Best time to grow my own trumpet
When is the best time to plant a trumpet vine? Jill, Liverpool DAVID: Spring is the best time as it gives the plant all summer to get established. It will need a warm sunny wall that is sheltered from cold winds to survive in Britain, and it will appreciate a good mulching in the winter too.
When they were introduced in the Seventies, growbags were a revolution. They were designed to be used under glass as an alternative to planting directly into greenhouse soil.
This was largely because people who grew tomatoes were fed up with having to replace their soil every few years to avoid the build-up of root pests and disease.
Growbags were cheap, gave great crops, avoided soil-borne diseases and also provided flexibility because you could move them around and use space more effectively. It’s no wonder they became so popular.
They are still superb choices for greenhouse growing, but these days they are used just as commonly in sunny spots outdoors by gardeners up and down the country.
They are also a dream for those who don’t have much space and want to take advantage of a patio, path, or even an apartment balcony.
There are so many plants you can choose for your growbags, but they must be plants with shallow root structures.
Tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, chilli peppers, aubergines and courgettes are all very popular choices.
Salad crops such as lettuce, spinach and rocket work well too.
You can even grow shortroot crops such as radishes, baby beetroot and spring onions.
One of my favourite uses is to create an entire herb garden in one growbag and pop it right outside the kitchen door where you can reach it when cooking.
Before planting in your growbag there are a few things to do.
Loosen up the compost inside by treating it like a pillow that needs fluffing. Shake it and knead it until it feels loose and even. Next, pierce the bottom of the bag several times for drainage. The compost in grow bags is actually designed to cope well without drainage, but that is a dangerous game if you are using them outside where you can’t control