Fertiliser and perlite

[BrownStripePJ]

Hi,

I am new to gardening. Started in May this year.

I have grown some plants from seeds. It is going ok so far, plenty of germination, lots of seedlings and i have been potting-on etc.

These are mostly perineal cottage garden style. Eg) foxglove, lupins, verbascum etc

I have more seeds to sow in March. Should I use perlite in the pots? I didn't this time, as i didnt want to spend too much money if nothing was going to grow, but keen to improve for next year.

In fact should I add perlite when I pot up this current batch again?

Secondly, I have prepared a border/raised bed area for 70 plug plants that I've ordered. Also cottage style link here

The soil is terrible. It is either clay-ish or dry in areas. I've mixed in a load of MPC.

Should I add fertiliser to help and which type? perlite too?

Finally, for this border bundle they will be delivered in Sept. But with me being a novice... should I delay the order and do it in Spring instead? I'm concerned about frost and ot knowing if garending is a lot harder in winter(!?)

Thanks so much

perineal Don't you just love spellcheckers!

Perlite is used to improve drainage. I use specialist seed and cutting compost for seeds, then peat-free compost for potting on, or, this year (because of the lock-down famine of compost) my own garden compost. For anything that needs a particularly free-draining compost, I add sharp sand, but perlite would be equally good.

If they're delivering plants in September they presumably think they're OK - unless they're assuming you will over-winter under cover. Plug plants are very tiny - some I bought recently were in capsules less than 2cm dia - and I grow them on in 8cm pots until they were big enough to plant out. You wouldn't expect them to grow much over the winter, and some of them will die back so there's no visible growth above ground.

Clay soil is good - it's highly fertile. All you need to do is add humus. I do this by mulching with home-made compost (no need to dig in - that's what worms are for). So if you're getting serious, I'd suggest starting a compost heap.

Haha I think I spelt it that way the first time I searched for the word... and it has saved it to my dictionary

Thanks for the tips, really appreciate it