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. I potted on my peppers and tomatoes, as they kept drying out in no time, their root systems filling the tiny pots. They're now potted into 2 litre pots and should grow nicely. I only grow a few tomato plants on the allotment, as we seem to get quite

.It seems wrong, somehow, to water pots and containers in damp, chilly weather, but they do need the occasional water when conditions are dry. I don't have any pots at the allotment — I'd never be able to keep them watered in the height of summer — but I do

as the books say it should be.So what goes wrong with the compost on the plot? The answer is simple: lack of variety.The compost I make at work has grass clippings, weeds, herbaceous stems, annual plants, the odd barrowful of spent compost from pots

to germinate. Take your guess as to what had them - rot, rodents or slugs - but I think it was probably a hungry mouse. So, this year I started them in pots in a sheltered corner at home, planting them out once they were a few inches tall. It's more work

If your shed is anything like mine, it could probably do with a jolly good clear out. My shed becomes the repository for all sorts of bits and bobs through the summer months. Netting, canes, saved seeds, old labels and pots, a half-eaten packet

a bit yellow and sickly - hopefully and quick potting on and some TLC will sort them out before planting. But mail order suppliers please note it's best to mark these parcels as plants or perishable or something - these plants arrived in a completely

.So I've relented and planted a whole load of them. I sowed two seeds to a pot and put them in the cold frame to get them going quickly, safely away from the mice!

organic matter added to them. The richness of manured soil causes the roots to fork, becoming terrifically deformed and a nightmare to prepare for the pot. But they are really good for the kids' 'make an animal from a vegetable' competitions.My root beds

to show have been the pumpkins sown in pots on the windowsill, swiftly followed by the brassicas.And even the early potatoes are showing a few leaves above the soil, which means my next job is a good session of earthing up.

.I've got a couple of gooseberry bushes that arrived in spring. Bare root and vulnerable, they were crying out to be planted straight away. I could have planted them in pots while deciding on a permanent spot for them. This would have been the sensible