Gardening Resources & Tips

[herbidacious]

This weather...

It was 7.5C underneath the fleece I put on the big tomato plants outside, last night The smaller ones have come back inside for the last two nights.
At a pinch I could put the big ones in the lean to tonight. (Was 15C min in there, last night.) But I don't have room for more big pots than the ones already in their final pots, and it will be a pain.
I fear some of the smaller (but still quite big and flowering) ones in very small pots might not survive if I don't do something quickly. I had intended then to go in their big pots on Sunday, but delayed because of the forecast cold. I suppose I will have to pot on the most sickly looking ones into intermediate sized pots and feed them all. Can't really pot them all on even into next-up sized pots, as no room in the sitting room, and they will probably go into final pots at the weekend anyway... sigh. Weird weather...
We normally achieve consistently higher than 10C at night by this time of year.

[Badger's Mate]

My memory is a bit hazy on this, but iirc the old National Vegetable Research Station did some work that suggested tender plants get a chilling injury at 5°C and below which inhibits growth and development even if they don’t get killed. I think 7.5°C would be OK for tomatoes. It must drop that low occasionally most years, surely.

[herbidacious]

I read that they stop growing under 10C and starting up again doesn't switch back on growing hormones (or whatever) straight away. Occasional dips lower are tolerable provided they are not too low and that the plants get daytime warmth - and it's not too many days in a row. It's 13.3C at the moment Normally my toms don't go out permanently until it's reliably 15C during the day and 10 at night... which it normally is at this time of the year.
tbh it may have gone that low before last night. I always keep an eye on the weather forecasts, but have not been cross checking wiht my thermometers. Last night's temperature was lower than either the Met Office or BBC forecast.
I have tiny tomatoes. I imagine they won't be great. Hopefully it will be alright in the end...

I shall err on the side of caution with the smaller plants, though, and wait until it warms up before they spend the night out again.

[herbidacious]

I potted on a few tomatoes. They were not pot bound. I have come to the conclusion that the problem is probably temperature. Have fed them all as well anyway.

[Sloe-Gin]

I was looking at photos of this time last year. I had nearly ripe cucumbers and tomatoes. Not even a sniff of a baby one this year.

[herbidacious]

As I mentioned elsewhere, one of my two tiny courgettes was eaten by slugs last night.

I have tiny green tomatoes, a flat pea and a pencil sized courgette, unless it too has now been eaten. The raspberries are beginning to ripen but don't look good. It's all a bit meh.

Flowers are behind too (also been looking at last year's photos.)

I noticed earlier that a young sunflower plant had been eaten right through and most of my (bought from Sarah Raven) Blue Boy cornflowers have disappeared.

[herbidacious]

I have planted up a 1m square (ish) border mainly with annuals. Without doubt I planted them too close, but I imagine most of them will be eaten anyway. I was dismayed, but not really surprised by how many convolvulus roots there were. I had what looked like a weed free patch but once I started digging to plant things... it doubled the time it might have taken to plant things, as I felt obliged to get as many roots out as possible.
I watered the plants in with slug deterrent. Will apply nematodes before nightfall.
T finished constructing the second Quadgrow support platform. I plan to put the tomato plants in situ at some point today.

I still have a lot to plant out but at least progress has been made.

Time for a shower and some lunch... And I think stick to the plan for today rather than thinking about all the other things that need doing!

[Pepper Pig]

Teeny tiny white things on my roses. Look a bit like hyphens. What should I spray?

[scullion]

diluted washing up liquid/ washing up water is the entry point insect spray before you go and buy anything.

[Suffs]

Id just try squirting them off with a hose if you have one. Otherwise as Scully says spray with very dilute washing up liquid.

Look out for these … https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/g ... rd-larvae/
They’re ladybird larvae and will gobble up aphids for you.

[herbidacious]

Just don't release them on a windy day

[Suffs]

I didn’t mean buy some … I meant don’t spray our friends.

[herbidacious]

Oh sorry. The advice still holds. (From experience.)

[Suffs]

[Uschi]

I have a question re: redcurrant bushes. We have one in a large container which we bought and planted last year. It sits on a South-West facing balcony in a sunny corner and is regularly fed and watered. It has grown well and is verdant enough, but nary a currant. I am wondering how and when best to cut it or whether we should bin it.
Any advice gratefully received.

[Suffs]

Red currants fruit on wood produced the previous year … it might be that yours is a little young to have fruited this year or possibly had been pruned incorrectly before you got it.

This gives the basics, (although there’s rather a lot of scrolling through)
https://gardenseeker.co.uk/pruning/prun ... rants.html

[mona91]

A bit off, but I plan to get this rattan reclining dining set. But I'm clueless about the best way to take care of it to make sure it stays in great condition for as long as possible. So, any tips or hacks would be greatly appreciated!

[Uschi]

Thanks for that.
Call me dumb, but do I understand correctly that we should leave it alone and unpruned and see how it does next summer?

[Stokey Sue]

Not sure about currants, but delighted to report I have agapanthus, it’s been a bit of a surprise.

I have a beautiful blue ceramic pot, quite large, and it occurred to me that ordinary agapanthus would be the same shade of blue, so seeing some crowns for sale in Wilko in spring 2022 I bought and planted them. They survived and grew a bit, but no flowers, I left them as I had no other plans for the pot, and I suspected the crowns were m just immature. This year, much more luxuriant foliage, and at least half a dozen flower spikes.

And the blue matches really well

[Suffs]

Thanks for that.
Call me dumb, but do I understand correctly that we should leave it alone and unpruned and see how it does next summer?

That’s what I would do … although if it’s a bit crowded in the centre I might thin it out a bit. A nitrogen feed now and then a potash one in the early spring (for roses or tomatoes) might focus its mind a bit.

Then after next summer I’d remove the older growth as described in the link.