February 2024

Written by

Charles Dowding

Last Updated

January 30, 2024

February, time to prepare

Some ideas for you now

Prepare a propagation space with some warmth. Your house is warmer than outside (I hope!) but then you need lights. Artificial light is not my speciality and the photo is to give you an idea. Here normally I move trays to the greenhouse after I see germination, because our climate is mild and I shall have a hotbed there.

For the first 5-7 days after sowing trays, germination can be in darkness, just anywhere warm - 15 to 30°C/60 to 85°F. Find out more in my Propagation knowledge pack.

Peas for shoots sown 8 days earlier, radish sown 6 days ago as part of a compost trial.

Sow from mid-month

Sowing mid-February onwards are onions, spring onions, lettuce, spinach, radish, turnips (Haikurei type if you can eg Tokyo Cross F1), broad beans, peas for shoots, cabbage, cauliflower, calabrese, kohlrabi, fennel.

You can multisow (details here) radish, turnip, onions salad onions, spinach. All grow well in my CD module trays.
Other seeds could be in seed trays to prick out, you have options.

Now is time to be sure you have plenty of potting compost. My recommendations are any of Pete's Peat Free, Moorland Gold, and make your own (see video) if you have enough well-matured compost. Often I'm using about 60% home-made and 40% one of the purchased composts.
Now in 2024, we have a good supply of worm compost (video from 09:52), and I shall use mostly a home-made mix for potting.

CD30 and CD15 module trays, polypropylene is very durable and has smooth sides for easy root removal

Transplant options with CD15 and CD60 trays, chervil spinach salad rocket and pakchoi all goood to transplant now

Chit potatoes

Select small ones of your own, and ones you have bought. Medium size is best and set them in a light place.

Selected potatoes from my 2023 harvest, one month by the window, for planting April — Selected potatoes from my 2023 harvest and near a window, for planting April

It's not too late to buy seed, see my seeds and varieties video. And think ahead to saving seed.

Seed from your own root vegetables

Of root vegetables for seeds, I've had good results from carrots, onions, beetroot and parsnips. I'm thinking to try radish which would be annual, unlike the first four which are biennial and need more time to grow.

For best quality seeds, select your best onions, beetroot etc from store, and plant them any time now. In a hole, with their tops 3cm under surface level.

How many of each to grow? Some people say 40 is necessary for having a large gene pool which reduces risks of inbreeding. That takes a lot of space and time however, so I grow 10 of each. See my Seed Saving video.

The photo below shows other vegetables that are relatively easy to save seeds from.

Homesaved seeds borlotti - beetroot - broad bean - lambs lettuce - carrot - onion -spinach and peas

No dig bed prep

If you spread compost in late autumn and early winter, it will have softened by now, even if it was sticky when spread. Thanks to drying and wetting, wind, and above all frost.
Ice breaks open the lumps and allows you to knock out them out with light tickling, using a rake.

Be gentle and stay shallow. You pass the rake through compost only, without displacing it too much. Use a skimming and horizontal motion. It's a chance also to pick up any plastic from the compost, I always find more than I had expected! Plus if I come across stones or gravel, I throw them onto any nearby grass.

If you have beds of bare soil, which have received no new compost during the past year, now is an excellent time to spread compost on the surface. Even if sticky and wet! and looking lumpy, by March it will be much softer and dryer.

Late January, Charles is knocking out compost lumps and levelling the surface compost. This also disturbs weed seedlings. — Late January, knocking out lumps and levelling the surface compost. This also disturbs weed seedlings.

Weeding

What, weed in winter?!

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For temperate climates only, such as here, we've had many day temperatures over 10°C 50°F and that's enough for weeds to grow. Grasses, bittercress, poppies, and any others that are common in your soil. The only option is to hand-weed rather than hoe, because it's too damp for hoeing to succeed.

Grow a habit to pick them when tiny. It's much easier than letting them grow large! Plus they pull easily from compost.
Learn more about easier weed control in my knowledge pack.

Clean beds ready for spring sowings and plantings. Near to camera is mustard dying after frost, where we now see the garlic planted 30th September.

Frost recovery

It still amazes me how plants recover from being frozen, when they look so flattened! The photos below demonstrate the recovery of broad beans, which are very hardy to freezing as long as they are not too big.

This relates to best sowing date which here is not before the end of October, otherwise they are too large before winter, and the stems go black after moderate frost. See my Sowing Timeline page for best sowing dates all year.

Broad beans in a frost of -8°C, 18°F, they were direct sown 27th October. The cover gives little protection from low temperatures, more from wind.

The same bean plants 2 days later after the frost has finished and temperatures are 8°C, 46°F in a no dig bed — And the same bean plants 2 days later after the frost has finished and temperatures are 8°C, 46°F

By way of contrast…

Cindy Connor's no dig greenhouse in Idaho after temperatures of -23°C -11°F! At least there is sun by day and plants are surviving well — Cindy Connor's no dig greenhouse in Idaho after temperatures of **-23°C -11°F**! At least there is sun by day.

Starting beds from scratch

There is still time! Best do this before the end of March, to be ready for spring.

Use either option,
! cardboard with compost on top, or
2 compost on the ground then black plastic on top. We shall soon be spreading this compost, then cover with old plastic. It has a few holes in from previous uses, is fine for this purpose.