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

[Deleted User]

my message went arghh!!

so in short:
shortage of toms looming re rain and subsidy loss in spain

I have revamped things here and have been able to place 4 more toms under cover

dill cut and ready to go into dehydrator

gillian62

kittie wrote: »

dill cut and ready to go into dehydrator

My son is thinking of getting a dehydrator. Any good tips please?

Keiss_21

katholicos wrote: »

.....Sadly, my blueberry died. I've tried to resurrect it and i've even stuck it in a different area to see if that brings it back to life, but it's pretty brown and crispy and looks withered and dead so i don't hold out much hope. It was all looking so promising, loads blueberries on it

I'm thinking there must have been some connection between its demise and the wood chip bark i put around it and the other fruit bushes (the other fruit bushes are ok).

Mmmm, was it bought chipped bark, or your home made? Never use freshly chipped bark as a mulch round your plants, always compost it for a few months first. Blueberries need very acid ground/compost to grow in...damp too, so perhaps it got a bit too dry during this spring? If you can, water it with rain water rather than tap-water, unless your water is soft (rather than hard ). Mind you, hard water is better than no water at all! They will also cope with a bit of shade, almost prefer it for at least part of the day. Good luck, hope it recovers. Mine are thriving in pots, pretty shaded by the blackcurrant bushes who have gone rampant this year!

Right, off to check to see what needs watering...had more orders for peppers today, so will move them across to the reserved collection. Might even put everything out to start hardening off tomorrow...though the peppers looked a bit sad yesterday, think the greenhouse got a bit too cold for them a couple of nights. I gave them all a drenching in seaweed solution, so hopefully they have perked up a bit.

Have another good week in the garden, see you soon!

katholicos

Keiss_21 wrote: »

Mmmm, was it bought chipped bark, or your home made? Never use freshly chipped bark as a mulch round your plants, always compost it for a few months first. Blueberries need very acid ground/compost to grow in...damp too, so perhaps it got a bit too dry during this spring? If you can, water it with rain water rather than tap-water, unless your water is soft (rather than hard ). Mind you, hard water is better than no water at all! They will also cope with a bit of shade, almost prefer it for at least part of the day. Good luck, hope it recovers. Mine are thriving in pots, pretty shaded by the blackcurrant bushes who have gone rampant this year!

Right, off to check to see what needs watering...had more orders for peppers today, so will move them across to the reserved collection. Might even put everything out to start hardening off tomorrow...though the peppers looked a bit sad yesterday, think the greenhouse got a bit too cold for them a couple of nights. I gave them all a drenching in seaweed solution, so hopefully they have perked up a bit.

Have another good week in the garden, see you soon!

Thanks for this advice

Yep, it was bought bark. Made a bad move there then didn't i ...I had it in ericaceous soil and made sure it was watered , so i reckon it was the bark that dun it in!

Live and learn eh?

About your seaweed solution, may i ask where you buy it and what make?

I've never used it but have heard good things about it.

oligeo

Can I ask why you shouldn't use freshly chipped bark around your plants???

katholicos

Gardening update:

Definately got a bee 'colony'/habitat in the garden..funniy enough it is only a few feet away from where i discovered a frog last week...do frogs eat bees by any chance? Anyway,i'm going to leave it alone, it's doing me no harm at present and even though the compost bin and wormery is near to the bees 'point of entry' none of the bees have bothered me at all.

It has been a predominantly dry day today and so i continued potting on and planting lots and lots of glorious veggies into the raised beds....absolutely have to raise them higher next year though...i found it terribly difficult today and had to stop repeatedly and have my puffer and rest up a bit before continuing.

My Comfrey Bocking 14 had been delivered as roots and i've had them in one of the growhouses, in small pots, well they've developed quite a root system and so I've now placed them in various spots around the garden. Hopefully they will continue to thrive and enable me to make comfrey fertiliser and their leaves should be great for next years spuds too.

Last year i remember writing on this board that i wasn't much bothered if i never grew flowers, but i've sown lots from seed and i've had excellent germination results....dwarf french marigolds/calendula/foget-me-knots/nasturtiums/pansy/aster/poppies/chrysanthemum...I'm going to be giving lots to my Mum to plant in the garden where she keeps her static caravan....and of course, i'm keeping some for my back garden also.

The bees are doing a great job of pollinating the soft fruits and i have no doubt, the veggies too.

So far the beds and containers are full of: Mangetout, chard, radish, leeks, broad beans, onions, carrot, parsnip,rocket, chives, psb, wsb, strawberries, strawberry sticks, cape gooseberry, red cabbage, green cabbage,broccoli, cauliflower, shallots, garlic, borlotto, kentucky yellow wax, dwarf french beans, courgettes, tomatoes, celeery, brussels sprouts, redcurrants, blackcurrants, whitecurrants, gooseberry, gojiberry, honeyberry, scorzonera, sweetcorn, spring onions, beetroot, aubergine, artichoke, and loads more...but i'm too knackered to go out and look in the garden to jog my memory!

It's been a bit manic and my poor tired body feels exhausted...(i haven't planted all that lot above, this week! I overwintered the onions, shallots and garlic and have had the mangetout in and radish etc for at least a couple of weeks) at a couple of points this week i've wondered to myself if perhaps i have taken on too much by growing so many different veggies and soft fruits in a reasonably small back garden....but on the whole I enjoy it tremendously. I suppose it's just because my body is so unwilling to do what i want it to and it gets me down a bit but in my own haphazard way, things seem to get done eventually,

What a lot of ramble....

an1179

katholicos wrote: »

Gardening update:


What a lot of ramble....

Love your ramble

I tried to grow Aster from seed this year they started off ok but I think one day they got too hot and now I have a solitary 1 in the tray lol
We have a small business and so I like to make-up planters with flowering plants and shrubs. I have bouth plugs of petunia and begonia from T&M .

All of my dahlia tubers were victims of the severe cold weather as were some of my cordeline plants and some fuschias (sorry if the spelling is a bit :~)

I am growing cucmbers for the first time this year in the greenhouse.

[Deleted User]

I got some bocking 14 root cuttings last autumn and grew them on in pots over winter. 8 survived and I gave 2 away and planted 6 out, they are thriving and look nice. One has flowers but I sit back knowing that it won`t form seed. Bocking 14 will be the backbone of my allotment and I have all sorts of plans for it

I gave some plants away to a couple of people with allotments by mine but they are doing poorly. These are the same people who barrowed load after load of fresh horse manure. I couldn`t tell them that it was not a good thing to do as they were so chuffed at getting a local source, suggesting I go there but I kept my head down and mouth shut as I am the new kid. Besides the fresh aspect, I am paranoid about aminopyralid as it has been re-allowed and could very well get into the manure chain again. So far I have only used a little dried and treated manure from marshalls but I have used rockdust, dried seaweed and bsb, in proportions as needed. My plants are big and very healthy and that includes my courgettes which are now 10 times the size of the ones I gave away the day I planted mine. They planted them in the full force of the wind and I put a wind break up for my courgettes and squash

Herb dehydrating went well and I have an excalibur after owning 2 other cheaper ones in my lifetime. Excalibur is the best but isn`t cheap, however I will get the cost back in relative terms, this year. Onions are sauteing right now while I sit here waiting. I`m off to the allotment this morning as I have a few more long-standing cabbages to put in and today is lovely for planting ie cool and overcast. No rain though and none forecast

That reminds me. I gave my new fruit bushes a big watering yesterday and then mulched them with biodegradable black plastic. I will be doing the same to my squashes today as I believe we are in for one dreeadful drought

oligeo

Hi, I'm a newbie to growing. Could someone please explain comfrey bocking? What are its uses? Someone posted it'll be great for their allotment.
Thanks in advance
Sarah

alixandrea

oligeo wrote: »

Hi, I'm a newbie to growing. Could someone please explain comfrey bocking? What are its uses? Someone posted it'll be great for their allotment.
Thanks in advance
Sarah

Bocking 14 comfrey is a particular breed of comfrey that does not set seed but can be propogated by splitting the roots. Comfrey leaves are very high in potassium and used as a fertiliser for potatoes, tomatoes and other fruiting plants. You can either buy comfrey plants or pellets that you soak and then water onto your plants. more info here:
http://www.organiccatalogue.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1116
http://www.allotment.org.uk/vegetable/comfrey/comfrey.PDF

Alixandrea