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veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

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  • Soubrette
    Soubrette Posts: 4,118 Forumite
    lolly5648 wrote: »
    What do you mean "surround the bed with a foot of fleece"? Do you mean cover the whole bed with fleece and tuck in the sides?

    Put up four wooden posts in the corners of your raised bed and then tack a foot high piece of fleece all around it. Make sure there are absolutely no gaps.

    Apparently carrot flies are low flyers and this prevents them getting to your crop.

    Some websites do recommend covering your carrots with a fleece but of course you will have to uncover it sometimes (to weed etc)

    Sou
  • soullessfire
    soullessfire Posts: 86 Forumite
    To all the people overwatering - keep an eye in poundland. My local one has moisture meters for a quid, and I think the one in Wilko was only 3 or 4 quid. Been using one since my beans rotted from being too damp and it's taking the guesswork out of it for me.

    Also got a nifty little outdoors thermometer to stick on the window (about £1.50 from Wilko), so I can ignore the blinkin weatherman and see the temperatures at night and decide whether I'll bring stuff indoors or not.
  • Bitsy_Beans
    Bitsy_Beans Posts: 9,640 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I have my first pea pods :j:j:j
    I also have 14 spare tomato plants :rotfl::rotfl: I've kept 6 of my own as it is - Freecycle here we come :D I have no idea why I germinated so many, I don't even like tomatoes unless they are blitzed in a sauce :o
    Finally drizzly here so hopefully my empty water butt will be empty no longer.
    My carrots are coming on a treat. I sowed some of the free carrots from Digin a week or so ago and they have germinated. No idea if they will survive as all my main crop of carrots are in massive pots at a height higher than carrot root fly can go to. The free ones are in a little trough so will probably not survive knowing my luck!
    I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you it'll be with a knife :D Louise Brooks
    All will be well in the end. If it's not well, it's not the end.
    Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars
  • stilernin
    stilernin Posts: 1,217 Forumite
    I have my first pea pods :j:j:j
    I also have 14 spare tomato plants :rotfl::rotfl: I've kept 6 of my own as it is - Freecycle here we come :D I have no idea why I germinated so many,


    Everybody sows too many seeds and, even with this knowledge, goes on to pot them up!! It is the madness that is called gardening :o

    I use Freecycle a lot, but I wonder if a charity shop might take them? No doubt, like all of us, you will be looking for suitable foster parents for all your babies. The thought of homeless plants keeps me awake at nights.
  • Megansmum
    Megansmum Posts: 327 Forumite
    100 Posts
    :o *cough cough*, if anyone lives near derby and needs a foster parent for tomatoes or cucumbers, i have references!! Lol. I could do with a couple of each as i lost most of my toms and all my cucs in a cold spell!:mad:

    (thanks janey, i will get a spray bottle today and attack the trees!!)
    2009 - Attempting to grow my own Kitchen garden..... :o did it!!!
    2010 - Attempting to make my garden a beautiful place for dd2 to enjoy!
  • mutley74
    mutley74 Posts: 4,033 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Soubrette wrote: »
    Put up four wooden posts in the corners of your raised bed and then tack a foot high piece of fleece all around it. Make sure there are absolutely no gaps.

    Apparently carrot flies are low flyers and this prevents them getting to your crop.

    Some websites do recommend covering your carrots with a fleece but of course you will have to uncover it sometimes (to weed etc)

    Sou

    What do you mean "low flyers"? my raised bed is about 9" high. But my radishes in my oak barrel were perfect..weird!
    Is there no other method of deterring/preventing pests?

    I did read somewhere about use of choped garlic in a water spray bottle with a drop of washing up liquid for for green fly...would that work for these flies? also does this mixture actually work, i have not tried it yet.

    I have lots of swede and beetroot seedings to plant out soon, but really dont want to plant them to carrot fly can use them as well.
  • floyd
    floyd Posts: 2,722 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I had a speculative rummage in my potato bags today and got enough golf-ball sized Rocket potatoes to have with our roast :j:j:j

    Think I will leave them another week or so as there were a few weeny ones in there as well that clearly need longer.

    I am thinking of harvesting my beetroot tomorrow as they have been grown in containers and are now big enough to eat as baby beets, plus it means I can use the tops like spinach as I had a little taste today and they are delicious.

    It also means I can get a second sowing on the go!
  • kimmee
    kimmee Posts: 680 Forumite
    500 Posts
    floyd wrote: »
    I had a speculative rummage in my potato bags today and got enough golf-ball sized Rocket potatoes to have with our roast :j:j:j

    Think I will leave them another week or so as there were a few weeny ones in there as well that clearly need longer.

    I am thinking of harvesting my beetroot tomorrow as they have been grown in containers and are now big enough to eat as baby beets, plus it means I can use the tops like spinach as I had a little taste today and they are delicious.

    It also means I can get a second sowing on the go!

    The leaves of beetroot are really tasty - I don't like beets but grow them especially for the leaves - harvested my first lot yesterday to go with my salad leaves and spinach and they were gorgeous. I've got loads on the go.

    My chillis and peppers have got the tiniest flowere and today I saw the very first flower on my Gardeners Delight :j

    And tomorrow it's not going to be raining, lovely lots of rain today and water butts full again.........what a good weekend :D
  • Kittenkirst
    Kittenkirst Posts: 2,468 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Evening all! My boyf and I were lucky enough to finally get our allotment in April (after i had put in a raised bed in the in-laws garden as had given up hope!) so lots of veg growing has been occuring since March!

    Quick q: does anyone know how to tell the diff between courgette, cucumber, aubergine and pumpkin seedlings? I had a little mix up with the labels and now cant tell what they are or if they are all just the same plant (there are 40 very styrong plants out in the greenhouse but am reluctant to transplant them all if all cucumbers!!! :)

    Tried doing a google images but all the pics that came up looked similar to my uneducated eyes!!
    First home- Oct’16 until June’21: £170.995- Overpayments made £13,784 (25% extra!).
    New forever home- Sep’21 £309,449 @ 2.05%. Plan to clear it before 30 years!!!!!!
  • lynzpower
    lynzpower Posts: 25,311 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    kitten if you can post up pics might be able to help you out!
    :beer: Well aint funny how its the little things in life that mean the most? Not where you live, the car you drive or the price tag on your clothes.
    Theres no dollar sign on piece of mind
    This Ive come to know...
    So if you agree have a drink with me, raise your glasses for a toast :beer:
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