Potting Up Cabbage, Treating Potting Shed

Making the most of a fine sunny day. It may have been freezing, but it wasn’t raining, for a change. Lots to get on with, and the season has hardly begun.

Potting On the Greyhound Cabbage

Chicken Treat Pot of Brassicas

Greyhound are a fantastic cabbage, they’re a ‘sweetheart’ type that’s ready in as little as 12 weeks. I’m not sure if they count as a heritage, but they’re an open pollinated type that’s been around for at least 50 years.

The seeds almost jumped out of the compost, so time to move them on into pots. Germination was very good, too. So quite a few quality seedlings. My plan was to get about four or maybe six plants from this sowing. I’ve ended up with 16 plants! Worse still, another 15 decent seedlings spaced into a larger pot.

Once that pot of seedlings has grown crowded, it will make a treat for the hens. Since the hens are in lockdown in the secure, covered run so that they don’t catch Avian Flu, I’ll plant most of the seedlings in their outside, forbidden, run. Another treat for their freedom day.

The sprouts and cauliflowers are nearly ready to pot on and later this week I’ll be thinning the alliums to one per Bustaseed module.

Potting Compost

Before potting up the cabbage seedlings, I made a potting mix. The ratio isn’t too exact but roughly 12 parts multi-purpose compost, 2 parts perlite, 2 parts medium vermiculite.

Mixing Potting Compost, adding vermiculite and perlite.

That makes a light, open compost that will help root development whilst retaining water and nutrients.

Once that was mixed, put a layer on my potting tray and sprinkled dolomite lime over. Mix again. Brassicas like a pH around 7.0 and most potting composts are set for around 5.5. Not super critical, but it should help.

Adding Lime to the Potting Mix

Took the lids off the Bustaseed modules as germination seems well underway. Turned down the heating trays that were set at 15ºC to germinate, to 8ºC. Just easing the seedlings into the cold outside world, but keeping them frost free until they’ve toughened up.

Chilli Peppers

Leggy Chilli Pepper Seedlings

The chillis had germinated without my noticing as I’d a bag over the pot to keep the compost moist. So, they’re a little leggy but my pal who’s a bit of an expert on chillis reckoned they’ll be OK planted deeply when potted up.

I’ll move them into the propagator in the potting shed and use grow lighting to compensate for the dull and short days.

Protecting the Potting Shed

Being as it was a lovely, dry, albeit cold, day, treated the potting shed to a coat of Cuprinol Shed & Fence preserver. Once that’s had a couple of days to dry, it will get treated with Barrettine All in One Decking Oil.

Treating the Potting Bench.

The benching inside also got a coat of Cuprinol, as did part of the wall around the side window. That’s where the water has penetrated badly. When I get time, I’ll empty the shed out and treat the floor inside as well.