veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

izzwizz_2

mutley74 wrote: »

I have lots of ants crawling all over my raised bed! not surw where they are coming from. I did but some ant powder around the sides of the bed (outside) but that does not seem to get rid of the ones on the bed....
are ant a risk to my plants? if so whats the best way to get rid of them without using chemicals if poss?

ants won't harm your veg, but look at the plants closely & check for greenfly under the leaves (ants will farm greenfly for the sticky sweet stuff they produce). You can try boiling water or a flame thrower on the ants if you find the nest. Keep those chemicals away from your veg - you don't want to poison yourself! I once read that a buddhist way is to mix icing sugar with baking soda (the ants' own greed kills them - they're supposed to explode if they eat too much:eek:). Wouldn't personally recommend this though, I suspect they'll be attracted by the sugar :rotfl:

izzwizz_2

katholicos - fab piccies, you've been busy!!! Well done, it all looks lovely.

mutley74

katholicos wrote: »

I've been enjoying the garden and am really pleased to see things growing. Rather than add zillions of photos in this post, i'm hoping this link works so you can have a look around my back garden - it's a work in progress, almost exclusively fruit and veggie growing for me at moment.

Link

Wow you must be very busy cant believe how you have made use of all your garden space!

Izzwizz - thanks for the tip re: ants. I will have a closer look to see what the ants are up to.

soul619

izzwizz wrote: »

I once read that a buddhist way is to mix icing sugar with baking soda (the ants' own greed kills them - they're supposed to explode if they eat too much:eek:). Wouldn't personally recommend this though, I suspect they'll be attracted by the sugar :rotfl:

semolina's meant to do the same thing too

izzwizz_2

No problem mutley, I'll be thinking about you on your hands & knees amongst the undergrowth tomorrow peering at the plants
katholicos - meant to say, they've got a really good selection of potting-on pots in our poundstretcher extra (and they're hugely cheaper than B&Q!). I bought another half a dozen window boxes tonight. (thinking of starting a "confession" thread for all the non money-saving I've been up to lately )

katholicos

izzwizz wrote: »

No problem mutley, I'll be thinking about you on your hands & knees amongst the undergrowth tomorrow peering at the plants
katholicos - meant to say, they've got a really good selection of potting-on pots in our poundstretcher extra (and they're hugely cheaper than B&Q!). I bought another half a dozen window boxes tonight. (thinking of starting a "confession" thread for all the non money-saving I've been up to lately )

I never thought of Poundstretcher! What a great idea, thanks izzwizz!

sarymclary

Katholicos - wow! you've got such a huge amount of stuff going on in your garden, and it all looked very organised too. Well done. I've bought good value large tubs from Poundstretcher/Instore, and they're pretty good quality too.

I've got some Homebase wilted bargains this week too, and a bit of plant feed and tlc has brought them bursting back to life. One of them is a standard fuschia that I've planted up in a nice wooden tub as a birthday gift for my 2nd eldest sister. I just have to strap it carefully into the car to make the 100 mile journey to visit her tomorrow, and hope it survives! I got 2 lovely rhododendrons half price too, and they are beginning to look absolutely fantastic. They had bedding plants and hanging basket plants at less than half price too, so £1.49 for 6 plants was good value, and they're all good sizes too, and beginning to flower, so my hanging baskets are good to go now.

I bought some of the Asda compost this week, and it's dreadfully straw-like, or just lots of fibre, like coconut (as someone else said). I'm sure it'll be ok for larger tubs, or putting around the potatoes, but it doesn't look good enough to use for seedlings. Fortunately I have a good quality compost from the garden centre for that. I'm also using some moisture granules in the hanging baskets and flowering pots to help keep them watered well. I had problems last year with them drying out so much, and this seems to be doing the trick.

mutley74

sarymclary wrote: »

I bought some of the Asda compost this week, and it's dreadfully straw-like, or just lots of fibre, like coconut (as someone else said). I'm sure it'll be ok for larger tubs, or putting around the potatoes, but it doesn't look good enough to use for seedlings. Fortunately I have a good quality compost from the garden centre for that. I'm also using some moisture granules in the hanging baskets and flowering pots to help keep them watered well. I had problems last year with them drying out so much, and this seems to be doing the trick.

Agree the Asda stuff is terrible for seedlings, too thick and too much grass like material in it.
I would have taken all the bags back if they were not so bulky and heavy:p
Think a poster said Wickes compost is good. I know Erin compost was very fine and ideal for seedlings but was also very dry.

vish_2

Just bought some onion sets (turbo) half price at Wilkos. Can anyone tell me if too late to sow them now?

Thanks

heynonnynonny

kimmee wrote: »

I'm jealous cos I've still only got one for my wigwam :rotfl:

Think I may stick it in with my wigwam of peas to stop it getting too lonely!!!

Lol, I was trying to think who it was I'd discussed the one bean issue with, I think I have 2 now which is a start to the wigwam I don't actually have yet. Going to wait and see before getting any canes don't want to get my hopes up just yet!!