Guide to plants & seeds

In our guide you'll find practical tips on sowing, growing, care, plant protection and harvesting – clearly explained, from the tomato to the exotic fruit. Browse our topics and get the gardening know-how for a successful season.

Choose a topic – or browse straight through all articles.

Instructions (sowing & growing)

10 Articles

The right seed compost and suitable pots Direct sowing or pre-culture – which is better?Raising vegetables on the windowsill Sowing vegetables correctly – the basics Planting young plants correctly after delivery Hardening off young plants correctly Plant spacing for vegetables – the overview Pricking out: separating seedlings correctly Vegetables in pots: planting up a balcony or terrace Building, filling and planting a raised bed

Care

9 Articles

The right location for your vegetables Fertilising vegetables correctly Watering vegetables correctly Greenhouse or open ground – what suits what?Mulching the vegetable bed correctly Supporting and tying up plants Pinching out tomatoes – why and how Improving soil: humus, compost and green manure Heat and drought in the vegetable bed

Diseases & pests

15 Articles

Identifying and controlling aphids naturally Blossom-end rot in tomatoes and peppers Identifying, preventing and controlling powdery mildew Identifying, preventing and controlling downy mildew Cabbage white: controlling caterpillars on cabbage naturally Late blight in tomatoes and potatoes Identifying and preventing the carrot fly Encouraging beneficial creatures in the garden Preventing and controlling slugs in the vegetable bed Preventing damping-off in seedlings Identifying and controlling the whitefly Fungus gnats in seedlings: how to spot and stop them Spider mites: how to recognise and control them naturally Grey mould (Botrytis) on vegetables: recognise and avoid Flea beetles on radishes, rocket and brassicas

Gardening year & season

7 Articles

The vegetable garden in spring The vegetable garden in summer Frost protection and the Ice Saints Crop rotation in the vegetable bed Raising autumn and winter vegetables Companion planting – good and bad neighbours Overwintering chillies and peppers

Varieties & plant knowledge

7 Articles

Old & open-pollinated varieties – preserving diversity The most important kitchen herbs in portrait Types of cabbage at a glance Types of lettuce at a glance Growing sweet potato in your own garden Tomato varieties at a glance Root vegetables at a glance: carrot, beetroot, parsnip and more

Harvest, storage & kitchen

6 Articles

Preserving vegetables: bottling, fermenting, pickling Harvesting vegetables correctly Storing vegetables correctly Drying and freezing herbs Saving your own seed Freezing vegetables: what works and what does not