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with a larger rooting area and stop them drying out in hot weather, which is better for the plants and means less watering for you. 2 - 3 tomato plants60 or 75 litre bag of multi-purpose compostKnife or scissorsHand forkTrowelJune (or May in a greenhouse

Blossom end rot is caused by calcium deficiency. Without calcium, a plant's cell walls collapse and die, resulting in the bruised appearance of the fruits. Plants take up calcium from the soil through their roots, so if it's dry, the calcium stays locked in the soil and the plant...

The common, quick-spreading fungal disease Botrytis cinerea strikes in damp, humid weather, and often enters the lettuce through a cut or tear in a leaf. Affected leaves are inedible and should be thrown away but not composted. The worst scenario is when the lettuce is attacked a...

with copper fungicide every 10 days or so. They don't provide 100 per cent protection, but an attack will be slowed down and you should get a ripe crop.potatoes, tomatoessummer, autumn, winterMore advice on growing potatoesAdvice on earthing up potatoes

the ground level.Dig a trench, 30cm wide by 20cm deep, and part fill with soil down its length to make a mound 10cm high. Take the asparagus crowns and sit them 30cm apart on top of the mound, spreading the roots on either side. Cover the crowns with 5cm

Follow Monty Don's video guide to planting courgette plants, which includes advice on planting depth and watering.summerMore on growing vegetablesMonty's video project on planting broccoliHow to plant sweetcornPlanting runner beansPlanting brassicas

Learn how to grow an early crop of beetroot in or out of the greenhouse, in this video project featuring Sarah Raven.late-FebruaryMore on growing vegetablesPlant profile of beetroot variety 'Boltardy'Growing potatoes in a binGrowing parsnips from

's blog on growing mangetout and sugar snap peasHow to plant sweetcorn How to grow tomatoes in pots and grow bagsBrowse vegetable varieties

Make Halloween extra-special by growing your own pumpkins from seed. Learn how in this archive clip from BBC Gardeners' World (please note that the seed trial Monty mentions is no longer running).springMore advice on growing vegetablesGrow potatoes

Discover the theory behind crop rotation, with Monty's back-to-basics video advice to giving optimum growing conditions for vegetable groups such as potatoes, legumes (beans, peas etc), brassicas (cabbages, cauliflowers, radishes), root vegebles