veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

Alcmene

Yes I have some netting. How do you guys get to your plants with netting round. I would love to see some photos of your beds to give me some ideas.

I have got some cloches and the little rascals love climbing into them and snoozing!

mutley74

Alcmene wrote: »

I finally have some life from my parsnip seeds, they took WEEKS though!

I am a little bit sad, I have lost everything I planted in one of my raised beds. It has become a cat toilet. I don't know what to do to keep them out!

unfortunately you cant use guns on cats in this country.
I had neighbours cat causing £000's of damage to our cars.
I bought a cat repeller from Wilko at £20 seems to haev helped alonng side loads of barbed wire under the fence and under bushes.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Big-Cheese-Cat-Repeller/dp/B000NR8Q1U
also a good water gun is handy!

Alcmene

mutley74 wrote: »

unfortunately you can use guns on cats in this country.
I had neighbours cat causing £000's of damage to our cars.
I bought a cat repeller from Wilko at £20 seems to haev helped alonng side loads of barbed wire under the fence and under bushes.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Big-Cheese-Cat-Repeller/dp/B000NR8Q1U
also a good water gun is handy!

erm, I have no desire to shoot my own cats, or anyone else's for that matter.

Orange_King

Alcmene wrote: »

Yes I have some netting. How do you guys get to your plants with netting round. I would love to see some photos of your beds to give me some ideas.

I have got some cloches and the little rascals love climbing into them and snoozing!

The netting is pinned to one side of the bed (mine runs alongside a fence so the netting angles down from back to front) and then I stake it round the others, using bottles on top of canes to stop the netting slipping through.

kazire

mines just caught around the corners which hold ok then a bamboo sticks in the middle of each side to hold it more in place,
I can understand how cats can cause damage i have a soft top car which the colour of material is black and cats love it especially this one white cat! so havta get the parcel tape out to get the hair off which is annoying also one cat invites itself in the house if we have the door open - the cat is lovely thou! also while waiting for landlord to replace shed as it had a gap in it cats slept in there over my bench/chair cushions

rosy798

I would like to join in as well please. Did grow a little last year, quite well too, but want to grow more this year. So far my toms are doing very well in the unheated greenhouse, Gardeners Delight, Red Cherry, and Garden Pearl, the hanging type for baskets. Cucs and courgettes sturdy little dudes. Chillis are still puny so have put them out today to try to beef 'em up abit, and will bring them in tonight. Carrots and potatoes in pots outside all doing great guns, no sign of the parsnips yet, same as others on here. Rubarb I planted has already died, and the frost and snails have almost finished off my Kiwi, put egg shells around it now. I think next year i will plant a bit later because all this fetching in and out is killing me!!!!

cc369

Do give the drowned slugs to the birds - don't think they're affected by the alcohol. Friends have suggested sprinkling pepper or chili powder in cat-prone areas during dry spells. Less harsh deterrents are strong pleasant smelling herbs/plants like peppermint or lavender - I scatter leaves/flowers and sometimes used tea bags but have not done any monitoring so can't say how effective this is!

[Deleted User]

I am a beginner., last year was my first year of growing anything, and learning fast. I am a bit late planting seeds and now have more pots than I have window sill space lol. The downstairs sills are the only one's deep enough to take pots.

So.., as its too cold here to keep seedling outside (I do have a cold frame but nothing was growing in there so I brought them all in, put what I could on my windowsills with space and they are now sprouting). But I have run out of window sill space downstairs and I need something that will make my windowsills upstairs deeper lol (pvc windows) as I need to bring these seeds on having started late. I know this is an odd request.., but has anyone here managed to figure out a way? They are mostly eating plants (tom's, french beans, courgette, mixed lettuce, chilli, sweet peppers, basil etc plus some lavender and dahlias). I am also sprouting some potatoes.

Also is there a good website about how to grow tomatoes (for beginners). I didn't do so well with understanding what a truss is myself last year and when to feed., whether u should thin down the 'branches' and which ones, and how (my father told me I should just leave one or two strong ones but didn't give any details) so I just ended up getting one or two tomatoes off each plant, which wasn't overly encouraging lol.

jimbugalee

Hi all, just joined this thread. I'm not a total newby to veg as did grow some last year but I may have got a bit carried away this year.
I have some courgettes and french beans in peat pots on the windowsill but they are getting too big for their pots and dying Still too cold to plant them outside? I have some radishes outside which seem to be doing ok.

Any help appreciated

heynonnynonny

You can harden them off by putting outside in the day and bringing in at night, sounds like they need repotting, my courgettes needed a much bigger pot after almost just 2 weeks!!