How to grow

If you have a green house or conservatory especially with heat then you can start your crop off earlier otherwise you will need to wait u til the weather warms up. For outdoors crops try gardeners delight or moneymaker or a hanging basket variety like tumbler.

Everyone knows about tomato grow bags and they are absolutely fine but I like to use a large pot filled with good quality multipurpose compost and add some controlled release fertiliser. For the cordon varieties you will need to tie a piece of string to something above and below the plant so it is tight and then twist it round the stem as it grows. Pinch out side shoots as the plant grows up. For the Bush and hanging varieties you don’t need to do this.

Water regularly and liquid feed with tomato fertiliser once you see flowers forming. Start picking once they ripen and change colour, don’t worry if you have a glut later in the summer, tomatoes freeze well! 

Common problems

Irregular watering can cause :

Blossom end rot, a dark patch at the base of the fruit

Blossom drop where the flower buds fall off

Dry set when the fruits stop growing when very small

Splitting fruit 

Too much strong sunlight can cause:

Green back, leaving ripe fruit with a hard green patch

Blotches, scalds or spots

Use fleece to shade the plants 

Pests

Look out for green and white fly because both can spread viruses. Spray your vines with a recommended insecticide as soon as you notice pests. Organic gardeners might prefer to plant marigolds nearby which attract beneficial insects that eat pests.

Leaf problems

Curling leaves. May be caused by aphids sucking the sap from them, but if there's no sign of insects the most likely culprit is cold night-time temperatures (more noticeable in early summer). If this is the case, it's nothing to worry about. 

Leaf yellowing starting on older leaves and moving upwards. The problem could be a magnesium deficiency which is easy to remedy with a special magnesium feed.

Click here  to watch a video on growing tomatoes from our seed supplier Thompson and Morgan

https://youtu.be/CPdKic3pohE

Planting Potatoes in containers 

 

Jobs for January  

Easter is just around the corner, and whether you plan to celebrate it with an outdoor Easter egg hunt for the kids, or you’re looking forward to enjoying the long bank holiday weekend relaxing in the spring sunshine, now is the time to get your garden in shape.

The temperature is thankfully starting to rise so you can finally start to add a burst of colour to your outside space by planting out a variety of bedding plants in pots and containers and dotting them about your patio and doorsteps. Keep it simple by opting for just one colour, or create a riot of colour by mixing, matching and contrasting.

Whatever your preference, here are our top three bedding plants to add a splash of seasonal colour to your garden this Easter.

• Senetti: This fabulous plant boasts large, daisy-like flowers so it’s perfect for creating a big impact, plus it’s available in a wide range of vibrant colours.
  
  
• Ranunculus: This plant comes in a great selection of colours – from bold, cheerful shades to soft, muted, romantic tones – with gorgeous tissue paper-like blooms for an eye-catching effect.
  
  
• Primrose: Take your pick from singles with pretty bi-colours and white edges, or stunning doubles with frilly petals – we grow many different colours and types of primroses here at Pentland Plants.

Each of these plants is homegrown right here at the Pentland Plants Nursery – the largest bedding plant nursery in Scotland. Whichever you choose, you can be confident it’s been grown and cared for to the highest standards. To help them last that little bit longer we asked Susie, one of our Garden Centre Supervisors, for her top tips for caring for your new additions to the garden. Here is what she advises…
 

Caring for your Spring bedding plants

1. Ensure your pot has drainage holes in the bottom as otherwise the plants will rot if they’re left standing in water.
2. Place pieces of broken pot over the drainage holes to prevent them from getting blocked up with silt.
3. Next, fill up the pots with good quality compost.
4. Remember to water them regularly, particularly as the weather starts to warm up.
5. Keep on top of deadheading to ensure they flower again.

To make things a little easier, we can plant up your pots and containers for you – just ask any member of the team about our instore personalised planting service.  Or keep an eye on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for more great ways to add a burst of colour to your garden this Easter and beyond.

Here at Pentland Plants, we’re home to the largest bedding plant nursery in Scotland. In fact, we’ve built up quite a reputation for ourselves and we’re known across the UK for our extensive range of high-quality plants. But did you know we also travel throughout the UK and even further afield to bring you the very best trees, shrubs and perennials? For example, this week saw Carolyn and her father David take a trip to Holland to hand-select a range of plants and we’re excited to reveal what they’ve returned home with…

Carolyn and David have been visiting Boskoop – home to the largest green market in Europe – for many years, and have made the trip a across several times each year to stock up as the seasons change. For them, it’s a great way to see the latest range of plants from hundreds of European growers and it enables them to compare and choose the best quality and value.

Hand-selecting the very best

Commenting ahead of her latest trip, Carolyn explained, “It’s so important that we get to see the stock first-hand before we buy so we can be confident that every plant will be perfect when they arrive here at Pentland Plants later that week.”

“We love seeing well grown plants in great condition, well pruned, well fed and at the peak of perfection. Whether it’s flowers or foliage, we always find something new!” added David.

Highlights from Holland

Each of the following plants has been carefully chosen to flourish in our Scottish climate and there really is something to suit any garden. Take your pick from stunning flowering shrubs for spring and summer blooms, shrubs with fabulous foliage and texture, climbers and wall shrubs for all aspects, and perennials that will pop up and add an extra splash of colour to your outdoor space.

• Ceanothus
• Clematis
• Hydrangea
• Magnolia
• Paeonia
• Viburnum
• Honeysuckle
• Allium
• Rhododendron
• Deciduous Azalea
• Acer

Caring for your new additions to the garden

Each of the plants listed above can be planted now. Simply prepare the soil with compost or soil conditioner, plus a handful of bonemeal, and water in well.

Most of these plants will be available to purchase instore from Saturday 7^th March in the afternoon, ideal if you’re itching to get out into the garden this weekend.

The Rhododendron, Deciduous Azalea and Acer, however, will be available from Wednesday 11^th March but we promise they will be worth the wait!