For those potting on seedlings or plug plants.

[nickdub]

Just a quick reminder that if you are moving plants in to larger pots don't forget to warm your compost up first.

If like me you keep your compost bag outside it will be almost freezing cold, so either bring some compost inside in pots for a few days before you need it, or if you are in a hurry use warm/hot water to heat it up well BEFORE planting any of your tender seedlings in it.

Just think how you'd feel if you were taken out of a nice warm bed, and had your feet stuck in freezing cold soil.

[katyhasclogs]

Ah. That's exactly what I didn't do last week when I potted on some strawberries and a cayenne pepper...

Still, nothing's died yet, so I guess I may have got away with it?

[nickdub]

Yes - should be fine now. Obviously not fatal, but less than ideal. Its just a question of trying to keep everything going steadily. No point raising early tomato plants if they go in a sulk for a week because they don't like their conditions for example.

strawberries BTW are perfectly hardy - they are usually just brought inside to get an early crop and protect them from pests - don't forget to pop them out again when they flower, as they require pollination.

[katyhasclogs]

That's good to know about the strawberries needing pollination, thanks Nick!

Ours were an impulse buy of one of those Wilkos £1 tins of vermiculite with seeds, and they're still very tiny (1-2cm), so I'm guessing flowers are probably still a fair way off?

[nickdub]

Yes unless you get some surprising growth, I'd regard them as a project which you plan on seeing a crop from next year. You ideally want big healthy plants by the end of this season, so pot 'em on when they get bigger and feed 'em so they grow. They can should then over-winter outside just fine, and you can bring them in in roughly a year's time.