Grow Your Own at Home
It is that time of the year again where we start thinking about growing your food and plants. In this blog, we will talk about how you can grow your own at home.
In a few months’ time, you could be picking your own homegrown tomatoes. It’s hard to beat the flavour of tomatoes straight from the vine and they’re easy to grow if you have a sunny sheltered spot or indoor area.
Tomatoes
Download our information sheet: Grow at Home Tomatoes.
You will need:
- Seeds
- Compost
- Pots (you can use old yoghurt pots or food containers with holes for drainage)
Getting started
- Fill your pots up with compost, but not completely to the top.
- Put two seeds onto the surface spaced about 2/3cm apart, then cover with a thin layer of compost.
- Water the pots gently so that you don’t disturb your newly planted seeds. The pots will let any excess water drain through so it’s best to find something to put them on so your windowsill doesn’t get too damp. Have a look in your plastic recycling – mushroom trays work.
- It’s good to put a label in each pot with the name of the plant and the date you put the seeds in.
- Put the pots on a warm sunny windowsill and don’t let them dry out.
Tomato seeds usually germinate within 7-14 days. Not every seed will produce a plant. Once the seedlings have grown to about 5cm, you need to decide how many to keep – tomatoes can grow to over a metre tall and each plant needs a separate large container. You now only want one plant in each pot, so remove the smallest to make space for the stronger plant to grow on.
Growing on
While you are looking after your plants you can now start to think about where you will grow them in the warmer months. Tomatoes can be grown outside, but it won’t be completely frost-free until June. The location you choose should be a warm sunny spot and have space to allow the plants to grow tall.
Soon your plant will need a slightly bigger pot (something around the size of a 1-litre ice-cream tub). If you’re upcycling something, always remember to make some drainage holes.
To transplant
- Half fill the new pot with compost, then:
a. If you’re using the fibre pots provided, simply place the whole pot on top of the compost.
b. If you have used your own pots, hold the pot upside down, place your fingers either side of the plant, tap the base and the plant and roots should drop out. Place this on top of the compost (try to avoid touching the stalk as you could damage the plant).
2. Add more compost until the new pot is full then gently water.
When the weather starts to properly warm up and the days are getting longer, you can plant the tomatoes into their final big pot (1 per plant) or growbag (1 grow bag will support 2 plants). They will also need a support (a bamboo cane works well) – look for one about 1.5m in height and use soft string to loosely tie the stalk to the cane.
Tip: If your plants have grown tall (leggy) in the small pots then transplant them into a deeper hole and fill the compost up the stalk to no further than the first leaves. This will make the plants sturdier.
Your tomato plants will grow sideshoots off the main stem. Pinch them out with your fingers – this will focus the plant’s energy on producing fruit rather than lots of leaves. Tomatoes are hungry plants and will need feeding once a week once they start to flower – you can buy tomato feed or make your own from comfrey or seaweed!
Peppers and Chillies
Download our information sheet: Grow at Home Peppers
Download our information sheet: Grow at Home Chillies
Peppers in the shops normally come from warm countries as they need plenty of heat and sunlight to grow well, so how about trying to grow some in Fife? They are perfect plants for growing in pots and don’t take up too much space. Chillies may seem an exotic fruit to grow in Scotland, but they are perfect plants for growing indoors in pots. They don’t take up too much space and their colourful fruits are a great way to brighten up your windowsill.
You will need:
- Seeds
- Compost
- Pots (you can use old yoghurt pots or food containers with holes for drainage)
Getting started
- Fill your pots up with compost, but not completely to the top.
- Put one seed onto the surface then cover with a thin layer of compost.
- Water the pots gently so that you don’t disturb your newly planted seeds. The pots will let any excess water drain through so it’s best to find something to put them on so your windowsill doesn’t get too damp. Have a look in your plastic recycling – mushroom trays work.
- It’s good to put a label in each pot with the name of the plant and the date you put the seeds in.
- Put the pots on a warm sunny windowsill and don’t let them dry out
Peppers can take a few weeks to germinate. Chillies can take a few weeks to germinate. To help keep the pots warm you can put clear plastic bags over your pots using a rubber band to secure them. This will keep in the heat and moisture. As soon as the seedlings start to appear, remove the bag and put them on a warm and bright windowsill.
Growing on
While you are looking after your plants, you can now start to think about where you will grow them in the warmer months. Peppers can be moved outside from June if you have a sunny sheltered spot but may need to be brought in at night. They will do better kept indoors where the temperature doesn’t drop as much.
Once the plants have about 3 sets of leaves, you can pot them on to a bigger pot (something around the size of a 1-litre ice-cream tub). If you’re upcycling something, always remember to make some drainage holes.
To transplant
- Half fill the new pot with compost, then:
a. If you’re using the fibre pots provided, simply place the whole pot on top of the compost.
b. If you have used your own pots, hold the pot upside down, place your fingers either side of the plant, tap the base and the plant and roots should drop out. Place this on top of the compost (try to avoid touching the stalk as you could damage the plant).
2. Add more compost until the new pot is full then gently water.
When the weather starts to properly warm up and the days are getting longer, you can plant the peppers and chillies into their final container. They don’t need a huge pot and can do well in a 5-litre pot. You could also get a growbag and put 3 plants in one bag spaced out evenly.
Water your peppers and chillies twice a week giving them a good soak. This is better than a little every day. Once flowers appear, feed every 2 weeks to encourage healthy growth (shop-bought tomato feed is good or you can make your own feed from comfrey leaves or seaweed).
Tip: If your plants are growing too tall for your space, you can pinch out the growing tip, this will encourage lower growth and a more bushy plant.
Peppers start green and then gradually ripen to red. You can pick them to eat when they are a good size. Homegrown will not get as big as the supermarket varieties, so don’t wait too long to taste them!
Chillies usually start off green (there are some yellow and purple varieties), then gradually ripen to red. When they first start to appear they will be milder, gradually getting redder and hotter as they ripen. You can dry chillies to use later or to make your own crushed chillies – just tie and hang them indoors.
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