Gardening resources and tips, etc.

[Suffs Profile]

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Lovely scullion!

[Earthmaiden Profile]

Wow! So exciting - I hope you get more too!

[scullion Profile]

i have picked my next flower a day early - before a slimy bu&&er comes back and eats the rest. it has avoided the 'crop' though. i realise they are poisonous but so do slugs!

[Sloe-Gin Profile]

I now have 4 working heated seed trays in the greenhouse. The latest one (my birthday pressie from hub) comes complete with heater control and lights. Perfect for 'mums!
And my latest plantings of garlic are away!
Very envious of the saffron

[herbidacious Profile]

I was wondering what brand you BD present was, Sloe.

I plan to sow sweet peas and broad beans in the next few days if I can. Not sure whether to start them off in the greenhouse or the lean to then move to greenhouse. Most of my seedlings so far have come up in the greenhouse. The delphiniums, which were germinated in the house as recommended, died when put int there though.

I am wondering when to remove the dahlias from the pots. I want the pots, and obviously don't want to risk killing dahlias off. It's still pretty mild.

I harvested the last of my borlottis. A modest harvest but ok given I thought I was going to lose the plants. This was from two rows, so about 10 plants?!?

E2CF9B28-3447-46C8-903B-BEC581C7F9FA (1).JPG (203.24 KiB) Viewed 5473 times

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

I am wondering when to remove the dahlias from the pots. I want the pots, and obviously don't want to risk killing dahlias off. It's still pretty mild.

I will be following this for advice too .. I have mentioned that both the dahlia plants I bought and planted up got decimated by slugs ... not one leaf left, but they were in large pots that also included begonias and other summer plants. One of the dahlias has now grown new foliage so need to know how best to keep/deal with it. Do I lift it or just keep it in a frost free place ?

[herbidacious Profile]

For the last two years I have just wrapped up the pots in bubble wrap and/or put fleece over them. The survival rate is over 50% but not high. They definitely need some attention in pots as they are more vulnerable to freezing than when in the ground. The tubers will not survive being frozen. (And won't like being sodden either.)
I intend to wrap up a few and possibly put them in the greenhouse as well, this year, but will unearth some and hang up to dry.
The question is, when to do it. tbh I think mine are ready to do. the foliage is dying back.

There are instructions in various places on online as to how to store them if you lift them. (The one I did last year was stored in dryish compost in a cardboard box in the unheated lean to, after being hung upside down to dry out a bit first.) I will be research other media to keep them in.
I put a little hat on the chopped off stem of the ones left in pots to stop water getting into it. The stems are quite hollow when you cut them.

Might be best to put your dahlias in pots of their own? How big were the plants before they were eaten? Mine are mostly quite bit and really need a pot each that's are at least 13 inches.

[scullion Profile]

two more crocus flowers today. i've had to devise a different way of drying the stamens - they blow away incredibly easily!

have you tried eating the dahlia roots? i was wondering what they taste like - it's what they were first brought over for.

[Sloe-Gin Profile]

Mine is, I think, this one

https://www.greenhousesensation.co.uk/h ... ghts.html/

(more expensive than I even thought )

All heated trays are on a switch timed to come on at 6pm and off at 7am. As we go into the colder months, the timings an easily be altered an OH is monitoring how much it costs; since we switched them on, just over £2.

I don't think the potatoes are fairing very well in the greenhouse, but so far, I'm resisting the urge to dig them up and have a look!

[Renee Profile]

How wonderful scullion! I share your happiness!

[herbidacious Profile]

Mine is, I think, this one

https://www.greenhousesensation.co.uk/h ... ghts.html/

(more expensive than I even thought )

All heated trays are on a switch timed to come on at 6pm and off at 7am. As we go into the colder months, the timings an easily be altered an OH is monitoring how much it costs; since we switched them on, just over £2.

I don't think the potatoes are fairing very well in the greenhouse, but so far, I'm resisting the urge to dig them up and have a look!

Ah I wondered if you had the vitopod... which is what I have. I wonder what the difference it apart from the lights set up. Yours looks like a better set up. I have perspex things that you stick onto the side of propagator on which your perch the lights. The perspex things are attached by suckers, but they don't work. Very very annoying.
I am dubious as to whether the thermostat works properly on mine, as well. I did have thoughts, at one point, that I had basically bought a very expensive frame to stick lights on.
Mine tended to get hot, partly because of the lights. I never did quite work out the optimum distance between seedlings and lights...
This all said, I grew a lot of healthy seedlings in it in the spare bedroom. Pity I can't use it in the greenhouse as it's so damned big. Too big to go on the shelf in the lean to, where it might be easier to regulate temperature.

[Sloe-Gin Profile]

Will post a pic tomorrow Herbi

[scullion Profile]

dahlia lifting and storing advice from the gardeners world site https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-lift-and-store-dahlias2/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&utm_term=14177193&utm_campaign=GW%20Newsletter%20November%2011%202021_1312528_Gardeners%27%20World_Weekly%20Email%20Newsletter_2125292

[herbidacious Profile]

I think he pic says it all, Scully. Thanks. I think mine are definitely ready to do. Which means I will have pots for my tulips (Which means I have to do some work...) Pity the weather looks full for the next week, but as long as it stops raining at some point...

I suppose newspaper would be the cheapest thing to store the tubers in but what little we have is used on the cats. Dry compost would take considerable forward planning. I had better buy some compost asap and stick it in the shed/greenhouse...

[Stokey Sue Profile]

dahlia lifting and storing advice from the gardeners world site https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-lift-and-store-dahlias2/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&utm_term=14177193&utm_campaign=GW%20Newsletter%20November%2011%202021_1312528_Gardeners%27%20World_Weekly%20Email%20Newsletter_2125292

That’s what my dad did, except I think he used dry sand as the storage medium

[herbidacious Profile]

I suppose compost has the advantage of a) not being as heavy to lift and b) being useful afterwards. I htink it's about cheaper too.... although that depends on what sort one buys. I am going peat free as far as possible.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Fifty+ years ago my dad wouldn't have had bags of dry compost, he made up potting medium as required from sieved soil, peat or leaf mould, grit and John Innes mixture

[herbidacious Profile]

No, I guess not. Sorry I was just thinking about what I'm going to do.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

We use old polystyrene fish boxes (as per the online fish buying thread), put the clean, dry tubers in them, and fill with vermiculite.

My dad used wooden crates filled with sand or peat.