How to Vegetable Garden in May

How to vegetable garden in May when the soil is warm and new fresh growth seems to be appearing every day.

May is a busy time for vegetable gardeners but regardless of how the young vegetable plants and seedlings seem to be doing always keep an eye on the weather forecast. Nice spring days with clear skies can still lead to clear night skies and frosts.

Keep cloches and horticultural fleece at the ready!

Growing Potatoes

Keep earthing up potatoes which is essential to keep light off your tubers to stop them turning green. Eventually the ridge will be 10 to 12 inches high.

Another way of growing potatoes is by using black polythene. This again keeps light off the growing tubers but no earthing up is required.

Growing Tomatoes

If you have not sown your own seed you may still find plants for sale. Look for plants that have a short distance between the leaves. Long stem between leaf clusters means they have been grown in dark or crowded conditions. These “leggy plants” may also be a light green rather than a healthy dark green colour indicating that they have been in their pots for too long and are starved of food. They will still produce fruit but will never be the heavy croppers that a healthy plant would be in comparison.

Tomato plants that you have moved on into a 5inch pot and have produced flowers can be planted into the greenhouse border, into larger pots or growing-bags or use a combination of both of the latter by planting into bottomless pots placed on top of a growbag.

Tomato blight can be a real problem in warm wet summers. Plants grown outside are at real risk but even those grown under glass may not escape. Cleanliness helps but is not a guarantee to eliminate the problem. The message is be vigilant.

For more detailed tomato growing tips read Best Tomatoes – Growing Tips

Cucumber

Plants should be large enough to go into their final positions. Two plants should be plenty as once cucumbers start producing they will carry on through the season. For this reason I prefer to grow the “bite size” varieties that are just big enough for one meal and of course the benefit is you are always eating freshly picked cucumber rather than one that has been partly consumed and stored in the fridge.

Chillies

Plant chillies in their final position with as little disturbance as possible. Some growers have no problems but others find that when potted on or having suffered the slightest drop in temperature that they drop their leaves.

Vegetable Seed to Sow in May

To sow vegetable seeds directly into the vegetable garden soil make a shallow drill and water well into the depression. Sow the seeds thinly and cover lightly with soil.

The following vegetable seeds can be sown in May in a well prepared seed bed.

• Beetroot
• Cabbage
• Calabrese
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Chicory
• Kale
• Kohl Rabi
• Lettuce
• Peas
• Radish
• Rocket
• Salad Leaves – Grow for succession
• Spring Onions
• Sprouting Broccoli
• Summer Cauliflower
• Swedes
• Swiss Chard
• Turnip

The rows of germinated seedlings should be thinned out when large enough to handle.

Sow the following in pots or used toilet roll centres:

• French Beans
• Runner Beans

Vegetable Plants for Planting Out in May

If large enough the following vegetable plants can be planted out into the vegetable garden in May:

• Brussels sprouts

• Cabbages

• Celery

• Celeriac

• Leeks

Vegetable Garden Pests

Protect both stored vegetables and newly sown, especially those under cloches and fleece, from mice.

As ever, beware of slug as they also enjoy the fresh spring greens.

A flock of Pigeons can strip your Brassicas before you know what has happened. They can destroy a crop so protect using your favoured method, netting and fleece or perhaps recycled CDs or DVDs swinging in the breeze.

Vegetable Garden Diseases

Keep your greenhouse and staging as clean as possible. The damp conditions from watering combined with warmth (and maybe lack of ventilation) can result in moulds.

Take any yellowing leaves off Brassicas as soon as they are seen which will prevent the spread of grey mould and brassica downy mildew. Remember that these leaves should not be composted as the normal domestic compost bin or heap does not reach a high enough temperature to kill the spores.

Vegetable Garden Maintenance

Weeds will also be growing as the temperatures rise and growing conditions become ideal. Keep your hoe sharpened and busy between rows of vegetable plants to keep on top of the task.

Check the rows of any seedlings that have germinated in the garden soil and thin out as required. It may seem a shame to throw away seedlings but thinning is necessary where you are looking to grow large healthy plants. Competition will result in smaller cropping per plant.

Surround or cover carrots with horticultural fleece to deter carrot fly.

See also:

How to Vegetable Garden in April

How to Vegetable Garden in June

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