Category Archives: Gardening

How to Take Monstera Cuttings

This post will tell you exactly how to take Monstera cuttings. We’ll share the easiest and quickest method of propagating your Monstera Delicisoa plant. By taking cuttings and rooting them in water you’ll

Personally I find that rooting your monstera cuttings in water has the added benefit that you get a nice elegant looking cutting in a vase while you wait for it to root. In addition you’ll be able to see exactly how the root growth is going at any given point.

In terms of timing I like to take them in Spring when increasing light levels will help the new cutting soak up energy from the sun to put down to it’s new roots. That said Monstera are robust plants and I’ve had success in taking cuttings throughout the year. If doing this in the depths of Winter be sure you have a nice light place to put the cuttings.

All you need is a sharp knife and a tall (ish) vase or jar. The vase will need to be tall to support the long stem that Monstera’s typically have.

How to Take Monstera Cuttings

The fat that Monstera’s are vine like plants means there are usually plenty of good points from which you can take a cutting.

First of all you need to locate a node. This is usually just below where a leaf meets the stem. Where the plant grows out a new leaf there will be a small node just below. Often the plant will have a small nub or the start of an ariel root. This is where the roots will come from so cut just below this node.

Once you have taken the cutting simply place it in a large jar/vase of water. Ideally use rain water. If you’re using tap water leave it to settle for 24 hours before using to allow any chlorine to burn off.

Place the cutting somewhere with lots of indirect light. I tend to use a North Easterly facing window that gets some early morning sun and lots of indirect light throughout the rest of the day.

After a week or two you will likely see a small root appearing out of the nub. Here is a photo of one of my cuttings after ~2 weeks.

Change the water once per week (if you can remember) and keep the cutting in lots of bright indirect light.

After 4-6 weeks your Monstera cutting should have a good amount of roots on it. Now is the time to pot it on in to some soil. Below is the same cutting from above after 7 weeks (note this cutting was taken in winter – summer cuttings tend to root much quicker due to the higher light levels).

Monstera Potting Mix

I use a simple mix of regular multi-purpose compost with a few handfuls of sand and perlite. I’m not too fussy about exact measurements. The sand and perlite are there to aid drainage and aeration to the roots.

When potting the cutting up, you will need to firm down the compost around the roots to help stabilize it and keep it upright. Be firm but try to avoid damaging the roots.

As before try to keep the potted plant in lots of bright indirect light. While it adapts to having its roots in compost try not to dramatically change its environment to avoid putting the plant into shock.

And there you have it, you have created a new Monstera plant from your cutting. You can see in the above example that about a week after I potted it it began to throw out a new leaf. That’s a sure fire fine the cutting has taken well to the compost.

Now relax and enjoy your new plant!

New Raised Beds Ready for Spring

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After moving house a couple of years ago we were reluctant to build a full on vegetable garden straight away until we had lived in the place a bit and gotten used to the micro climate of the property.

We are in a hilly area (for SE England) so get lots of high winds. Also the garden slopes down to the North which isn’t the best for growing. Despite that we are in an elevated position so get reasonable amounts of direct sun. The sandy soil means we need to water a fair bit which should be a bit easier since we got the tap installed next to the beds.

Last year we had just two beds as an experiment and had great success growing all sorts of vegetables including spinach, beetroot, lettuce, leeks, potatoes and tomatoes. Once we were comfortable that the beds were in the right place int he garden we finally decided to bite the bullets and build another 3, taking the total number of beds to 5.

Unfortunately for me the layout we chose meant I had to move the two existing beds away from the hedge slightly so a busy afternoon off work was required to build the 3 new beds and get all 5 in the desired place! Here is the result:

The two beds at the back are 2m x 1m while the three at the front are roughly 2.5m x 1.25m and the gaps between the beds are roughly 0.8m. The timber is pressure treated 9″ x 2″ from a builders yard. It came in 4.8m lengths so there was a bit of cutting down to do.

Thankfully when we moved in there was a huge long neglected pile of compost at the bottom of the garden. There was more than enough to fill the beds with 15-20cm of compost. I’ve recently been binge watching Charles Dowding on youtube who if you don’t know him is a market gardener who promotes the no dig method. As a result I didn’t dig over any of the grass on which the raised beds were placed. Fingers crossed the vegetable can grow well enough in the compost i’ve laid on top and the weeds/grass below is smothered and doesn’t grow through!

Eventually we plan fence the whole area in to help protect the veg from rabbits. When we do this i can envisage laying some anti weed membrane down between the beds and sourcing some bark chippings on the paths between the beds. However that can wait for a few more weeks (at least!) as we’re planning to get a greenhouse installed just to the left of the beds now that spring is around the corner.

Early Cropping Radishes

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One of my sons absolutely loves radishes. Given that they grow so quickly is it a great crop to grow and to succession plant. It can also be used as a stop gap plant to fill in gaps between crops or as a quick harvesting succession plant.

This year I started off early, planting the radish seeds on the 22nd February. Given the early start and the fact I may well be moving my raised beds around in 2-3 weeks time (to accommodate a new greenhouse) i’ve decided to start them off inside. I sowed 3-5 seeds in small germination cells in regular multipurpose compost. Germination started after 2-3 days.

Radish Seedlings after 5 days on a window sill!

The seedings got planted out on the 9th March, just three weeks after germination in to one of the new raised beds i’ve made. To help protect them from the cold winds I covered them in some horticultural fleece, held in place by a few bricks.

Radish Seedlings Planted Under Fleece — Radish seedlings planted out 9th March under fleece

Perenial Sweat Peas

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I’m a big fan of perennial flowers in the garden as I like to divert most of my limited time to growing vegetables. Nothing says ‘English summer’ quite like a sweet pea in full bloom. Until a couple of years ago sweet peas were one of the few annual flowers I used to grow from seed each year. That all changed when I discovered this perennial variety.

These plants came form seeds that my father saved and gave to me. He in turn was given some seed form one of his best friends (acquiring successful plants in this way is so much more satisfying than going out and buying ready grown, established plants form the garden center).

I’m not 100% sure of the variety but I suspect it is Lathyrus latifolius.

Maintenance is very easy. As they grow in Spring and early Summer I simply tie them up against the pillars which they’re planted near. They grow vigorously and are fairly sturdy so it’s not a fiddly job.

As with most flowers once they start to flower, dead heading will help to encourage more blooms. They provide a constant stream of deep pink flowers right into autumn.

At the end of the summer the plants will dry out and die back. Before cutting them back I take the opportunity to save some seeds and pass on to friends and family.

The only downside to these perennial sweet peas is that they do not have much scent compared to some of the annual varieties I’ve previously grown. Apart from that these should be a must in any English garden.

Spring has sprung

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I love this time of year in the garden…

..such a feeling of anticipation and promise in the air!

Speeding Up Leaf Mold

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Speeding up leaf mold production means you can use your mold sooner. In this article we will share a simple tip to help speed up the process.

Leaf mold differs from compost in that it provides very little actual nutritional value to the soil. So why bother with it at all? Well it’s main benefit is that it is great at improving the structure of your soil. This helps the soil retain water (and other nutrients) and provide a good environment for beneficial life such as worms, bacteria and other organisms. If you have heavy clay soil it also helps lighten the loam allowing more oxygen to get to the roots.

Unlike compost, which can be a fickle process to get right, making leaf mold is pretty simple. Simply sweep up your leaves and dump them in a pile in a shady corner of the garden and let nature do it’s work. The down side with this method is that it can take a while (up to 2-3 years) for a pile to break down fully.

A simple way to speed up the process dramatically is to reduce the size of the leaves you add to the pile. A garden shredder is a good tool for this, even if somewhat time consuming.

My technique to speed up my leaf mold is to use a lawn mower. I simply sweep the leaves into a long line and pass over them with a lawn mower. The mower will pick the leaves up and chope them up as it goes. The end product is a leaf pile that is already partially broken down.

Using this technique I find that the leaf mold is perfectly useable by the following summer. I use the resulting leaf mold in two ways. Firstly as a mulch in summer to retain moisture. Secondly as a general soil improver which i add to the vegetable beds over winter.

Improving Vegetable Bed Soil

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The soil in our vegetable beds has been consistently poor over the last couple of years. Always very crumbly it seems very loose and doesn’t hold the moisture (and as a result nutrients) very well at all.

While the soil in the rest of the garden is generally good theses particular beds seem to be the exception. Even the odd top dressing of compost doesn’t seem to have made much difference to the structure of the soil so I thought it about time to add some manure.

The beds are slightly raised and adjacent to a wall. On the other side of the wall are several very large trees that I suspect of draining much of the moisture away.

When we moved in to the house the beds contained various grasses which, with hindsight, indicate that the area isn’t the wettest.

Repairing Dry Loose Soil

So its time to try and improve the structure of the soil and in particular improve its moisture retention. Luckily we leave near to several stables so there is no shortage of horse manure locally.

When adding manure to the garden its always best to add manure that has rotted for a few months if possible. If not it will likely burn your plants as it’ll be far too rich in nitrogen.

If like me you only have a supply of fresh manure then the best time to add it to your soil is in the Autumn. This means it has time to mature before you plant into it next spring.

To dig or not to dig?

When adding manure there is always the question of whether to dig it in or not. Personally I prefer to simply add a layer (a few inches thick) to the surface of the bed and leave it over winter. To me this has a few benefits over digging it in:

– the rain and worms will gradually draw the nutrients and bulk down into the soil over the winter, saving you the hard work.

– by sitting on top of the bed and acting as a mulch over the winter, weed growth will be kept to a minimum

– the mulching will also retain moisture in the soil over the winter period

– this no dig approach will require less work and the beds will only require a light forking over in the spring as opposed to a severe digging in now

Time to Take Basil Cuttings

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After finally discovering the secrets of growing basil last year it is long overdue i started off some more basil plants. The only way to grow basil is on mass so you don’t feel guilty cutting back a whole plant to make a nice fresh pesto. After experimenting with growing from seeds I dind by far the quickest and easiest way is to start off with a supermarket bought basil plant.

I simply take about 15-20 cuttings from the original plant as soon as i get it home and pop them into small glasses of water. They’re left on a bright windowsill that doesn’t get too much direct sun. After 2-3 days this is what you get….

It always amazes me how quickly the roots grow from these basil cuttings. The above plant is only 5 days old! I’ve just potted up the cuttings into regular compost to grow on. I usually pinch out the tops after 2-3 weeks of further growth to help the plants bush out.

I’ve found the real secret to growing basil is to no let it have too much direct sunlight. In our kitchen we have a small dormer window that get plenty of light but not too much direct – only an hour or so in the morning. It seems to be the perfect place to grow basil. Hopefully it won’t be long before pesto is on the menu…

Mollusc Madness

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The wet weather we’ve been having recently has unfortunately meant that conditions have been ideal for slugs and snails to thrive. We’ve quite lucky to have quite a good population of birds that feast on these molluscs. Quite a few time recently I’ve seen a song thrush pull out snails from an ivy bush and proceed to smash their shells open before dispatching them.

If you believe the BBC then an invasion of so called Spanish super slugs is to blame, the wet weather certainly hasn’t helped. On Sunday I was pretty disappointed to see that the local molluscs had demolished our window box salads, completely.

Luckily they didn’t get inside the apple crates at our Romaine lettuces which have been loving the wet weather and are thriving. So, it’s time to get some more seed in, hopefully in time for some drier weather to arrive!

Chop the Chives

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There are not many flowers as stunning as chive flowers. As you can see below our chives have been growing really well this year and have been producing stunning flowers for about the last five weeks. As well as looking great the flowers are really edible and add a wonderful allium fragrance to a salad or on top of a pizza.

Unfortunately the photo above was taken a week or so ago and the display is now over and the plant is getting a bit ‘woody’. As a result it’s now time to take the shears to it and prune it back hard to the ground to encourage some new growth.

Actually this plant has been in the ground for 2 years now and has grown rigorously. In order to stop it taking over the herb garden and et some new younger growth i may well split it. Though I’ve not actually done so before I believe its a simple case of digging up the clump, splitting the bulbs into a couple of clumps and replanting at the same depth.