Attention hobby botanists: You can now sow these five plants in April

With rising temperatures, we spend significantly more time in the garden again – what could be more obvious than tending the vegetable beds in spring? Or would you like to create a small garden on the balcony? You are by no means too late with this.

April is perfect for growing some heat-loving plants indoors, while others can already be grown outdoors. We tell you which fruits and vegetables you should sow in April.

Sowing in April: The 5 most popular fruits and vegetables

You should plant the following plants in April and look forward to the first ripe fruits all the earlier:

• Tomatoes (prefer indoors): Tomatoes should be sown in April at the latest so that you can still harvest the fruit in summer. The plants need temperatures of 25 to 28 degrees to germinate. Afterwards, they like a slightly cooler place with as much light as possible to avoid overgrown plants. However, the frost-sensitive tomatoes are not allowed outside until mid-May, after the ice saints.
• Melons (prefer indoors): Similar to the tomato, melon plants should be preferred in April. To do this, they need an air temperature of up to 30 degrees and a humid atmosphere – an indoor greenhouse is perfect. From the end of May you can put the plants in the warmest possible place outdoors or in the greenhouse.
• Potatoes (outdoor): Seed potatoes must germinate before planting. The potatoes should be left open for about two weeks so that shoots form, and from mid-April the sprouted potatoes can then be planted outside.
• Spinach (outdoor): Swiss chard and spinach can already be sown outside in April. Especially the latter can handle frost well. The easy plant is a dark germinator, so you should sow the seeds at least 2 centimeters deep and keep them well moist.
• Carrots (in the greenhouse or outdoors): Carrots are much less sensitive than tomatoes, for example – you can sow them directly in the bed and harvest them in early summer. Outside, however, you should lay garden fleece over the freshly sown areas if it is still too cold.

When growing indoors, make sure that you keep the seedlings either in a heated conservatory or in a warm apartment on the windowsill with plenty of sunlight. Plants that have already germinated usually need a little less heat, but all the more light. Otherwise you risk wilting – the plants will grow long and thin instead of forming strong stems.

On particularly warm days in April, you can put peppers or chillies that have already been grown outside on the terrace so that they can get used to the outside temperature and get enough sun. However, remember to put the plants back inside in time for sunset.

Buy little plants: You can plant them in April

If you do not want to buy seeds and prefer to buy ready-grown plants from the nursery, you can plant the first plants you have bought from mid-April:

• Lettuce (in the greenhouse): Lettuce and lettuce thrive in the greenhouse as early as April. The undemanding little plants do not need any special care, but should be watered daily.
• Strawberries (outdoors): If you haven’t planted any strawberries in autumn, you will also find numerous strawberry plants at the nurseries in spring. You can put the perennial plants in the garden as early as March, but the best time is at the end of April.
• Berry bushes (outdoors): Whether blueberry, currant or gooseberry – colorful berry bushes beautify every garden. Autumn is the best time to plant, but you can also plant shrubs or simply grow them in a bucket in spring. Some species bear berries in the first year, while others will have to wait until next year.