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Gardening resources and tips, etc.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Wed Jul 01, 2020 4:30 pm

Nice scullion!

Well I've found what ate my chervil, and then moved on to the Greek basil and the Thai basil, it was the caterpillar of the small cabbage white butterfly

I've only located one, which is a bit worrying, I didn't immediately think of caterpillars or other larvae because it ate all of the foliage, leaving only neat little stumps, which is what I expect, but I didn't think it would be anything exotic

I might plant some more basil in modules and see if I can catch up as they won't be laying at the moment

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:40 pm

Very nice scully.

That's annoying, Sue. I wouldn't have thought they'd have gone for basil, thought, thinking about it. Don't know why. I found a cluster of butterfly eggs on some mangetout the other day. Bright green.

Aphids feel less of a problem now. I have quite a lot of ladybirds which may be helping. But my poor dwarf plumb was covered in slugs yesterday. About 20 had climbed right up the trunk and were on the leaves. They were on my strawberries too.

My basil plants are ailing a bit. I have some more seedlings to prick out - different varieties. Will have to wait until next week, though now I shall try and do some research. I feel I've not managed the first lot of basil well, although they did marvellously initially. They can live for up to two years apparently. Not mine...

I have some mangetout with really pretty flowers. I am supposed to have some sugar snaps but I think they might be the things in the pot that just aren't thriving.

I've had a few French beans so far and quite a few mangetout. The proper peas are on the way (I've eaten a raw few pods of 'petit pois' already.)

Courgettes are taking off (actually the courgette plants that are sitting on a tank of water are twice as big as the ones in pots. Clearly it suits them. But this doesn't necessarily mean i will get more fruit). I have eaten a couple of red tomatoes, a cucumber and picked and cooked two massive aubergines this evening.

Other things are flowering or have unripe fruit. Don't want to jinx them. Things can still go very wrong. I already had a small green pepper drop off a plant.

I picked these a few nights ago.

50066558251_10018e12bd_c.jpg

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby jeral » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:35 am

Somewhere a mention was made of a huge garden yukka plant. I'd already ordered one as an indoor plant about 15" high. Will it need it's own room in a year's time?

Some plants online look cute at 20" but looking at Google images some of that type are attempting to break through celings! Can always cut them back or chuck 'em out I suppose. I haven't had much success with air layering the tops when bottom leaves have dropped off but then packing moss isn't easily come by.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby karadekoolaid » Thu Jul 02, 2020 1:40 am

Yes, Jeral: Moira from Cyprus and me.
They´re probably not a bad idea as a house plant as long as you prune them (just cut the top off) if you think they´re getting too big. Mine was, well... a mutant.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby jeral » Thu Jul 02, 2020 2:28 am

Many thanks. The yukka houseplant has probably already been decapitated as the leaves are sprouting on mini branches growing out from near the top of the truncated tree-like main stem, so maybe I'm worrying unnecessarily given it appears to have no top as such.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:24 am

Armadillos

I don’t know if it’s still made the same way but in the early days of The Pill the oestrogen in it was made from yucca and there were huge plantations of it in Mexico, where apparently the only pest was armadillo which burrowed among the roots

So if your home is armadillo free a yucca should be fine (but keep an eye open for red spider mites, I have seen one festooned with them)

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Busybee » Thu Jul 02, 2020 1:01 pm

Going off at a slight tangent. Aloe Vera plant.......

Every time I put it in a sunny place it goes brown and looks as if it’s about to expire, so I hurriedly move it back further away from the sunny window sill. But it grows naturally in hot sunny climes, what am I doing wrong? Should I leave it in the sun and hope it sorts itself out?

BB

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby scullion » Thu Jul 02, 2020 3:01 pm

i think that 'hardening off' to the sunny position would be a good idea, much in the same way you would to put plants outside. plants don't like sudden changes, they need a bit of time for the cell structures to adapt.


i have a puya that i had to (carefully) pot on recently. i may plant it in (a non thoroughfair) part of the garden before it gets too big. it's a little like a yukka with added barbs - i think the nickname of one variety is 'the sheep eating plant".

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby jeral » Thu Jul 02, 2020 4:28 pm

Thanks Stokey Sue, I'll definitely inspect the plants I've ordered for spider mites when they arrive and keep an eye on them. Receiving an armadillo would be Christmas come early wouldn't it?

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Jul 02, 2020 5:51 pm

I’m not sure an armadillo would make a perfect pet!

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby scullion » Thu Jul 02, 2020 5:59 pm

it could be interesting, though - mind you, the cats mightn't like it but at least it may eat some garden pests!

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby jeral » Thu Jul 02, 2020 7:15 pm

As mine would be an indoor pet, I could attach a brush roller at the back and let it be a robot vacuum, especially as I still have carpet moths that emerge that I never quite managed to get rid of completely.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby karadekoolaid » Fri Jul 03, 2020 2:36 am

My Aloe Vera plants are perched on a 40° slope where the tropical sun hits them from 9am until 5pm. they´re fine. Since they are tropical plants, I´d give them as much sun as they can possibly get.
They´re also wonderful for curing cuts and scratches. I´ve got loads of bromelias in the garden, and when I need to weed around them and/or remove the dead leaves, I inevitably get scratched to death because the leaves have nasty little spikes all along the edges.
I cut a leaf off the aloe vera, slice it in half and rub the gelatinous contents along my arms. It doesn´t smell very nice, but what the heck. I leave it on for about 30 minutes; the following day, all scratches are healed.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Sakkarin » Sat Jul 04, 2020 10:49 am

I'm not a gardener, but those beans look fabulous Herbidacious.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Mon Jul 06, 2020 9:56 pm

Thanks!

I just picked a load of mangtout... and chucked quite a few more in the compost bin that had gone over :( In retrospect, no doubt I could have done something with them that involved cooking them.

Feeling a bit down about the garden. I have missed out on a lot of fruit because of birds and, much worse, me not picking things in time. I just picked about a pint of jostaberries - the ones I had netted. Not much from a massive bush. I have made a crumble for two with them.

My sweet peas have powdery mildew. My proper peas got slugged while I was away this weekend...

Tomatoes are out of control and have blotches, which I think maybe nutrient deficiency (I hope, as can be rectified) but could be blight.

They are drinking up so much water...

I must have about 50 plants that need potting on or out, many ones which i grew from seed.

I need a co-gardener. And a few days off I guess...

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Mon Jul 06, 2020 10:29 pm

Stokey Sue wrote:Well I've found what ate my chervil, and then moved on to the Greek basil and the Thai basil, it was the caterpillar of the small cabbage white butterfly

And interestingly Naoimh (Eat like a girl) has had exactly the same issue with the same herbs elsewhere in London = total annihilation of the chervil

The basil is springing back from the roots, so I think I got all the caterpillars - i.e. one smaller than a bean sprout

Need to start thinking about what I put in my pots next - I might try going and looking for some short term gap fillers, but I'd like to actually plan and possibly grow on what I will overwinter, No flipping pansies this year, I've had one fabulous display to about 6 rubbish ones, they are ok in beds where there is room for them to come and go a bit.


Ideas anyone?

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Mon Jul 06, 2020 11:46 pm

My gorwn from seed marigolds are finally flowering.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Jul 07, 2020 12:43 am

My calendula are nearly over I’m going to try cutting back hard and see if I get a bit more colour

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Tue Jul 07, 2020 11:36 am

I have quite a few on the go now. Quite an orange (and pink) colour scheme going on the (very untidy) patio. I also have some more to pot up that I must have ordered ages ago from Thompson and Morgan. Enough for me to risk putting some on the ground, even. The ones I grew from seed are from Seeds of Italy. Pity I didn't buy edible ones.

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IMG_2854.JPG


The dwarf peas on the left have done less well in that trough than usual. I think in too shady a spot. Luckily the others (in bigger pots) are ok (snail damage aside.)

I picked up two 50p pots of purple ones yesterday when buying big pots for my new clematises.

I need to do something with that foxglove....

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Jul 07, 2020 12:41 pm

Your calendula are not as sprawling as mine :thumbsup - they were quite compact when I put them in their final pots and they have plenty of light so I suppose it’s the variety “Calendula Art Shades Mixed” - there is a nice range of colours and flower shapes

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