Pros & Cons: Seed Scattering or Straight Lines? Dahlias Straight in the Ground or Potted On First? Zinnias: no cons, only pros

It's a sunny lunchtime on Tuesday 22 April 2025 and I'm basking in the warmth of the greenhouse.

I'm busy sowing more seeds and today I'm discussing the pros and cons of two different sowing styles: scattergun approach or straight lines. Which one do you use? I prefer the straight lines method as I can count how many plants I have and each plant can stay in its tray for longer before going on the plot, which saves time. But you can't fit as many seeds in each tray so you end up needing more trays which takes up more space.

Prepping beds: everyone has their own technique. I do the "no dig" method to avoid disturbing the soil structure but I always remove perennial weeds first, even if I'm only sowing annuals. Then I add lots of organic material, either compost or old chicken bedding. I answer a question about when I plant my dahlias outside and talk about a different technique that a pro-grower in the UK uses and why. There are pros and cons to all of this and I'll talk about them. 

I talk about a wedding that the florist I'm going to be selling to this year has just done and how amazing the flowers looked. She is an incredibly talented florist. Are my flowers going to be good enough for her? YES! They are! 

I end with an update of what's happened on the plot since the last episode and why I'm so excited about my zinnias this year. I hope that your growing week is going brilliantly!

In this episode, join me to discuss some pros and cons of things.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ What's your sowing style: scattergun or straight lines? 

✅ How I prep my beds on the plot

✅ Benefits of "no dig" method  

✅ When to plant dahlias outside   

✅ Keep reminding yourself of your Unique Selling Point

✅ Why Zinnias make great cut flowers   

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Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers. I'm going to give you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then.