The Potting Shed - come on in, the kettle's on!

scrounger_2

aliasojo wrote: »

Lol...is that to help her get in quickly or lock her out to wind her up?;)

Ah thanks you have given me an idea...............:D

boultdj

Primrose wrote: »

I've just picked my first handful of ripe outdoor tomatoes - from my Tumbling varieties which always seem to ripen ahead of the upright plants. But interestingly this year, my Tumbling yellow tomatoes are almost orange in colour rather than the yellow they were last year. As the plants were raised from saved seed I'm wondering if the original plants I bought 3 years ago were F1 varieties. The two Tumbling Yellow plants I've got this year are widely different - one is a loosely spreading bush with larger fruits, the other is a tightly leaved plant with smaller fruit. The red tumblers are not all the same either. Quite interesting these experiments with saved seeds!. You never quite know what you're going to get!

I am sooooo jelouse,all my tumbling tom's died this year for some reason,thank god Dad had plenty of corden tom's I could scrounge:D,they seem to like it where they are,got plenty of fruit on I'v just got to wait a bit longer for 'em.

kazwookie

:wave:

It is time to 'consider' setting the seeds for this year in trays yet?

Green house has survived the winter ie all glass is intact, thank goodness, but by the looks of it, it is dire need of a good clean.

Primrose

OOOH - nice to see this thread revived again. Our garden is so sodden, that despite its fairly light soil, it's impossible to get out digging my vegetable patch. I deliberately delayed digging in any of the bagged composted manure I'd got for it in early winter in case heavy rains and snow leached all the goodness away. I was right, but it will need to be done soon.

In the next week I must get round to sowing my chillies & peppers on a light indoor window sill to get them going early. I used to worry about the light levels being too low at this time of year for them to be successful but have found it to work OK and ensures that their long growing season gives me a good crop before the end of the season when I put them outdoors in pots.

On the question of compost, apparently Jan/Feb Gardening Which has recommended B & Q's compost as the best peat based compost amongst a trial of 20 different varieties. The best non-peat compost was New Horizons, but my attempts in the past to get good germination rates from non-peat seed compost have not been good, so until improved varieties of this are introduced I'll stick with what gives me good results. There's too much time and investment put into growing my seedlings to get anything but the best result possible, especially with the cost involved now, (still cheaper albeit, than the expensive method of buying vegetable seedlings from a garden centre).

Lotus-eater

Primrose wrote: »

The best non-peat compost was New Horizons, but my attempts in the past to get good germination rates from non-peat seed compost have not been good, so until improved varieties of this are introduced I'll stick with what gives me good results.

I must admit, I've used New Horizon peat free for a couple of years and not had any problems with germination.
I suspect they may be some quality variations in the compost.

buggalugs

Oh wonderful the Potting shed is open :j
I have missed reading this thread . I never really wrote anything but loved coming in to see what everyone was up to. Thanks for re-opening it Kaz.
Primrose I am planning on getting my chillis started this week too I have just washed my trays and propagator lids in Jeyes ( I did wash them at the end of the season but of course they need re-doing now lol better safe than sorry huh? ) They worked fine last year, fingers crossed they will work this year too.
It feels good to 'speak' with gardeners again :T

kazwookie

Well if you are all doing chillis and peppers this week on window sills, then so am I!!! (if you cannot beat them join them)

Primrose you sound as organised as ever, re your digging up / in.

My grass is a mess but it is so water logged, it is going to have to wait several weeks for me even to consider anything.

So chilli / peppers is there anything else I can start off now? such as toms, marigolds, stocks, sweet peas, or am I jumping ahead? races off to find seed box and see what I actually have..............

jollymummy

Hello
can I come in please? I've brought biscuits with me

I did my first gardening of 2011 today, planted some sweet peas and Kelsae onions, we are going to try and grow some whoppers for the country show - never entered before, so wish us luck !!

Sadly my allotment is so flooded, I've been offerd a smaller but drier plot. It won't be available until April but as our current plot has flooded twice, we lost everything so it will be worth the wait.

LJM

jollymummy sorry to hear about your allotment, such a shame to lose all your hard work, it was good for them to offer you another plot though

Cute_Mouse

Anyone with biscuits is welcome jollymummy, especially if they are chocolate ones.
My allotment is flooded too. L
Such a pain, I want to be out there digging.