Vikerapux Garden Notes
Practical notes on growing herbs, vegetables and houseplants at home, written for beginners.
Kitchen garden
Herbs, salads and easy vegetables you can grow in a small space.
- Growing early potatoes in bags
How to chit seed potatoes, plant them in deep bags on a patio, earth them up as they grow and tell when the first crop is ready.
- Growing herbs on a sunny windowsill
Which herbs grow well indoors, how much light they need, and the watering mistakes that kill most windowsill pots.
- Growing salad leaves in containers
How to sow cut-and-come-again salad leaves in pots and troughs, pick them so they regrow, and keep a steady supply all summer.
Houseplants
Keeping indoor plants healthy through the year.
- Choosing houseplants for a shady room
Which tough houseplants cope with low light, where to put them in a dim room, and how to change your watering when light is short.
- Looking after houseplants through the winter
Why houseplants slow down in winter and how to adjust light, water, warmth and humidity so they reach spring in good health.
- Repotting a houseplant step by step
How to tell when a houseplant needs a bigger pot, how to move it without harming the roots, and how to look after it in the weeks after.
Seasonal jobs
What to do in the garden as the seasons change.
- Hardening off seedlings before planting out
How to get seedlings raised indoors used to sun, wind and cold over about two weeks, so they settle in quickly after planting out.
- Planting spring bulbs in autumn
When and how deep to plant daffodils, tulips and other spring bulbs in borders and pots, and how to stop squirrels digging them up.
- Protecting garden plants from frost
Which plants need help in a cold snap, how to cover or move them before a frost, and what to do if leaves are caught by the cold.