Gardening resources and tips, etc.

[ZeroCook Profile]

I have learned a very valuable lesson today.
On Sunday, I planted lettuce seedings into the Haxnicks planter. Monday, no damage.
Monday, applied slug pellets (it doesn't make me a bad person, honest). Tuesday, slug pellets disappeared, one seedling missing.
Tuesday, more slug pellets applied. Today, rat tunnels, no slug pellets, some seedling damage.
It appears that that rats love slug pellets, which are very bad for them. Slugs love lettuce, destined for our consumption.
We cannot avoid rats (hen, stream, country), though we do try to be careful.
I am in a quandry.

Catch the slugs with beer?

Trouble with poisons is as said. Not made with food chains in mind. A beloved cat died from eating a bird that had eaten wheat grains that had spilled and been dusted with ant powder to get rid of ant hordes that then showed up ... very sad Have never used poison again. There are other ways...

I did that with the squash last year, Scullion - seeds from a grey green lobed round +- 10kg beautiful C. Maxima pumpkin/squash bought from a market stall seller. a few years ago. Got an interesting result - squash shape remained fairly true, some tan colour, some grey green. Good flavour and they kept pretty well, tho they were put in quite late so some weren't as mature as they could have been. Still have a three left. Saved seeds but decided to go for a bought Crown Prince aka Sweet Meat heirloom variety this year. Also got some Jarrahdale seeds. Might do both and see what happens to the offspring

The Principe Borghese tomatoes have come up, as have s few of the ancient gem squash, yellow watermelon, and some seeds from dried chile pequin bought for cooking. Have had good results with those in the past.

What do people use for plant feeding? And does anyone make their own garden compost? We've decided to get/build a compost bin ... any tips, info very welcome

[scullion Profile]

What do people use for plant feeding? And does anyone make their own garden compost? We've decided to get/build a compost bin ... any tips, info very welcome

we have worm bins and compost bins.
my partner has just built a run of three on the allotment.
by the time the compost has been passed/turned between them (after a few months of building up) it should be useable shortly after it gets into the third one.
the contents of the worm bins, when they've worked their magic, can go straight on the ground and planted into.

[herbidacious Profile]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf6FHv5x3sc



I have ordinary conpost bins plus a Hotbin.
Have done wormeries in the past.

[herbidacious Profile]

My tomatoes are getting awfully big... I think I might have to pot them on (currenlty in 3inch pots). I MUST NOT sow so early next year!

I am wondering if I can offload some before I go on holiday, but if I am to go to my mother's that doesn't give much time (one day, really). Not sure people will want them yet. I can but try. Maybe at the weekend.

[Sloe-Gin Profile]

I've done a stock take of my tomatoes this morning. 6 are outside the front door, waiting to be collected.
Some are still in the seed trays, but they are going to a friend, who will pot them on, keep a few and sell the rest for a Dog Rescue.
Of those in pots, I have
4 Nimbus
8 Brandywine
9 San Marzano
8 Tigrella
8 Principe Borghese
4 Bloody butcher.
I will have some choices to make, as I cannot keep all of them!

[herbidacious Profile]

That makes me feel better! How many will you keep?

I really need to sow fewer and sow later next year. In my defence, I did (foolishly) think that I'd be able to put them in the greenhouse. I just found another two packets of interesting varieties from Sarah Raven. I could sow a seed from each... or leave it until next year.

I have just moved my beetroot seedlings and some peas (cue coughing attack) into an unheated propagator in the greenhouse. Not sure if they will be ok. Might actually be better in the polythene (or whatever) 'grow house'. The beetroot had become etiolated and there isn't room for them under a grow light. If they die, I can still direct sow.

I am positively looking forward to having a pricking out session. (Lots of things to be done... although where on earth am I going to put them? I reckon I could start hardening off hardy annuals to put in a cold frame, at least, quite soon. Problem is there is a limit to what I can expect (trust ) husband to do while I am in Norfolk. It will be easier if they are all in one place.
This is all making me a bit tense. I need to try to not think about these things. All I really need to do is monitor moisture levels of things. I can sort out how things will be watered when I am feeling more compost mentis. It's only for a week...

I may have muddy pyjama bottoms now ; )

I have quite a few more tulips about to come out.
Narcissus Winston Churchill has just come into bloom. They are very pretty (although smaller than I expected) and smell heavenly. So glad I haven't lost my sense of smell.

[ZeroCook Profile]

.
Thanks for compost info. Have been looking into DIY bins. What sizes do people have? And what about flies? Would fine mesh covers help?

Crown Prince/Sweet Meat seeds sprouted madly, literally in just a couple of days and have huge first leaves and already look big for their 3" pots ... bit triffid like ... Also thinking perhaps should have waited another week or two... but last year wished I'd sown a bit earlier for longer maturation before frost dates ... had to plant out the first gem squash already as it was getting too huge for its boots in a 4" pot ...

Vine prunings are beginning to callous and root in their damp paper towel stem wrappings in bin bags ...

Tomatillos and some rocket next and prob not too much more ... very easy to get carried away ... good antidote to pandemics and war tho ....

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I'm not a 'proper' gardener but was advised when I got my compost bin to lay a couple layers of fine netting/chicken wire with only small holes under the bin to prevent rats burrowing into the warm bin and nesting. There are a good few rats round here and they haven't been in yet after a good few years. I've never had a problem with flies but a plus point is that local snails seem to like the bin better than my plants!

Size probably depends on the size your garden can take and how much compost material you produce.

[herbidacious Profile]

I just have some of those big plastic ones that you can get through many councils, at a reduced rate. Like this: https://getcomposting.com/en-gb/blackwa ... r-cv330gnh

This does seem relatively cheap. The Hotbin is not discounted. I got mine on special offer from elsewhere. I keep it quite near to the house for convenience. (Some issues with birds pecking at it to try to get to the creatures that are trying to escape the heat.) I have always been tempted by one of those tumbling ones.

No, no issues with flies for me either. I suppose there might be compost flies. They are right down the bottom of the garden and in a bit that doesn't get gardened so I wouldn't notice tiny flies.

All the kitchen waste goes in the Hotbin now - it's ok to put things in that that you would not in an ordinary one. I need to rethink the ones down the garden as they are not being used, and I have just emptied one to fill a raised bed. The gardener puts everything in the brown bin. I am always nervous about putting weeds in the compost bin, but I imagine it's ok to put most weeds in there? Are there any one should not?

It would be good to get him to put things in the compost bins as I noticed when redistributing material in the brown bins that there was an awful lot of soil attached to things (hopefully just weeds!) he had dug up

I feel frustrated not being able to do anything in the garden (I must be feeling better?!?) - too nasty out today anyway. Maybe I can manage some light seed sowing and pricking out tomorrow. The forecast is good once the rain stops.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

We had a couple of big diy compost bins in my last garden, no trouble as such with flies although on hot days you could see swarms of tiny little fruit flies around them - and they'd get through any mesh

[scullion Profile]

we get fruit flies in the worm bins - but they are a long way from the house.
they are all part of the waste breakdown - you have to live with that.
at the allotment we have inherited eight of the big plastic 'dalek' type bins but we have made the run of three from pallets so we'll be able to do without the plastic ones soon.

[Sloe-Gin Profile]

The beeb has the temp at -2 tonight, but Met Office at 3.
I shall err on the cautious side and pop some pots on top of the heated tray covers, as the heat seems to permeate the compost and keep them warm..
I potted on 2 nimbus, which have been under the grow lights - they look nice and sturdy, but not all under the lights seem to have grown equally.
2 Marconi potted up from seed cells, plus chilli Etna and Basket of fire.
I have now run out of compost, pots and space in the heated trays and staging, until the second cold frame comes on stream.

How many will I keep, Herbi?
Last year I had 11 (did have 12 but senile dog ate the stem on one)
I shall hopefully keep 10 in the greenhouse (8 in Quadgrow) and as many as possible outside. Not decided on which is going where yet.

[herbidacious Profile]

You have a lot to give away then...
I am (self) allowed a maximum of 24 This was as many as I could grow in quadgrows but I could go higher as I bought some new ones. I will try not to. Normally I try not to go higher than 20. But I think it will be 24 this year. Excessive... I still have quite a lot to eat up from last year. I must start doing that. I am looking forward to making American tomato 'pie' again.

Sarah Raven plug plants arrived today. Two not good at all. Have written to them.

Quite a few flowerseeds I sowed a couple of weeks ago have still not come up. Tomorrow I will double check which. I might just put more seed on top and cover. I am giong to give up on the agretti.

I confess I potted up those SR plants and (oh dear) sowed two more types of tomato and some tomatillos earlier. I am paying for the activity now, but it was nice to be, however briefly, out in the sun. (I sowed the seed on top of the washing machine. It's still very windy.)
I had to go down the garden to get a tray. I should have put my wellies on. It was hard to get to the greenhouse without sinking ankle deep in water.

[Sloe-Gin Profile]

I just wish the weather would buck its ideas up a bit!

I haven't been impressed by Sarah Raven, tbh. The freesias have only had 50% take up, the strawberry plants were lacklustre (and they replaced the order and I haven't complained again), the Wiltshire ripple sweet peas only had a 20% germination (though the orange ones have done well). All my other s peas from D T brown have germinated.

Did you see M D sowing Loofah last night? Intriguing. Unfortunately I have no room for them!

[scullion Profile]

i ordered loofah in my seed order this year - i'm hoping they'll grow outdoors as i have no greenhouse (well, i do, it's very small but it's full of glaze chemicals and plaster moulds).
i think monty will beat me on loofah size - maybe i'll plant them this weekend, too.

[herbidacious Profile]

Yes, I might be tempted, but I imagine it's hard to get hold of seed now, as St Monty acknowledged, pretty much I had an email from a seed company straight after, advertising seed for all the things mentioned in the programme.

I must watched the one from the week before last. An online friend and his hollyhocks were featured.

I did some pricking out at lunch time. I worked for about an hour (sitting down, of course) and was utterly shattered after that I didn't have the energy to do all that need doing.. I think some things will have to go in the greenhouse (with some protectoin) very soon. Mind you some things looked very uhappy post transplant - the Schizanthus and the Emilia coccinea

I have 'advertised' my tomatoes so will put them out the front tomorrow when the temperatures have got beyond 10C. Only one person responded. Not sure what I will do if they aren't taken. Maybe hang on to them for a bit longer before throwing them away.

[herbidacious Profile]

All the tomatoes I put outside went in 10 minutes. I suspect someone was greedy - there was a big box and a small box, and the small box disappeared entirely. I am just glad to have got rid of them.

I did a bit of pricking out. Rudbeckias and cornflowers and a few calendula. I hope they all survive. In principle I should have lots of cornflowers. I shall try direct sowing some too.

[Suffs Profile]

I've had a busy day ... seeds have been sown and it’s that time of year again when the studio becomes a greenhouse and OH tries to remember how much he loves homegrown tomatoes, squashes, courgettes cukes, lettuce, swiss chard, runner beans and sweetcorn ... hopefully they’ll all be ok when we go away next week for a few days … think I’ve got the timing right

[scullion Profile]

i spent a little time yesterday sowing uchiki kuri and marina di chioggia squashes, four of each. i have to do some more as the upcountry young want a couple of each.
from them we will be bringing home (in a couple of weeks) a module tray of mixed lettuces.

the loofah seeds (like monty's, i think) came from chiltern seeds, herbi. if you can't find any, i can post you two or three from my packet if you would like.

my peas, courgettes, chard, nine star cauliflower and romanesco broccoli have been living outside for over a week now so i may be planting them out (and protecting the brassicas from pigeons) pretty soon.
whatever attacked a few of the potatoes seems not to like the smell of the pelted chicken manure and has not been back for a feed since - two birds, one stone!
i also need to earth up the first earlies as they're beginning to poke through the mounds.

but not today

[herbidacious Profile]

I am getting behind and will get more behind with being away next week. I reckon there is still plenty of time for courgettes, cucumbers and peas. (I do have some peas ready to be hardened off, but not enough time now.) It's too early for beans, anyway, really? Or at least it's fine to sow in May.

I always seem to pick the wrong time to go away, but in a sense there is no right time. May was problematic last year. I suppose I could sow things but not sure if I trust husband to look after them properly.

I have a mysterious problem with some of my tomatoes which I fear might be 'spreading'. Their leaves are curling, and some lowers leaves on some plants are beginning to die off. I have just potted some on, following a discussion on GWF but they were by no means pot bound. I am wondering if it's the compost. There is nothing else that has changed since I grew them last year. A bit fed up. But as i said on there, I can always buy plants. That would be disappointing though. I just hope the ones I gave away will be ok.

Looks like quite a lot of the plants i ordered months ago are coming home to toost in the next few days. Typical!