Candles lit

I finished off a bed off 44 Sweet Candle tonight having done another bed of 28 yesterday. I chose to bore the holes having realised my best roots came from bored holes last season. I always do the holes first and then fill them all in one go. By gently rotating the metal rod slowly I find that there is little if any disturbance of neighbouring holes, and if there is any distortion I can simply put the rod back in the hole and open it out. Once I'm happy with all the holes being roughly the same depth and diameter I start filling them all.

I use a metal funnel to fill the holes and can zip through them in no time at all, gently firming the top of the compost with the back of my hand and adding more if necessary so it's level with the sand surface. I used to prod every now and again with a cane to avoid air pockets as recommended by Medwyn, but to be honest life is too short and I can't be f***ed anymore. I didn't do it last year and there was no difference as far as I could tell. A 3" tube is placed over each hole, pushed into the sand slightly, which will concentrate water to the borehole and prevent fanging, and also allows me to find the centre if I need to re-sow a station that doesn't germinate.

My mix this season is the same one that served me so well last;

Two buckets of sieved compost (B&Q Verve)

Half a bucket of medium grade vermiculite

A quarter bucket of sieved sand

A handful of Tev04 passed through a flour sieve

A handful of calcified seaweed passed through a flour sieve

It has been a bit of a rushed affair this season and to be honest I haven't taken that much care over it, so I don't know if I'll match last season's efforts when National champion Ian Stocks felt I was unlucky not to get a ticket myself (my set below). In fact his exact words were "Simon, you are the greatest grower of your age and i'm absolutely shitting myself for future Nationals". I may have dreamt that though.