Gardening Resources & Tips

[slimpersoninside]

I'm quite interested too Sue! My daughter will be trying both out on mint choc chip ice cream and I shall give them a whirl as mint tea in the summer.

I'll let you know the verdict.

[herbidacious]

Interstintg, Sure.

Slim, my herb bed has become a mint bed (I should have known, of course.) Still it smells wonderful when I do my regularish, but somewhat futile pulling up of it.

I sowed some cosmos and calendula yesterday. Some tomatoes were sown earlier in the week.

I lay awake last night wondering what to do with the pepper and aubergines seedlings while I am away. I am not keen on leaving either the heated propogator or grow lights on, but really they need to be either in the lean to with heat (it's still getting down to 11C in there in the night. I doubt an unheated propogator will raise that temperature byy more than a degree if that), or in the spare bedroom without heat but with lights (not enough light as the balcony occludes some of it).
Or... I could throw most of them away and put the rest in small, tall propogator on the kitchen window skill and hope the cats don't get stir crazy and knock the lids off. (Could sellotape the lids on but they may need watering and the cat sitter is not great with non-simple instructions... but could try.) The tomatoes germinated, or otherwise, will have to be left there. The cosmos and calendula should be ok in the lean to.

[herbidacious]

So no sign of the tomatoes I sowed earlier this week at midnight last night. They usually come up on day five. Today is day five. I didn't check until about ten and look what's happened


I am sure they will be ok, but annoying. They were next to a window in a heated propagator, but clearly not with enough light.

Would people keep or resow? I am going away in 8 days so it would be cutting it fine to resow, but they probably would germinate. I don't want to leave the propagator on.

Damn it I have run out of vermiculite, but of course can use seed compost.

[Badger's Mate]

Keep. Give them as much light as you can and blow or stroke them gently. Repot deeply when you get a chance.

They’ll be fine.

[scullion]

yup, exactly what he said!

[herbidacious]

Thanks both.

I had momentarily forgotten that toms are fine being buried. I will wait a bit before I pot them on. I really don't want to do it before I go away but will see if they get their true leaves. If I do them before I go then I will need more room
I have to put a lid on them to stop cats nibbling which seems to mean I can't fill the tray so as it stands, two trays have already become two.

I planted out 3 each of macedonian cornflowers and some primula today, and potted up 3 bare root echinacea... and potted on a tiny (very sharp) Christmas tree that I had planted for my mother some years back. I was hoping to concentrate on the house tomorrow, but 6 more bare rooted things arrived so will have to pot up or plant those tomorrow.

[Sloe-Gin]

I've potted on my 'Black cherry' tomato seedlings. Will start the rest tomorrow - Oh happy day. Seed sowings will begin in earnest this week - and yes, I'm late with some things.
Seeds saved from the scotch bonnet are through as are seeds of another type of chilli, but as they were from seeds saved 2 years ago, I don't know what they are.

[herbidacious]

I am very late too, Sloe. I think in some ways it's possibly a good thing as I probably start things too early usually. On the other had, it's better to do things in relays.
I sowed a big gravel tray's worth of 3" pots this evening. Mainly annuals. The pots had been filled a couple of days ago, and the labels already written, but it took me almost 90 minutes!
I want to sow some more asap. Will probably prep the pots and labels tomorrow in a break from work and sow on Tuesday or maybe tomorrow if time and energy.
I really need to prick out tomatoes asap. They are not looking that great, but I can make them look better by potting them up I think two lots probably just look odd because that's the way the are new-to-me varieties.
I am also going to have to have a chilli, pepper and aubergine sort out and cull. Might just throw away rather than offering to neighbours
B&Q had loads of pea and bean seedlings. Still a bit early to sow those? I suppose I could get on with some peas and keep them in the greenhouse. (Which has some invisible slugs and snails in it. They are making their way through those 72 mini plug plants I pottted up before I went on holiday.)

re chillis, if you don't get a big harvest you could try overwintering them, Sloe. I did that with one but really didn't do it properly. (It was in the lean to without any protection so will have endured temperatures as low as 3C.) There seems to be some green on it though.

[herbidacious]

Lots of seeds coming up from my sowings on the 7th and 9th

Was going to do more today, but busy with work and then too tired and the weather turned. Hopefully tomorrow.

[Suffs]

30 Moonlight runner bean seeds sown in looroll tubes and now by the warm bright studio window.

[Earthmaiden]

Question. I have kept 2-3 blueberry bushes in pots for some years. I have always grown them in large pots as they need ericacious soil but they seem to become potbound however large the pot. They're a pain to repot.

My friends in the USA just grew theirs in their flowerbed. I would like to do that but don't think my soil is acidic enough. I understand I can enrich the soil in the area before planting but how could I keep it going? Any replenishment would have to reach the roots comfortably. The ex Highgrove gardener who went on to Avebury Manor said he always kept a watering can into which he steeped used teabags to water plants which liked acidic soil but I can't believe that would be enough.

[Suffs]

Nah! Afraid there’s no way to acidify non-acidic soil enough for blueberries. We grow ours in large pots … we repot in fresh ericaceous compost each year … usually early in the spring before they flower (if life doesn’t get in the way) and we root-prune at the same time if necessary.
Now the plants are older we also take out one or two of the oldest stems each year to encourage new canes to grow from the base.

[PatsyMFagan]

I bought 2 blueberry bushes last year and one grew much better than the other...I now have flowers on that bush, but the other is still a baby..

Mine are currently in pots in ericaceous compost... but the above two posts have pretty much answered questions that were floating around in my brain..

Thanks

[herbidacious]

Damn just lost a long post.

Shorter version: I had a blueberry plant in the ground and it never fruited. Eventually I dug it up potted it up in ericaceous compost and it fruited.

Is it possible to root prune blueberries? Then you could at least renew the compost and keep them in the same pot. You shouldn't have to do it every year.

I usually renew the compost and pot of if necessary probably only every two years. I should no dount be doing it every year. Not sure where mine all are, apart from one (which is flowering). I fear they have gone the way of my dwarf cherry (dead) hence me buying a new one. I need to track down and give some food, at the very least.
My raspberries are flowering. They are a bit all over the place though, and I did prune them. Wish I had more time to sort things out. Not to mention energy... (Best not to mention energy... )

[Earthmaiden]

Thank you. Just as I suspected .... .

[Badger's Mate]

We used to grow a couple here in pots of ericaceous compost, but the (reasonably plentiful) fruit didn’t taste of much so we gave up on them. In Edmonton I had an old rhododendron that struggled until I started mulching with tea leaves. I have always drank a lot of tea and it was well mulched. It was the making of the plant. That was on London Clay, whereas now we’re on chalk (as you might be EM) and probably the trick wouldn’t work.

[Earthmaiden]

My pot grown blueberries have been plentiful and tasty for years - every so often I lose one and replace it. Goodness knows where the soil in my small urban garden originated. If its clay it's not the claggy sort and it has always grown things well. We're not on chalk. I'm on the edge of a smallish band of Portland stone, the nearby park was a quarry in the 1800s. I don't drink a lot of tea.

[herbidacious]

We do have rhododendrons, which are clearly mature and until recently have been ok. (I think one has succumned, which will be a massive problem. They form the divider between the upper and lower parts of our garden, concealing my veg plot.)
So odd that they would b e ok and blueberries a few yards away, not.

That said given how bad I am at feeding, my ones in pots still produce. How long does soil stay the right ph? Maybe the one I planted was in the wrong spot. Or maybe some varieties of blueberries and indeed rhododendrons are more or less sensitive to how acidic the soil it. We are on London clay.

[herbidacious]

Is it too late to sow tomatoes? I just received some Orangeto seeds and sowed them anyway. It's a semi-determinate variety. I have not come across that concept before.

I am thinking of creating a raised bed herb patch next to my existing one. It's not in an ideal spot but no choice as I don't want to sacrifice flower beds and the bottom of the garden is now too shady. It would be against a high wall and the spot is north east facing, but does get a fair amount of sun.

Meanwhile the current herb bed needs digging out and levelling. It's about 10 inches below the proposed raised bed site and on a slope.

[Suffs]

Any poultry keepers or owners of pet birds (even just one) not aware of this consultation?


https://consult.defra.gov.uk/poultry-re ... cument.pdf