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Watering kills more January seedlings
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than cold ever will in the UK. Welcome
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to Gardening with Ben. Today we're going
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to talk about watering your seedlings in
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January in the UK. Now,
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there's plenty of seeds that you can
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start this month, including the ones
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that I'm growing, which I keep talking
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about, which are the chilies, the
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peppers, and the oragans. Now, they're
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the only ones that we've got growing on
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our windowsol at home because they need
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the heat. They need the natural light
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and yeah they grow take a long time to
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fruit as well and to ripen. So they need
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that extra time in January to get
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growing and get started for getting
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great crops in that year. Now obviously
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it's warm in a house but it can also be
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cold at night. So they don't always dry
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out too fast. They'll keep a bit of
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moisture in them. And yeah, overwatering
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can cause issues to the plants. Now,
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they don't need watering as often
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because they won't dry out that fast.
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And obviously, if you've got them on a
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heat mat, they will dry out fast, but if
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they're on just a window, they won't dry
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out as fast as you would think. And
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sometimes overwatering can affect the
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roots and cause them to rot and end up
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with issues with growing in the long
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term. So, you've got to water sparingly.
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Now, I've just I just water mine once a
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week and yeah, they're growing pretty
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well at the moment. When it starts to
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get a bit warmer and warmer at night,
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they will dry out faster. So, I'll
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probably water them a couple of times a
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week rather than just once a week. And
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then I'll move them down to my a lotment
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come March time, March, April time. And
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I may have to start watering them every
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other day until they get to the warmer
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weather when we'll be watering them
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every day. So you need to check the
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moisture levels in the compost. You can
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buy like special things online what
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tests how much moisture it's in the
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water. And sometimes obviously you can
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always tell as well by sticking your
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fingers in the compost to see how wet it
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is. Sometimes it looks dry on top but it
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might be wet underneath. So always stick
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your fingers in and have a little feel
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to see how damp it is underneath the top
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layer of soil. So yeah, watering can
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sometimes again it's better to water
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from the bottom so that it soaks it up
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into the plant pot rather than watering
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on top. So have a look online and see
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what methods are best for growing
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certain plants and get all your tips and
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advice from that as well. So just be
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careful when watering your plants. Don't
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think that they need lots of water every
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single day to get great strong plants.
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They don't always need that. just water
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sparingly in January and then when it
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starts to warm up, water a bit more than
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you did in January. So yeah, be careful
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with watering and hopefully you'll get
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some great plants growing. Let me know
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if you're growing any seeds in January
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and stay up to date by following us and
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seeing when we sew all our seeds because
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we'll be sharing all those videos in the
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months to come. So until next time
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everyone remember keep smiling, keep
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shining and keep gardening with Ben
