Protecting Hedgehogs – The Gardeners Best Friend

Hedgehogs are timid, shy little creatures, who like nothing more than milling about in your garden and gobbling up pests! Our Gardening Angels love their little hedgehog buddies and always make sure they are given a good home and everything they need to thrive.

These unassuming nocturnal mammals can eat up to 80 slugs a night each, making them an ideal garden companion. Hedgehogs suffer from poor eyesight, and rely on their keen sense of smell when hunting out pests. Their long snout also helps them when foraging for food, allowing them to dig out a meal from beneath the soil.

When the winter draws in and nights grow longer, hedgehogs become much more prevalent and can get themselves into a spot of bother. On bonfire night, hedgehogs can crawl under bonfires for warmth, only to risk being set alight when it is lit. If you are having a bonfire, do not set it up until the day you will be burning it. If left overnight, it is more likely that a hedgehog will sneak in.

By providing a hedgehog with a safe home away from bonfires, you can rest soundly knowing you have done your bit to help a hedgehog in need!

With the Hogitat Hedgehog Retreat, you can provide a safe haven for your little gardening friends. This hedgehog home provides a warm resting place where they will be protected from predators and the risks they may encounter on bonfire night.

As hedgehogs are nocturnal creatures, you will generally only see them out at night. However, if a hedgehog is unwell, hungry or suffering from the cold, you can find them wandering around in the daytime. If you spot a hedgehog during the day, contact an animal rescue group or try to pick it up and move it to the safety of your hedgehog home. If you do find yourself handling a hedgehog, don’t forget to wear gloves!

With a warm, breathable wooden structure, the Hogilo Hedgehog Home provides an ideal home for any rescued hedgehogs. Having been featured on BBC Autumn Watch and approved by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, this deluxe hedgehog house will keep your spiky friends very happy.

During September and October, hedgehogs can give birth to litters of between 1 and 11 baby hedgehogs. These prickly pups will stay with their mothers for 4 to 7 weeks before heading out on their own. Young hedgehogs struggle to survive on their own, so ensure you have a hedgehog home set up with the right hedgehog food waiting for any visitors.

If you have any hedgehog facts or pictures of your own hedgehog friends, please feel free to get in touch on 0845 602 3774 or by email at info@greenhousesensation.co.uk. Our Gardening Angels are always happy to help!

Top Ten Handy Frost Protection Tips

Frost – it’s pretty, it’s bracing and it can wreak havoc on your prized plants. Here are some top tips from our Gardening Angels to keep frost off your plants and provide the ideal winter plant protection.

1. Use Mulch

Mulch is a composition of organic material such as straw, compost, bark chippings or decaying leaves that can be applied to the base of outdoor plants to retain soil moisture and protect roots from the cold for the ideal tree frost protection.

To avoid rodents taking up residence in mulch, wait until mid-November to apply, as decreasing temperatures will have already forced these pests into hibernation elsewhere.

2. Reduce Watering

Plants do not exert as much energy over winter and will retain water for longer. Outdoor plants will generally not need watering throughout the winter. With indoor plants, water less frequently to avoid overwatering and waterlogging soil, as this can lead to root rot.

If you are using an automatic watering system, reduce the volume and frequency of watering. Try to water plants in the morning so that they have time to absorb the water, as any excess water could freeze overnight.

3. Get Ripening

Don’t let frost ruin fruit and veg before they’ve had a chance to ripen! Pick anything that has yet to ripen, such as late-blooming chillies and tomatoes, before the frost hits and ripen it off the plant.

Enlist the help of a banana, apple or fully ripened tomato to assist with ripening. These release ethylene that speeds up the ripening process. Put these together in a bag or cardboard box (or a sock drawer for the traditionalists!) and check up on them every few days.

Alternatively, a ripening cover can also be used to cover your plants, allowing air and moisture to reach your plants whilst retaining heat that will speed up the ripening process.

4. Keep Leafy Veg Healthy

Leafy crops, such as salad leaves, chard, chicory and parsley, can last well into winter with the right frost protection. Cover plants with frost protection garden fleece or a cloche to keep it safe from cold and frosts. These can also be grown indoors, so consider moving your seedlings and plants to an electric heated propagator.

5. Use Frost Protection Fleece

When frost hits, it can freeze the water in plant cells and damage their cell walls. When the sun rises and defrosts the leaves, plant cell walls can completely rupture! By wrapping plants with a plant frost protection fleece, also known as horticultural fleece, you can protect them from the cold whilst still allowing light, water and air to reach them.

6. Protect Plant Roots from Freezing

Plants in pots are particularly vulnerable to frost damage as the Cold weather can be devastating for their roots. If roots freeze, they will be unable to take in any water, causing the plant to die. By wrapping plant pots in a Fleece Plant Jacket  you can protect roots from temperatures as low as -8°C.

Group potted plants together and wrap with bubble polythene or straw for additional plant frost protection. Cover them as a group with a Frost Protection Cover or even bury the containers themselves in the ground up to the rim to make the most of the natural soil temperature.

7. Harden Off any Veg for Winter Planting

When planting up vegetables over winter, such as leeks or brassicas that have been started off indoors with a heated propagator, ensure they are hardened off before planting. ‘Hardening off’ is the process of gradually acclimatising a plant to its growing environment to avoid it going into shock. As temperature decrease, this process must be carried out more gradually.

Find out more about hardening off with our Vitopod Heated Propagator here

8. Avoid Scorch Damage

Remember, it’s not just frost you need to look out for! Freezing winds quickly dry out plants and soil, causing scorch damage. Set up a windbreak using either mesh or gardening fleece to help keep trees and plants healthy. Don’t forget; plenty of mulch around their bases will also help retain soil moisture.

9. Don’t Feed Pests

Winter is a tough time for garden pests, but don’t let them ravage your plants in their quest for survival! Whilst snails will hibernate during the winter, slugs can still be found slithering around whenever the temperature is over 5°C. Organic slug pellets and Slug and Snail Shocka will repel slugs from plants by creating an abrasive barrier; so they will be forced to seek sustenance elsewhere!

10. Keep your Garden Debris Free

Keeping a garden tidy serves many purposes. Fallen debris, such as twigs, branches or dead leaves, can cause damp damage to underlying plants, so use ahandy leaf picker to move these to your compost heap. Should winds pick up, a tidy garden leaves fewer projectiles to be blown around, minimising the risk of damage to other plants.

If you have any tips or questions about winter frost protection, frost blankets or general garden care, feel free to call us on 0845 602 3774 or email us atinfo@greenhousesensation.co.uk. Our Gardening Angels are always happy to help and love to hear about your experience of winter growing!

Top Tips for Winter Plant Protection

With a little preparation and some frost protection essentials there’s no reason your plants can’t thrive this winter.


As shorter days & colder nights approach, take some time to prepare to protect your outdoor plants from the first frost. Try to move any smaller or potted plants to sheltered spots. A Frost Protection Jacket will also provide your plants with further protection.

Our specially designed plant frost jacket is made from extra thick material to protect against temperatures as low as -8°C, but still permeable enough by air, light and moisture to ensure healthy plant growth. The winter sun will warm the air inside the jacket, which will also retain any heat.

Protecting Larger Plants from Frost

For those of you growing fruit trees, palm trees or cordylines, Gardening Fleece, also known as a horticultural fleece, is a highly effective form of plant frost protection. Wrapping garden fleece around the crown and trunk is ideal for protecting it from the bitter winds and harsh cold whilst allowing the plant to absorb water and nutrients for healthy growth.


Without sufficient frost protection, the water inside your plants’ cells will freeze overnight, damaging the cell walls. When the sun rises in the morning, the suns warmth will quickly defrost the cells and risk rupturing the cell walls altogether. This can take its toll on your plants gradually, or the shock could rupture the cell walls instantly.

Top Frost Protection Tip!

Brick walls will help to shield your plants from the harsh winter winds and, more importantly, absorb heat during the day, releasing it overnight, providing further heating for any nearby plants; making this an ideal spot to relocate prized plants. For additional frost protection our Gardening Angels love this clever Wall mounted Greenhouse.

If possible, you should position your plants at a higher point in your garden as it will minimise damage from sinking cold air. Whilst hearty foliage will not need to be covered, should you experience any snowfall, try to keep as much snow as possible off the branches as the extra weight can cause damage over time.

Propagation During Winter

Provide seedlings with added protection from cold weather with a heated propagator, perfect for creating a frost free growing growing environment, encouraging your seedlings & young plants to flourish in a safe, temperature controlled miniature greenhouse.

If your using a Vitopod Heated Propagator, plan ahead and add add extra layers to this height adjustable propagator. Perfect for keeping mature, taller plants frost free over winter until outside temperatures begin to increase again and ideal for giving your plants extra room to grow!



If you would like to find out more about frost protection or propagation, feel free to give us a call on 0845 602 3774 or drop us an email at info@greenhousesensation.co.uk. Our Gardening Angels are always happy to help and we’d love to hear about how you get on this winter!

How to Choose a Plant Frost Protection Fleece

With winter just around the corner, it’s time to prepare for the inevitable frost. A gardening frost fleece, also known as horticultural fleece, will shelter your plants from the harsh weather, whilst still allowing air, water and light to reach the plant.

Our Gardening Angels have put together a few of their top tips to help you pick the right plant protection fleece for your trees and plants this winter.

Thickness of Fleece

Not all horticultural fleeces are created equal! Fleeces are available in various shapes and sizes, so you should always consider the thickness of your fleece.

Frost fleece thickness is measured in grams per square metre (GSM), with a higher GSM meaning a thicker fleece. The thicker the fleece, the more protection it will offer against lower temperatures. A thick frost fleece is also durable, so it will continue to be reusable for many years.

Size of Fleece

Our frost protection fleece jacket is ideal for protecting potted plants from temperatures as low as -8°C. You should first measure the size of the pot before choosing which jacket you need:

• For pots up to 40cm diameter: W70cm x H100cm frost jacket

• For pots up to 55cm diameter: W90cm x H150cm frost jacket

• For pots up to 70cm diameter: W110cm x H200cm frost jacket

A plant frost fleece blanket provides ideal protection for allotment growers, as it can be used to cover the ground and prevent frosting. Firstly, measure the space you are looking to cover. As you will just be laying the fleece down on top of the soil, it will not be taut, so always use a larger fleece than the area you are looking to cover and secure with fabric pegs.

For anyone looking to protect palms or cordylines, you will want to loosely wrap a thick frost fleece around the crown and trunk. Typically, one pack of plant frost protection fleece will provide adequate tree frost protection, however larger trees may require a second pack.


When protecting cordylines, you can also consider tying up leaves around the crown to provide further protection from the wind. The leaves will try to fan out, forcing the fleece to create a protected air pocket around the vulnerable crown.

For any other plants, such as shrubs, hanging baskets or specimen plants, use a Plant Fleece Protection Cover. These covers feature a zip down the side and drawstring opening, allowing you to quickly and easily cover groups of plants, even if they are in borders. Begin by grouping your plants together, then check which size of cover would be most beneficial for you.

• W70cm x H95cm - Medium Maxi-Fleece Protection Cover

• W120cm x H180cm - Large Maxi-Fleece Protection Cover

Remember, always use slightly larger fleeces or jackets than you require. By leaving a gap between your plants and the frost protection, you create an air pocket that provides an extra layer of insulation for your plants.

Which plants the fleece will protect

With the right frost protection for plants, you can help any plant through the winter months.

• A frost fleece blanket is perfect for any trees, soft fruit bushes, planters, vegetable patches or ground cover.

• For potted plants, a plant frost protection jacket will provide sufficient protection from frosts.

• For smaller plants in planters, such as strawberries, consider covering with a cloche and an additional layer of frost fleece to provide ever further support.

• A Plant Fleece Protection Cover is ideal for protecting any shrubs, hanging baskets, border plants or specimen plants.

You can always consider moving your wrapped plants to a greenhouse or mini greenhouse, as these work as an additional frost protector. Smaller plants and seedlings can also be moved to a heated propagator.

If you would like to find out more about what frost protection would be best for you, feel free to give us a call on 0845 602 3774 or drop us an email at info@greenhousesensation.co.uk.. Our Gardening Angels are always happy to help and we’d love to hear about how you get on this winter!

Protect your Garden from Strong Winds and Rain

When the strong winter winds and heavy rain bear down on your garden, there are a few steps that you can take protect your plants from the elements.

1. Protect your potted plants Move your potted plants to the safety of a greenhouse or, if this is not an option, move them close to walls or fences to minimise the risk of wind damage. Corners are particularly advisable as this will protect your plants from the wind on two fronts. You can further protect any potted plants with a frost protection jacket, or by moving them to a wall mounted greenhouse which will minimise the impact of the wind.

2. Put away any potential projectiles If you have any ornaments in your garden, you may want to consider putting them away to avoid the wind lifting them up and carrying them away. You may also want to consider temporarily tying down or storing away any freestanding birdhouses.

3. Protect your bedded plants The wind can dry out the ground around your bedded plants, so make sure the plants are well hydrated before the storm hits. You can also protect any bedded plants further by firmly embedding a cloche around the plants. To prevent the cloche blowing away, you will ideally want to embed them around 2 inches in the ground.

If you have any tips or questions about facing the adverse weather,feel free to call us on 0845 602 3774 or email us at info@greenhousesensation.co.uk. Our Gardening Angels are always happy to help

Hardening Off in a Propagator

Once your plants have made it through winter, the time will come when they must leave the safety of their heated propagators and moved to their final growing place .

Before moving plants out of your heated propagator, you will need to harden them off. “Hardening off” is the process of acclimatising your plants to live outside of a heated environment, encouraging them to develop stronger, waxier leaves that can cope with natural conditions outside the propagator. This must be carried out gradually to avoid your plants going into shock.

You can start hardening off your plants when night time temperatures reach 5°C; although the higher the temperature, the easier the process will be. If hardening off at 5°C, you still need to implement some additional protection such as a frost protection fleece. A frost protection gardening fleece will keep the plant safe from any sudden drops in temperature and will allow you to plant outside sooner.


The decision for when to harden off plants should be based on the time of sowing/planting rather than the development stage of your plant. Young plants are less likely to tolerate sudden changes in temperature, so these should be left a little longer. Typically, when your plant has developed its true leaves it will be ready for hardening off.

Plants grown in warmer environments, such as an Electric Heated Propagator, will need to be hardened off more gradually, as these are used to higher temperatures.

The duration of the hardening off process can vary depending on what you are growing. However this is the typical process for hardening off in an electric heated propagator:

Stage 1: Leave the lid off your propagator during the day

Recommended Duration: 7 days

Stage 2: Leave the lid off your propagator all the time

Recommended Duration: 7 days

Stage 3: Remove plants from the propagator (ideally move to greenhouse or mini greenhouse, or outside with plant frost protection)

Recommended Duration: 7 days

Stage 4: Transplant your plants in their final planter


In addition to these steps, it is important to consider the other changes that your plant will have to adapt to and how you can prepare them for this.

- Your plants will be experiencing greater levels of direct sunlight, so try to move your plant to a sunnier spot gradually throughout this process to lessen the shock.

- Aim to plant out on an overcast day as this will minimise the risk of your plants wilting.

- If planting outdoors, protect young plants from slugs with some organic slug pellets and keep hungry pests away.

Now your plants will be ready to grow and your Vitopod Propagator will be free for sowing your springtime seedlings!

If you have any questions about hardening off, or if you’d like to share any advice from your previous experience, feel free to call us on 0845 602 3774 or email us at info@greenhousesensation.co.uk. Our Gardening Angels are always happy to help!

How to get the Best from an Electric Propagator

An electric heated propagator provides the ideal growing environment to give your seeds and cuttings the best possible head start.

If you’re using a height adjustable propagator such as our Award Winning Vitopod Propagator, you can add extra layers to create your own mini greenhouse. Perfect for keeping taller plants frost free over winter and giving seeds and cuttings extra time and space to grow.

Read our Gardening Angels top tips on how to get the best out of your heated propagator.

Optimum Temperature Settings

Ensure the best possible growth by setting your heated propagator to the right temperature for what you are growing. The temperatures required for each plant can vary depending on what seeds you are propagating, so always check the seed packets for any suggested growing temperatures.

We would recommend setting the Vitopod’s thermostatic control for 20˚C, as this will generally provide the ideal temperature for the majority of propagated plants. This way, you can, for example, grow chillies and tomatoes at the same time, without the risk of either seed being cooked.


When growing your own chilies, your seeds will benefit from temperatures between 25-30˚C for germination. Once germinated, set the temperature around 18-24˚C in the daytime and lower to 15-18˚C at night to ensure consistent growth.

Tomato growers will want to set their propagator for 22-30˚C when germinating, then adjust to 16-22˚C during the day and 14-16˚C overnight for optimum growth. Generally, most other vegetables will require temperatures around 15-20˚C.

Controlling Humidity in Your Propagator

Humidity can be a real problem in a heated propagator so watch out for a build-up of condensation which can cause young plants to rot and die off. If you see condensation running down the sides of your propagator, open the vents or remove the lid to allow excess heat to escape. If you do remove the lid, remember to replace it overnight!

Do I Need to Use Gravel or Sand?

If you’re using a Vitopod Heated Propagator to propagate your seeds and cuttings, heat is distributed evenly throughout the base of your propagator so there is no need to use sand or gravel.

Some propagators do not provide even heat across their base. This is essential when ensuring even growth in your propagator, so if you do not have a Vitopod, you may want to consider lining the base of your propagator with either gravel or sand. This will allow the heat to be spread evenly through your propagators base. If you don’t even out the heat you may find some of your seeds may germinate faster than others and your seed trays may dry out faster.

Do I Need to Use Capillary Matting?

Rather than watering from above, some gardeners prefer to place a wet capillary mat below their plants, allowing them to absorb the water from below. This can be done with the Vitopod propagator, however keep an eye out for any humidity issues and be careful not to over-water your plants.

Watering Seedlings

Young seedlings will not require a great deal of water, but you still don’t want them to dry out. Monitor moisture levels using a moisture meter and ensure your seedlings receive the right level of watering. Ideally, you should aim to keep the soil moist but should not see any surface water.

Providing Light for Your Seedlings

If seedlings don’t get the light they need, they develop long and skinny stems that are unable to support the plant’s growth. This will lead to your plants being increasingly susceptible to disease and pests whilst failing to provide a great harvest. To increase your plant’s exposure to light, move your propagator to a sunny windowsill or greenhouse.

Keeping Your Propagator Clean

At the start and end of the sowing season ensure you have cleaned your Vitopod Electric Propagator, seed trays and pots before adding any new plants. By using a biodegradable soap, you can keep everything neat and tidy whilst helping to prevent the spread of any plant diseases.



There are many different ways you can utilise the Vitopod Electric Propagator, so if you have any questions about setting up the propagator or any tips from your experience, feel free to call us on 0845 602 3774 or email us at info@greenhousesensation.co.uk. Our Gardening Angels are always happy to help and love hearing your propagation success stories!

Overwintering in a Heated Propagator

Protect your favourite plants from frosts this winter and overwinter healthy plants and cuttings in a heated propagator.

What is Overwintering?

Overwintering is the process of providing a safe environment for your plants, ensuring they survive over winter. A heated propagator, such as the Vitopod Heated Propagator, provides the heat and protection your plant needs to survive.

With large vents for humidity control, you can place the Vitopod Propagator inside your greenhouse, its clear sides and lid allowing your plants to take full benefit from the available light. By adding extra layers to the Vitopod, you can accommodate for taller plants.

Why Overwinter my Plants

Overwintering gives plants will get a head start when the daylight increases in February and start growing your favourite fruit and vegetables earlier.

You can expect an earlier harvest of bumper crops from any overwintered plants as the start leads to an extended growing season. Plus, by protecting your fragile plants from the elements, overwintering could be considered as additional plant frost protection.

What to Overwinter

Overwintering is perfect for tomato and chilli growers, so prepare your plants for the move to a heated propagator. For more information on overwintering chillies, read our guide by clicking here.

Ornamental plants, such as fuchsias or geraniums, can also be overwintered. This is a great cost-cutting measure as you can keep your beautiful flowers going for replanting in the spring. This is an ideal way to protect your ornamental plants from frosts, ready for taking cuttings for the next season.

Our Gardening Angels like to use a Hydropod cuttings propagator for increased cuttings success rates. The Hydropod reduces the risk of damping-off, drying-out and fungal infections and helps to speed up growth.

When to Start Overwintering

You can typically start overwintering when night time temperatures drop significantly, which is normally around the end of October.

Prepare your Plants for Overwintering

If you are an allotment grower, you will notice the ground is starting to frost over. By using a frost protection fleece to cover any rooted plants, you can keep them protected until they move to the propagator.

Before moving your plants to the propagator, trim back branches to around 10cm and harvest as much as you can. Chillies and tomatoes can be ripened off plant if necessary. By removing branches, foliage and fruit, your plant will require less energy to keep going and will be more likely to survive the winter.

If you are overwintering any plants grown in planters, carefully dig them out and repot them. Try to remove any loose compost and repot with fresh compost. You could also consider trimming back the roots on your plants and moving to smaller pots as this allows the plant to reserve and focus its energy.

Caring for Overwintered Plants

Once your plants have been moved to the electric propagator, you can begin supporting them over winter. A good source of light is essential for a plant’s survival, so ensure your propagator is positioned appropriately; consider placing the propagator within your greenhouse.

As temperatures decrease, plants retain water for longer. Over watering will encourage damp and mould to develop around the plant. Check the plant every few days and only water if the surrounding compost is dry.

Maintain a constant temperature between 5°C and 12°C to keep plants alive and frost free. If the temperature surpasses 12°C, plants start to grow, which you won’t want to happen until spring. With the Vitopod Propagator, we recommend opening the vents fully over winter to allow airflow around your plants, helping to prevent bacterial and viral disease build up.

When to Replant your Plants

When the temperature begins to surpass 12°C consistently, typically around March or April, turn up the temperature in your Vitopod to encourage growth. When outdoor temperatures rise, your plants will be ready to move from the safety of your heated propagator and into their new planters. When you do move to new planters, it is very important your plants are not hit by the frost, so consider using some Frost Fleece to protect your plant in the early stages.

Who to Talk to About Winter Propagation

If you would like to know more about propagating over the winter months or what you can grow with your propagator, feel free to call us on 0845 602 3774 or email us at info@greenhousesensation.co.uk. Our Gardening Angels are always happy to help and love hearing your propagation success stories!

If you want to learn more about ripening tomatoes off plant, click here for our handy guide!

Make Your Own Leafmould Compost

Making Leafmould Compost

Autumn is the perfect time to make leafmould compost from the leaves that find their way onto our lawns and paths!

Leafmould is perfect for seed and potting mix, and can be used all over the garden. It can be made out of any deciduous leaf but evergreen leaves break down more slowly, so add these to your main compost heap.

 Leafmould can be made in three easy steps:

Collection

Collect the leaves with a rake, lawn mower or garden hoover. Lawn mowers are great for collecting leaves as they shred them at the same time – which saves you a job later. Our Gardening Angles use Handy Leaf Pickers to gather leaves quickly. Most types of leaves can be kept together (pine needles should be kept separate to make ericaceous leafmould).

Watering

If your leaves are dry, water the heap to get the decomposition process started. Pop the leaves in a bin bag and puncture the bag with a fork to allow air to circulate. We wouldn’t recommend using hessian sacks for leafmould compost as they will degrade over time.

Storage
Keep the bags of leafmould stored for up to 2 years to make high quality compost. 1 year old leafmould can be used in the garden although it will only be suitable to use as mulch.

Love Green Tomatoes - Home Made Chutney

Love your green tomatoes and make fab chutney! Shorter days and colder nights mean that you might be left with unripe tomatoes – but don’t let them go to waste, have a go at this delicious chutney recipe.

Check out our tomato growing essentials for more inspiration.
http://www.greenhousesensation.co.uk/tomato-and-chilli-growing-essentials/tomato-growing-essentials/

Ingredients 

• 1kg green tomatoes chopped
• 450g onions finely chopped
• 450g apples or pears peeled, cored and chopped
• ½ tsp salt
• 450g white sugar
• 450g sultanas
• ¼ tsp fresh ground pepper
• 2 rounded tsp mustard seed
• ½ tsp ground ginger               
• 550ml white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

Method

1. Soften the onions in a pan with enough vinegar to cover them. You may need to top up the vinegar to prevent the onions from burning.
2. Once the onions are soft add the rest of the ingredients, stir in the sugar and bring to the boil.
3. Steadily boil the mixture until the chutney thickens and pour into jars ready to seal and store.

Controlling Aphids - Natural Pest Control

Lacewing & Lady Bird Log £24.99: Attract Lacewings to your garden or allotment and they will repay you with munching on troublesome aphids!

Spotting Aphids In Your Garden

Aphids are most active from spring to late summer on your outdoor plants and can be found indoors all year round. You can normally find Aphids colonising shoot tips, flower buds and the underside of younger leaves.

Signs of aphid problems include a sticky residue on foliage, stems and fruits. This is created when Aphids suck out the sap from your leaves and leave behind a residue which eventually results in the growth of black mould.

Aphids can also stunt the growth of your plants with curled or distorted leaves which can weaken your plants.

Benefits of Lacewings

Appropriately nicknamed “Aphid Lion”, Lacewings are a great natural predator of Aphids and the perfect way to protect your prized veggies from troublesome aphids.

Adult Lacewings also love feasting on aphids but also have a taste for pollen, nectar and aphids honeydew. As an adult lacewings lay their eggs in the spring producing around 20 eggs per day. The eggs are laid on the underside of the leaves; these then develop into the various larval stages of the lacewing before turning into adults.

During the larval stage, Lacewings can eat up to 50 Aphids each day. These Lacewing larvae also enjoy feasting on caterpillars, mites and other soft bodied insects.

Lacewing Habitats

Lacewing & Ladybird Log

You can provide a shelter for Lacewings with our Lacewing & Ladybird Log and they will repay you with preying on troublesome aphids, keeping your ornamentals, vegetables, fruit, greenhouse plants and house plants looking beautiful and healthy.

During the winter & early spring the hollow central chamber of our Lacewing habitat is filled with natural material to provide insulation keeping them free & safe from predators while they hibernate. When spring comes your Lacewings will be rejuvenated and ready to protect your plants from aphids.

Interesting Lacewing Facts

• There are 14 kinds of green lacewings in Britain.
• Male & Female Lacewings make courtship “songs’ by vibrating their abdomens which is unique to each species.
• A Lacewing can eat up to 10,000 aphids in its lifetime.
• In autumn, adult lacewings lose their green colour and develop a brown straw shade to blend in with autumn colour.

Learn more about our natural pest control and our wildlife habitats & feeders.

Growing in Water - Hydroponics Uses & Origins

Competitive & adventurous gardeners love growing in water with our Vivigrow and Rain & Drain Planters which use the hydroponic technique where plants are grown in water. There are some fascinating origins and uses behind the technique of growing in water so we thought we’d share a few with you...

Floating gardens of the ancient Aztecs

The Aztecs were a nomadic tribe who were driven onto the marshy shore of Lake Tenochtitlan, located in what is now Mexico. They had no land on which to grow crops, so they learned how to build rafts of rushes and reeds and grow vegetables, flowers, and even trees on these rafts which they called Chinampas.

They dredged up soil from the bottom of the lake and piled it on the rafts. The soil was rich of organic debris that released large amounts of nutrients which fed the abundant crops of vegetables, flowers, and even trees planted on them. The roots of these plants grew though the floor of the raft and down into the water. This is much like the root growth you will see in our Vivigrow Planter. Watch our short video showing early root growth of our tomatoes growing in our Vivigrow.

Sometimes the rafts were joined together to form floating islands as long as two hundred feet long. Some Chinampas even had a hut for a resident gardener.

The Aztecs eventually developed a large and powerful empire but they continued to maintain the rafts. In the 16th Century when the Spanish arrived in the New World in search of gold, they were fascinated by these islands of trees seemingly suspended on the water. Chinampas continued to be used in the area into the nineteenth century.

Hanging gardens of Babylon

Many garden writers believe that the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, were grown using a sophisticated hydroponic system into which oxygen and nutrient rich fresh water was regularly pumped.

Egypt & Antartica

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic records dating back to several hundred years B.C. describe the growing of plants in water along the Nile without soil. The extreme environmental conditions found in the Arctic make the process of growing food a formidable challenge. Four months of solid daylight, four months of total darkness, and unpredictable winds and temperature changes make growing extremely difficult. However, in Antarctica, successful harvests are achieved on a daily basis.

Astrastronauts & Military

NASA have been trialing systems growing in water and now astronauts are likely to be fed on long flights using food originating from crops grown in water. In World War 2 the shipping of fresh vegetables to overseas outposts was not practical so both the American Army and the Royal Air Force opened hydroponic units at military bases. Many millions of tons of vegetables grown without soil were eaten by Allied Soldiers and Airmen during the war years. After World War II the military command continued to use hydroponic growing methods. The United States Army had a special hydroponics branch and in 1952 it grew over 8,000,000 lbs. of fresh produce in water.

Our Vivigrow & Rain & Drain Planters

The Vivigrow is a ‘hydroponic’ growing technique and our very own founder of Greenhouse Sensation was one of the pioneers of hydroponics. He developed the Vivigrow so that this technique of growing in water in a soil-less planter could be adapted for home/greenhouse use on a smaller scale. The beauty of the Vivigrow planter is that the planter pumps a constant stream of water & nutrients over your plants’ roots, which encourages your plants to take up more water, nutrients and oxygen compared to if you were growing in soil. Watch our founder harvesting a mass of chillies grown in our 3 Plant Vivigrow Planter at the end of the growing season.

Our Rain & Drain Tropical Planter has been designed by our horticulturists to replicate the watering & feeding conditions needed by tropical plants. The Rain & Drain Planters inclusive water timer ensures your tropical and exotic plants such as bananas, ginger and papaya are fed & watered several times a day without ever over-watering. Pebbles are used in the planter instead of soil and a small pump waters the plants several times per day ensuring the plants have access to everything they need for stronger healthier plants and bumper harvests. Watch our founder breaking ginger harvest record.

How Our Vivigrow Planter Works

Grow in water with our Vivigrow Hydroponic planter and acheive 3-4x bigger harvests of your favourite tomato, chilli and other vegetables compared to soil grown plants. We like to raise you plants in rockwool cubes from seed or cutting before transplanting in to our Vivigrow, but if you prefer to buy plants, you can dust the compost off and pop them into the Vivigrow. Before transplanting, make sure your plants have abundant white roots on the outside of your soil or rockwool cube.

Watch our video below to learn how the Vivigrow Planter works

Vivigrow Planter FAQ

Q. Can I grow plants from seed in the ViviGrow? 

A. It is not recommended to do this. The Vivigrow is designed for growing plants from planting out stage to maturity.

Q. What plants can I grow in my ViviGrow?
A. Any plant. Although best results are achieved with fast growing crop plants, such as tomatoes, chillies and cucumbers.

Q. Where can I use ViviGrow?
A. A greenhouse, polytunnel or conservatory is ideal but anywhere with plenty of light, air and heat (but not too hot) is fine.

Q. Can I mix plant species in my ViviGrow?
A. Yes. More vigorous plants should be placed higher in the planter, for example tomatoes should be nearer the delivery tube and peppers nearer the water outlet of the growing tray.

Q. What should I do with water and nutrients emptied from the reservoir?
A. Use it on pot plants, borders, hanging baskets or the vegetable patch.

Q. How can I tell if my water supply is ‘hard’?
A. You don’t get much lather with hardwater and it furs up the kettle. If you are in any doubt use ‘universal’ greenhouse sensation™ nutrients.

Q. My water supply is really hard. Is it ok for the ViviGrow?
A. Yes it’s fine but we would recommend using hardwater nutrients.

Q. How much topping-up is normal?
A. It depends on how well your plants are growing. The more topping-up they need the better the growth. Our record is approx 12 litres per day for two ‘Hero’ chilli plants in a 3-plant ViviGrow.

Q. My plants have water droplets on the leaf each morning. Is it ok?
A. Yes it is sign of good health.

Q. How long can I expect the nutrient pack to last?
A. The more nutrient solution the plant uses the healthier it is. You can expect nutrient packs for the ViviGrow to last a season.

Read our fun guide on some extra facts on the origins of growing in water and take a look at our other grow in water planters below:

Growing in Water - Hydroponics Uses & Origins
Growing in Water - Hydroponic Planters
Videos & Posts on Growing in Vegetables in Water
Vivigrow Planter Instructions

Fruit infused water - add some flavour to your water!

Fruit infused water - add some flavour to your water! 

Give your water a blast of flavour with a Tea and Water Infuser! Plain water can be dull and the sugar content of dilute squash is sky high - so add fresh fruit to your water to give it some flavour. This will not only keep you hydrated, but the natural fruit will help with detoxification and boost your energy levels ready for the summer!

Stay hydrated
Water makes up 45% - 75% percent of your body weight, and the average person needs around 1.5L - 2L of water each day to function effectively. On busy, warm days it can be easy to skip a drink or two, but staying hydrated will help to keep fatigue, headaches and dry skin at bay.

Symptoms of dehydration:
- Headaches
- Fatigue or feeling weak
- Dry lips and a dry mouth
- Muscle cramps

Keep an eye out for these symptoms and get topped up with fluids if you feel light-headed or start to notice your lips drying out. If you are planning a picnic in the park or a day on the beach, you can use the Water Infuser to make your own fruity refreshment, and the metal flask will keep everything cool until you’re ready to enjoy your drink.

Fruit and water - a match made in heaven!
Fruit provides essential vitamins and minerals required to keep up with our busy and hectic lifestyles. Rich in antioxidants, eating your ‘5-a-day’ will help to keep you healthy and energised, and as fruit is high in vitamin C, it also helps to keep illness at bay.

A few recipes:
Here are a couple of recipes that combine our Gardening Angel’s favourite fruits with water to make sure we keep hydrated during the hot (fingers crossed) summer!

Super Sharp: lemon, orange and grapefruit
These fruits are extra high in vitamin C, which helps to build up your immune system and reduce heartburn! We add a big chunk of each fruit (de-piped) to the Water Infuser, along with some water and enjoy this citrusy, tangy treat at room temperature.

Berry Blast: strawberry, raspberry and blueberry
Add a couple of chopped strawberries, raspberries and blueberries to the chamber of the Water Infuser, giving them a twist and crush releases the flavour. We add cold water to the flask section and let the flavours infuse. These berries are especially good for cardio vascular health, digestion and maintaining a healthy blood sugar level.

Beneficial Insects and Predators in your garden

Hedgehogs, bees, butterflies and ladybirds help gardeners by not only pollinating flowers, but also keeping unwanted pests under control, so that they don’t ravage the fruits of your labour! A wildlife-rich garden is a real joy, and once you attract these beneficial insects and predators to your garden, they will repay you by keeping pests under control.

Many of our most loved species of ladybird, bee and particularly butterfly are under threat! Whether you have a balcony, garden or orchard you can do your bit to help increase their numbers, by giving them a safe haven and habitat.

Ladybirds
The ladybird population is in decline in the UK. Both ladybird adults and their Ladybird larvae are voracious eaters and can make a real difference to greenfly infestations both under glass and outside.

Adult ladybirds can eat over 4,000 aphids and lay 1,500 eggs in a lifetime, which helps the cycle of natural pest control. It's easy to see how attracting ladybird to your garden can help control pests! If you have ladybird in your garden there’s no need to keep buying expensive sprays, traps and other pest control products and no more creeping round the garden after dark on a slug hunt, as your pest-guzzling friends, grateful for their des-res, will do the dirty work for you.

Lacewing Attracting
Lacewing to your garden or veg plot is a highly effective means of protecting against greenfly, aphids, red spider mite and mealy bugs.

Lacewing are very effective predators of aphid, greenfly, thrips, red spider mite and moth eggs. They fully deserve the nickname "aphid lion" as a single insect can consume 100-600 aphids in a lifetime. It is in the larval stage that lacewing feed on aphids, and as adults they feed on nectar, pollen and honeydew. During the larval stage they can eat up to 50 greenfly or aphids each day! Adult lacewings lay their eggs in the spring and produce about 20 eggs per day.

Our habitats such as the Ladybird and Lacewing Log and Bee and Bug House are designed to make your garden or veg plot attractive to these beneficial insects.

BeesThere are two types of bee - solitary and pollinating. Honey bees and bumble bees are pollinating species, while the large family of solitary bees include leafcutter, orchard bees and mining bees. The best way to attract bees to your garden is with a lovely display of different varieties and colours of flowers. We use a wildflower seed pack to produce a wonderful mix of flowers, which fill your garden with colour, as well as attracting bees for pollination!

Bees are a super-star pollinator for plants, and are responsible for pollinating one-sixth of the world's flowering plant species! Bumble bees are hardworking and will keep your plants pollinated by working through strong winds, rain, low-light and are able to carry heavy loads. Having bees in the garden or on the allotment will help to pollenate your tomatoes and other flowers!

Bees are valuable to gardeners and increasing their numbers will boost pollination of crops, fruit and vegetables. Most species of bee are non-aggressive and their presence in gardens and veg plots is essential for the pollination of all plants - in fact, without pollinators, the whole food chain will break down. So encouraging these insects with these flowers is a great way of helping bees and us!

Butterflies
Butterflies look gorgeous when fluttering around your garden, but these are valuable pollinators! They help to put 10% of our food on the table, but the Butterfly Conservation have shown that three-quarters of British butterflies are in decline due to habitat destruction and changing weather patterns. Providing food for butterflies helps to improve their survival rates, so why not do your bit with a butterfly feeder?

Like bees, butterflies are attracted by a vast array of different varieties and colours of flowers.

Hedgehogs
Give hedgehogs a safe place to shelter and they will eat the slugs in your garden - they can eat 80 slugs in one night and are also partial to snails, beetles and earthworms! Sadly hedgehog numbers are in decline because of loss of habitat, early frosts and modern garden design including garden ponds and swimming pools.

Hedgehogs in the UK hibernate throughout winter. They feed as much as possible during the autumn and in around October, so it’s important to make sure they have plenty of food before and after hibernation. During hibernation a hedgehog's body temperature and heart beat fall dramatically, from 190 to about 20 beats per minute.

Hedgehogs have very poor sight, so when hunting they rely mostly on hearing and smell. Their long snout helps them forage for food. A hedgehog house can provide a safe retreat. Our hedgehog habitats and hedgehog feeding stations help to attract hedgehogs to your garden.

For further information about attracting beneficial insects and predators to your garden, give us a call 0845 602 3774 or pop over an email info@greenhousesensation.co.uk 

Everything you need to know about growing tomatoes

Nothing beats the smell and flavour of a home-grown tomato and this guide will provide everything you need to grow a great crop whether you have a small space on a patio, a hanging basket or a huge greenhouse.

First, select the right variety for your space. Tomatoes are divided into Vine (also known as indeterminate) and Bush.

Vine types are best suited to greenhouses and polytunnels due to their large size and their care requirements. These tomato plants are grown with a single main stem and the side shoots need to be removed regularly. They can grow to be several meters long and therefore they need to be supported with canes or support frames.

Bush tomato varieties are more compact, tending to stay bushy and quite short, so they are ideal for growing outside as they are very easy to support with a bamboo cane. Popular varieties including Tumbling Tom, Red Alert and Garden Pearl. It is not necessary to remove the side shoots with these varieties.

When to sow tomato seeds

Sowing tomato seeds is best done in a heated propagator or heated greenhouse - sow January to early February. In an unheated propagator or unheated greenhouse - sow late February to early March. Outdoors - sow late March to early April.

1: How to sow tomato seeds
- Fill 8cm pots with compost (any multi-purpose compost) and flatten the compost down lightly.
- Place 3 seeds on the surface of the compost in each pot, space the seeds evenly and sow a few more than you need. Cover the seeds with approx. 0.5 to 1cm of compost.
- Water the compost so that it is damp but not saturated.
- If you have a propagator put the pots in the propagator and put the lid on.
- Put the pots or propagator in a warm place away from direct sunlight. The room needs to be a minimum of 18°C.

2: Care for the seedlings

Day 17 -28: Seedlings should appear but some varieties can take up to 28 days to germinate – see your seed packet for details. Once the seedlings have appeared move the pots/propagator to a bright, warm part of the house, a windowsill is ideal. Keep the compost moist, but not wet. If you are using a propagator lid remove the lid when all seedlings have appeared.

3: Remove the weak seedlings

Day 50 -60: It will be clear which seedlings are strongest and you can pull out the weakest ones, either putting them into other pots, or rejecting them.

4: Transfer to the final pot

- Once the tomato plants are 6 to 8 inches tall plant them into your chosen pot between 6 and 12 inches in diameter (see seed instructions for ideal pot size).

- Fill your pots with multi-purpose compost.

- Make a hole in the compost large enough for your tomato plant.

- Lever the young plant out of the 3inch pot with a pencil or dibber and carefully lower into the new pot.

Surround the plant with compost, firming compost around the plant and add more compost to fill the pot. Water so that the compost is damp but not saturated.

Hardening off and night protection

Young tomato plants need to be gradually weaned off the heat of a propagator, greenhouse or polytunnel. The timing of this stage depends on the temperature conditions and whether you have a heater in your greenhouse or polytunnel.

The weaning off period required depends on the time of sowing rather than the development stage of the plant. This is because the key is not to subject your young plants to night temperatures below 4°C without protection.

Once your plants have developed their true leaves (the leaves that are typical of the mature plant, not the two leaves that first appear) they will usually be ready to be weaned off the heat for a few days. Open the vents, remove the lid and over a few days reduce the temperature until it's off completely. Once the plants have been in the propagator without a lid and no heat for a couple of days you can remove your plants, just keep an eye on the night temperatures.

You will need to provide protection at night until the night-time temperature outside/in your greenhouse/polytunnel is no cooler than about 10°C. A mini greenhouse, cloche, coldframe or tall propagator such as the Vitopod are ideal.

Caring for your tomato plant

When the risk of frost has passed tomato plants can be placed outside, but they will do better if kept in a greenhouse or indoors overnight until daytime temperatures are no lower than 17°C. Do not put tomatoes outdoors until the night temperatures do not drop below 10°C. We’re in Lancashire, so for us that means late April, which would mean sowing in March.

Take care not to let the plant dry out too much or to over-water. Tomatoes hate irregular watering - sporadic watering can cause blossom end rot or cause the fruit to split - little and often is the rule here. Try to avoid watering late in the evening because tomatoes will use very little water during the night. It’s always better to water in the mornings and early afternoon.

Feed your tomatoes with a general liquid fertiliser until they start to develop flowers, then use a high potash fertiliser to encourage your tomatoes to flower and fruit. Keep your tomato plants weed-free and keep an eye out for the common pests.

Side-shooting tomatoes, pinching out and removing leaves

Vine varieties need their side-shoots removing, which means removing the new shoots that grow between the leaf and the stem. This lets your tomato plant put all its energy into growing its main stem until you remove the growing tip. Take care to remove the side shoots cleanly, without leaving any stubs or damage as this will encourage fungal diseases such as botrytis.

Pinch out the growing tip when the plant reaches the desired height. Don’t leave it too late in the year before removing the growing tip as there may not be enough time to let the last tomatoes ripen. Leave 2 leaves above the top flowering truss when removing the growing tip.

You will need to remove the lower leaves, known as deleafing, to encourage the tomatoes to ripen. Use a sharp knife. Remove leaves up to the first (lowest) truss that has ripening tomatoes on.

Harvesting

Your should have ripe tomatoes from mid-May until October.
Harvest tomatoes as and when they ripen to encourage the plant to produce more tomatoes. Always pick the tomato with the calyx (green stalk) still attached to the tomato. There is always a knuckle between the calyx and the truss which allows you to pick the tomato easily. Leaving the calyx on the tomato will keep it fresher for longer.

A ripening cover considerably speeds up ripening, reducing the proportion of tomatoes that will need to be picked green!

When night temperatures are below 4°C bring your young plants into the house overnight.
We find that putting the pots on a tray makes it easy to bring all the plants into the house without too much trouble.

A great resource for tomato guides, feed and planters is http://www.greenhousesensation.co.uk/veg-growing-kits/tomato-growing-kits/