January gardening is about reaping the benefits of all your hard work.  By now you should have lifted your Shallots and Garlic as well as your first onions and these will now be hanging in the shed drying for use through the winter.  Your tomatoes will be bearing fruit and it is important to keep the water and food up.  When watering your tomatoes try to water from the base and water early morning rather than at night.  This will help prevent fungal disease as well as stopping any fruit from rotting.  You should also be pinching out any laterals that start.  By doing this you will concentrate more of the plants energy into the fruit rather than sideways growth.  If the lateral is big enough you can replant it and it will keep growing producing more fruit for you.

You should be well into eating all those salad vegetables like lettuce, spring onions, and cucumbers.

Keep mounding up your potatoes to increase your harvest.  The same can be done with your Yams.  If you have growing these in pots make sure you keep adding South-Hort Pot & Tub till the pot is full.

You can plant out your winter Cauliflowers, Cabbages, & Broccoli, but watch for white butterfly. In last month’s article there is a solution on how to help prevent white butterfly from landing on your Brassica by using rhubarb leaves.  I use frost cloth that I place over my raised beds to prevent the butterfly from landing on them this still lets in light and rain. Also plant your Leeks.  These are best bought in bunches from your local Garden Centre.  Don’t worry if you have more than you require just plant them closer together and pull out every second one when they are small for use in stir fries.

If you have grown Beetroot make sure you don’t leave it too late before digging them up.  If Beetroot is left in the ground to long it can become sour.

When sowing carrots make sure you have a free draining fine soil. This will give you nice straight carrots and prevent your carrots from becoming distorted and hard to peel.  South-Hort Vege Mix is ideal for this as is has been specially designed to be used in raised garden beds or planter boxes. It contains an Osmocote 3-4mth release fertiliser supplying all your plants nutritional requirements throughout the season.

Sow Carrots, Beetroot, lettuce, Radish.  Plant Cabbage, Broccoli & Cauliflower.   Watch for slugs and snails use snail bait to protect young plants.  Watch for mildew on your Courgette and Cucumber leaves spray if necessary. Remember good gardening starts with the soil.