veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

paulabear

Hi everyone
I'd like to join too please. Me and my friend are sorting her garden out; it's pretty big but when she moved in it was covered in junk and broken glass, cans etc. We're still finding lots of stuff as we're digging the grass out and i'm not expecting much from it but so far we've got a decent sized bed with potatoes at the back, then cabbage, then broccoli. They all went in last week so we're waiting excitedly for them to show! Think the soil is pretty clay-y, I'm working on uncovering another area for us to put in carrots (thanks for the tip about herbs, will be trying that!) - courgette, lettuce...she's got the seeds so not actually sure about what we've got beyond that but as we've both got young children it's a case of trial and error and one of us doing the garden while the other watches the kids. It's working out pretty well so far. I'm also looking into doing various projects with the kids and they're enjoying getting involved with the digging! Will read back over the thread properly when I get chance but just wanted to say hello thanks for all the information so far!

lovelife_3

quick question, i planted my cucumber seeds in toilet rolls and they are now sprouting nicely and need to be put into pots, can i keep the toilet roll on, or should i remove them? sounds like a silly question, but i am worrying about everything!!!!

lynzpower

lovelife wrote: »

quick question, i planted my cucumber seeds in toilet rolls and they are now sprouting nicely and need to be put into pots, can i keep the toilet roll on, or should i remove them? sounds like a silly question, but i am worrying about everything!!!!

Nope plant the whole loo roll with the soil and plant straight into the ground/ larger container. the cardboard will rot away in the soil

misskool

Refund_Queen wrote: »

Hi all!

Does anyone know what a 'truss' is when it comes to tomatoes?! Tomato feed in B&Q says to start using when the first truss appears and think it might be when flowers first appear?!? Just wondering if i need to water my tomatoes and cucumbers or to feed them as well.

THANKS! x

A truss is when you get the whole arm of tomatoes (it's like the tomatoes on the vine you see in the supermarket but attached to your plant still :rotfl:)

You feed with tomato food when a truss has set, you should be able to see small green tomatoes. My tomatoes have gone insane and have started to flower but because the weather is so cold, they haven't set so I've not started feeding them yet, just a bit of seaweed feed when I remember.

Only feed when the plant is producing fruit (ie your tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes are producing).

If growing under glass, stop after 6 trusses, if outdoors, stop at 4 (just pinch the top out).

jenny12345

hi all another newbe here:beer:

i have a question about my tomato plant i bought it from a garden center 2 weeks ago and have left it out side, today ive moved it round the bak of the house and noticed hundreds of bugs all over it and i dont no what to do, any ideas please

lovelife_3

lynzpower wrote: »

Nope plant the whole loo roll with the soil and plant straight into the ground/ larger container. the cardboard will rot away in the soil

Many thankswill do that today:)

vatic

jenny, is it green fly?

I had a similar thing happen to mine last year. If it is green fly, wasps will come and eat them if they are outside. Mine were inside, so I would trap wasps in my conservatory and they would feast! :P

If it gets really bad, I read (I think on the Gardener's World site) that if you spray the leaves with a dish soap solution it will deter the flies from laying their eggs on the backs of the leaves.

It seemed to work for me, but I honestly don't know for sure if they just all died out, got fried by the sun by being in the conservatory, if the solution was a deterrent or if the wasp ate the mini colony. FYI, spraying the solution on the leaves made them very very sticky, even several months afterwards.

MORPH3US

Hi Lynz.... here is my lone green patty pan...



For anyone else interested, here is my little collection of plants all waiting for the posibility of frost to pass so they can go outside:



And here is my vege patch ready to go. Have just popped raddish, salad onions, lettuce varieties, carrots in there this morning.

vatic

misskool wrote: »

A truss is when you get the whole arm of tomatoes (it's like the tomatoes on the vine you see in the supermarket but attached to your plant still :rotfl:).

Thanks for that misskool! Last year was my first year growing toms and my neighbour kept going on and on about trusses and I was too proud to ask what they were! :rotfl:

elantan

my polytunnel is finally all up .... found more stones and i think i will continue to find them forever ... but we have a polytunnel .... now to carry on filling it