Welcome back to the jargon buster. In part one we decoded true leaves, pricking out, thinning, potting up and hardening off. This time we're tackling five more phrases that get thrown around as if everyone already knows what they mean.
Spoiler: they're all much simpler than they sound. Gardening, minus the gatekeeping, remember?
1. Leggy seedlings
What it means: seedlings that have grown tall, thin and floppy, usually leaning towards the window like they're trying to escape.
Legginess happens when seedlings aren't getting enough light, so they stretch upwards looking for more. The stems end up weak and can flop over. It's incredibly common, especially early in the year when days are short, so please don't feel bad if it happens to you.
How to avoid it:
- Give seedlings your brightest windowsill.
- Turn the pots a quarter turn every day so they grow straight rather than leaning one way.
- Don't sow too early. Seeds sown later in spring, when the light is stronger, often catch up with (and overtake) earlier sowings.
- Keep them somewhere cool rather than toasty once they've sprouted, as warmth plus low light makes stretching worse.
Already leggy? When you pot them up, plant them a little deeper so more of the stem is supported. Tomatoes are particularly good at this, as they grow new roots along any buried stem.
2. Pinching out
What it means: nipping off the growing tip of a plant (or an unwanted shoot) with your finger and thumb.
It sounds brutal, but it's one of the best things you can do for many plants. When you remove the very top of a stem, the plant responds by sending out side shoots lower down. One tall, gangly stem becomes a bushy, fuller plant.
Where you'll see it:
- Herbs like basil: pinch off the top pair of leaves just above a leaf joint. You get a bushier plant, and the bit you pinched off goes straight into your dinner.
- Many flowers: pinching out young plants gives you more stems and more flowers.
- Tall (cordon) tomatoes: here, "pinching out" usually means removing the side shoots that sprout between the main stem and a leaf, so the plant puts its energy into fruit. Bushy and trailing tomato varieties generally don't need this, so check the guide for the variety you're growing.
3. Bolting
What it means: a plant suddenly shooting up a flower stalk and running to seed before you're ready.
Some plants, like lettuce, coriander, spinach and rocket, are grown for their leaves. When they bolt, they stop putting energy into leaves and start making flowers and seeds instead, and the leaves often turn bitter or tough.
What triggers it: stress, usually from heat, drying out, or changes in day length. Basically, the plant decides it's time to make the next generation while it still can.
How to avoid it:
- Water regularly, especially in warm, dry spells. Pots dry out faster than the ground.
- Give leafy crops a bit of shade on the hottest days.
- Pick little and often, which keeps plants producing leaves.
Already bolted? It's not a disaster. Many herb and veg flowers are loved by bees and other pollinators, and some (like coriander) go on to give you seeds you can use in the kitchen.
4. Top dressing
What it means: adding a layer of something to the surface of the compost, rather than mixing it in.
That "something" can be plant food, fresh compost, grit, gravel or cork granules, depending on what you're trying to do. Top dressings can feed the plant, keep the surface tidy, help hold in moisture, or stop the top of the compost staying wet.
You might already be doing it: several of our Grow Box kits ask you to sprinkle the feed onto the top of the compost rather than mixing it in, and that's top dressing. Each time you water, the goodness gradually soaks down to the roots.
For indoor herbs: a thin layer of cork granules on top of the compost helps keep the surface drier, which discourages mould and fungus gnats (those tiny black flies that hover around houseplants).
5. Lasagne planting
What it means: planting several layers of spring bulbs in one pot, stacked at different depths, like the layers in a lasagne.
Different bulbs flower at different times and like to be planted at different depths. Stack them up and one pot gives you a rolling display of flowers, with each layer popping up in turn, for weeks rather than days. No pasta involved, sadly.
How to do it:
- Choose a deep pot with drainage holes and put a layer of gritty compost in the bottom.
- Plant the biggest, latest-flowering bulbs (often tulips) as the bottom layer, and cover them with compost.
- Add a middle layer of mid-sized bulbs, such as daffodils, and cover again.
- Finish with a top layer of small early bulbs, such as crocus or chionodoxa, then top up with compost.
- Water, then leave the pot somewhere outside for winter. The shoots from the lower layers will happily find their way round the bulbs above them.
Lasagne pots are an autumn job, so now's the time. Our Bloom Boom blended bulb kits are made for exactly this, with the layers already chosen for you.
Got a term that's baffling you?
Email us at laura@andeye.com and it might end up in part three. And if you missed it, part one is here.
Every one of our Grow Box kits comes with a plain-English grow guide, so you can skip the jargon and get growing. And because Laura Florals is a social enterprise, every kit funds living wage jobs and horticultural training right here in Ayrshire.
Have a grow,
Laura x
