June Update: What are you growing in 2006? Tips here for Fruit, Veggies and Flowers!

Chell

wigginsmum wrote:

Chives - I bought a supermarket pot a couple of years ago, planted them out earlier this spring and they're doing fine. As I don't really use them for cooking, I let them flower - they've very pretty.

Thanks for the info. I love them in new potatoes. I usually buy the dried ones but it will be cheaper to grow them.

Penelope_Penguin

chelltune wrote:

Thanks for the info. I love them in new potatoes. I usually buy the dried ones but it will be cheaper to grow them.

The taste of dried chive is nothing compared to fresh!

Also, the flowers are edible. I serve them with sliced tomatoes and flavoured olive oil. It looks beautiful as a salad.

Penny. x

Joscar

herbal wrote:

Ok guys need a little help/advice.

I bought today

2 Female cucmubers
1 Red Pepper
1 Green Pepper
1 Melon
Tray of Peas

Now i have a greenhouse so can they all go in there and what tips do i need to help them all grow, will they all need staking? Do i need to nips bits of here and there like tomatoes etc

Any help will be great.

The shoots on the peppers should not be pinched out like tomatoes and they supposedly do not like the soil quality to be too good. Too much food in their soil leads to many leaves but less fruit. Some books say ripen on the plant, others say remove and ripen on a sunny windowsill as it will encourage more fruit on the plant. :think: They will need staking.

Peas will need some support and protection from the birds.

MORPH3US

Need help,

Tomato plants - FIL mentioned at the weekend about counting 3 flowers up the plant then nipping anything above off or something and also something about nipping off the bits inbetween the main stem and the big stems comign off. Does anyone know what the hell he / I am on about and can advise what I need to do?

Also...

Cucumber plants, they are getting quite big now and flowering a lot, do I just let them grow as they like or do I need to nip bits off them too?!?

M

Joscar

MORPH3US wrote:

Need help,

Tomato plants - FIL mentioned at the weekend about counting 3 flowers up the plant then nipping anything above off or something and also something about nipping off the bits inbetween the main stem and the big stems comign off. Does anyone know what the hell he / I am on about and can advise what I need to do?

M

Assuming your plants are a Cordon variety (grow tall on a single main stem that needs support) as opposed to a bush variety (grows as a low bushy plant) then you need to remove any small shoots that appear between the main stem and the side stems with leaves or flowers/fruit.

This stops the plant wasting energy on extra shoots and leaves.

Only 3 lots of flowers sounds too few to me. I usually go for about 6 or 7 depending on how tall the plant gets and the amount of room in the greenhouse.

You will be able to see that some of the stems coming from the main vertical stem only have flowers on - these are called trusses. Once your plant has 6 or 7 trusses you remove the top growing point so that the plant does not grow any taller. This means all the energy will go to growing fruit.

HTH

Joscar

Does anyone know why the flowers on my courgettes would fall off?

They are open for about a day, then kind of twist up before dropping off a few days later. This happens to the flowers on both the courgettes and stems.

MORPH3US

Thanks Joscar,

I read the back of the tomato packet last night and it said when they get about 1m tall to nip the top out to stop them growing taller!!!

Cheers

M

annie-c

Help!

My tomatoes are all between 40-70 cm high now... and I've just read the thing about nipping out the side shoots as they grow.... is it too late now? (They are more like side branches than shoots) Will I still get a crop? I'd be really grateful for help and advice!!!!

troll35

What sort of tomatoes are they? Have you still got the packet as it should tell you whether they are cordon type (pinch out side shoots) or bush type (don't pinch out side shoots).

I've chopped the tops off my tomatoes (moneymaker variety) at the 4 truss level as they have just about reached the ceiling in my front porch (aka jungle)

Chell

How and when do I plant rhubarb? Can I buy seeds or do I get a plant from the garden centre?

Thanks,