessive?), new plant labels written up in advance with indelible pen (sick of guessing!), propagating lids washed (green algae tends to block out the light!), seed modules matched up with waterproof seed trays.
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Caroline Broome has been gardening for more than 20 years. Having passed the RHS General Certificate, she has since developed her East Finchley garden into a “personal paradise” that she and her husband invite the public to visit each year via the National Garden Scheme. Learn more about our contributor using T&M’s ‘Meet the experts’ page.
by Thompson & Morgan | Nov 9, 2015 | Gardening News, Gardening Posts
We are delighted to announce that Thrive has been chosen as our charity of the year for 2016!
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The Thompson & Morgan horticultural team produces a wealth of content around gardening and food production. Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.
by Holly Taylor | Oct 1, 2015 | Gardening Posts
There’s nothing more rewarding than growing from seed. That moment where you see the soil surface just breaking with a fresh green shoot is beyond magical! So if you now buy your petunias and geraniums as young plants, I suggest you challenge yourself, and explore the plant world with my list of 10 unusual things to grow from seeds:
The newest salad leaf, which I’m sure will be filling the salad bags in your supermarket very soon. Fresh, crunchy, rocket-style leaves with a spicy after-flavour! But, don’t worry, it isn’t as strong as the real thing! So easy to grow from seed, at any time of year, and ready to eat in just 4-5 weeks from sowing. Grow some on the windowsill, so you can devour some with every meal!
This diminutive little thing has so many different names; from mouse melon to cucamelon to mini watermelon and even Mexican sour gherkin! The vigorous plants are great for screening or patio obelisks, and are decorative in their own. But, take a peek beneath the leaves in midsummer and you’ll spy the little striped fruits, which only reach the size of a large olive and has a cucumber flavour!
Banana (Ensete ventricosum)
If you’re a little bit impatient, then you should to grow a banana! Each plant will put on rapid growth and appears quite lush and exotic. With the right care, plants can product fruit in the UK too! Fun to grow from seed, you’ll feel all tingly from the moment that first over-sized leaf bursts through the soil!
- Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia)
Conversely to the banana, you’ll need a lot of patience for growing a Strelitzia! The journey from germination to flowering can take up to 7 years… Similar in appearance to a banana, but a bit more leathery, the Bird of Paradise makes a talking point in a conservatory and once that iridescent flower appears, you’ll want to invite all your friends round to have a look!
- Meconopsis betonicifolia Hensol Violet
The flower colour of this unique Meconopsis just cannot be described; it is metallic and shimmers purple or blue, depending on which direction you look at it from! A connoisseur’s choice of plant; perfect for damp, shady corners.
- Nasturtium Phoenix Mixed
Imagine a ‘garden-friendly’ Nasturtium and you have ‘Phoenix’! Smaller growth than the usual giant cabbage-like specimens, and the flowers are super decorative, with a serrated appearance, and in the case of yellow- FRAGRANT! Don’t forget, pretty much all parts of Nasturtiums are edible too, so jazz up your summer food plates!
- Carrot Purple Sun
Bump up your antioxidant intake with the only fully purple carrot! Purple Sun is purple right through to the core; in fact, it doesn’t look anything like a carrot! Simple to grow, really fun for kids and imagine what you could make with it; purple julienne carrots, purple carrot cake, and so on…
- Sweet Pea Turquoise Lagoon
Another glorious metallic flower, it’s hard to believe that Turquoise Lagoon is actually a reject from a breeding programme! The delicate flowers are iridescent, with mauve, blue and pink featuring. This is the start of some very different colours for the sweet pea family, so keep your eyes peeled!
Lisianthus nigrescens
Err.. sometimes called the ‘Flower of Death’, this cheerful Lisianthus is actually an amazing seed to be able to get your hands on, as it’s the blackest of any known flower! This plant is just all about the drama; would you believe it’s way more than a metre tall too; think Nicotiana sylvestris, but black!
- Bat Plant (Tacca)
This one has to be seen to be believed! Again, superb, beguiling black flowers and- when you look up close- the blooms do actually resemble a bat as well! Not only that, you’ll love the vinyl-esque shiny foliage too! A nice little challenge to grow from seed!
by Sarah Curtis | Jul 15, 2013 | Sarah's Technical Trials
As we gardeners know, there are many correct ways to do almost everything. However, whether experienced or amateur, we are guilty of carrying on unquestioningly, just because that’s how we’ve always done it. We all get into habits over the years, but it often pays to question why we blindly follow the gardening advice passed down through the generations.
I hope that by reading the reports of my technical trials you will gain some helpful tips and alternative ways of growing some of the exciting varieties we offer at Thompson & Morgan.
Diary One – Sweet pea: the ‘root’ of success
Sweet pea seedlings in the Root Trainer
With the best will in the world, transplanting seedlings can be difficult to carry out in a prudent manner without damaging the delicate root system. How do we know how well our precious seedlings will cope with the unnatural movement from their nursery haven into the final container?
At the trials site I was interested in how the home gardener can overcome this problem. The best solution is to buy pre-germinated sweet pea plugs with a strong tap root. Of course you may pay a premium for such a quality plant, but would the higher price mean in terms of overall plant quality?
The trial was pretty simple and has produced some staggering results to date.
Method
Sweet pea ‘Sweet Dreams’, selected for its outstanding fragrance, exhibition standard blooms and superb growing performance, was sown in a standard 40mm cell tray and again in our Root Trainer plug.
Four weeks after germination plugs were potted on to their final position. Containers with a 36cm diameter and a support structure were used. Five plants of each plug type were planted into two separate pots using a good compost and general fertiliser. The plants were maintained in a sunny position and controlled water and feeding regimes were used to ensure an unbiased trial across the two pots.
Results
Just two weeks after sowing it was clear that the extra space and form of the Root Trainer had resulted in a more vigorous root system. The seedlings were fuller and the roots double the length (plant on left).
All images in this report show a fair comparison of root trainer against standard plug. Both plug formats were sown on the same day and kept in the same environment throughout the trial.
Root comparison – Root Trainer on the left, standard plug on the right
The Root Trainer could be easily opened up for me to check on the development, great for the less patient gardener amongst us! It was clear to see by week 4 that the sweet pea’s natural tap root structure had benefited from the extra leg room of the Root Trainer plug!
Comparison of root lengths
With such overwhelming results, I was keen to get the plants into their final pots and continue to record the height and bloom count as the weeks continued.
11 weeks after germination…
Although both plugs grew away successfully the Root Trainer clearly provided the best start (shown below). The Root Trainer format reigned supremely over the standard plug. An obvious difference in overall habit, with several more stems which held the sweetly scented flowers. The height at week 11 was 110cm, twice the height of the standard 40mm plug.
19th June – standard plug (left), Root Trainer (right)
19th June – standard plug (left), Root Trainer (right)
Bloom count up to 1 July 2013
Sweet pea ‘Sweet Dreams’ – height: 1.8m (6’), spread: 30cm (12”). Supplied cell-raised with an average of 5 sweet pea plants per cell. Pinched and ready for planting straight out.
The results after 11 weeks
Wishing you a bountiful summer, happy gardening!
Sarah is responsible for assessing and trialling over 1500 varieties each year at the Thompson & Morgan trials site. This includes management of the technical area where fertilisers, cultural controls and plant formats are tested for their impact on some of your favourite garden ornamentals and edibles.
by Deborah Catchpole | Nov 19, 2012 | Flowers, Vegetables, Your Stories
Guest blogger Deborah Catchpole writes about her early and formative gardening experiences…
I’m a gardener. There; I’ve said it. It’s not always the first thing that a 28 year old is willing to admit, but for me, it’s something that has come to define who I am – or at least a huge part of who I am. Considering the upbringing that I had, it is perhaps unsurprising that I would have turned out to be a gardener.
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I’m a 30 year old, writer, photographer, gardener, and sweetpea obsessive! I did a degree in English Literature at The University of Liverpool, and when I am not writing I’m often found in my garden.
Deborah has also written gardening articles for The Herts Advertiser
