new allotment

[Dave2072]

Just signed on for my first ever allotment! Needs a lot of digging over the weeds, which is fine I can do it in areas.

Just a question - if I dig an area tomorrow do you reckon I can just go straight in and plant some seeds or even some of the squash and courgettes currently in my tiny greenhouse at home? No issue with the soil etc? I wouldnt expect there to be, just I've always had raised beds at home so this is my first time in clearing a space and doing it this way!

[Martin H]

Hi Dave, congratulations on your new plot!

Yes you can go ahead, but you will find that lots and lots of weed seeds will germinate once you clear the ground. So if you sow seeds they may get a bit lost among the weed seedlings! I would rather plant out small plants from modules so that they have a head start. Except for big seeded things like peas or beans which will fight their way through pretty easily.

Anyway, if you plant or sow in rows and keep the hoe going between the rows you should be able to keep those pesky weed seedlings under control with a minimum of hand-weeding.

Good luck!

[Jay-ell]

Transplanting growing plants will give them the heads up over the newly germinating seeds.

If you want to sow seeds you could make a small trench/large drill and line it with Multi Purpose Compost then sow into that. This should hopefully reduce the number of weed seeds germinating in the row so you can weed them out easier and then hoe all the weed seedlings between the rows.