veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

misskool

elantan wrote: »

went for a visit to a garden centre today ... how do the rest of you find these places ? i felt so overwhelmed today ... almost went into a panic ... i was looking about and found things i didnt even have a clue i would need ...like a thing that you put around the base of your fruit trees in october and feb to stop some pest invading your trees... so my trees might now get invaded yikes ...

and then there was a seed thingy to put the seeds in ... apparently to space them out better or something

ok i know i wont need most of this stuff .. but what if i do need some stuff and i just dont have anything ... do i need a fleece? or enviromesh ? if so how much

that's why this site is so good ...and this thread brilliant ...i can come on here and ask the seemingly stupid questions and i can learn as i go ...with the understanding that this year yes i will have some produce ...but this year is more about the learning process

I love ogling in garden centres, I rarely buy stuff though. Tree protectors, depends if you're likely to have pests. Mine don't have anything but the trees were here before I arrived. Someone who does fruit trees will help soon.

Seed dibber?

I don't have one, I use the one provided for me (finger!).

Fleece is useful to protect plants when it's a bit cold or like now when there's a sudden cold snap to keep the plants happy. Don't buy from a garden centre though, poundland or wilkos have them cheaper.
Enviromesh is good (but very expensive). It's very fine netting that will give you a break from squishing bugs. You can use netting that has bigger holes (but means you still have to be on bug-watch). Last year we used scaffold (debris) netting. You can buy large rolls of these quite cheaply on ebay.

you can buy as much or as little as you want. Some people don't even buy plant pots

hesjane

Seed dibbers in poundland (£1 each of course:rotfl:)

I did use my fingers, but the dibber is faster and better.

littlestars

Ditto
I know exactly what you mean

I'm learning this year too, produce! Fab but i won't be too disappointed if my yields are small or non existent.

heynonnynonny

elantan wrote: »

went for a visit to a garden centre today ... how do the rest of you find these places ? i felt so overwhelmed today ... almost went into a panic ... i was looking about and found things i didnt even have a clue i would need ...like a thing that you put around the base of your fruit trees in october and feb to stop some pest invading your trees... so my trees might now get invaded yikes ...

and then there was a seed thingy to put the seeds in ... apparently to space them out better or something

ok i know i wont need most of this stuff .. but what if i do need some stuff and i just dont have anything ... do i need a fleece? or enviromesh ? if so how much

that's why this site is so good ...and this thread brilliant ...i can come on here and ask the seemingly stupid questions and i can learn as i go ...with the understanding that this year yes i will have some produce ...but this year is more about the learning process

Completely agree with the garden centres, isn't it stressful going around and if you're anything like me haven't got a great idea of what you are looking at or what to even buy!! It proved costly not doing research before I went up and the temptation got too much and I basically just bought what I liked, I know for next time careful planning IS a must!!

I didn't even know what garden fleece was until I started reading this thread, it's a wonderful thing :rotfl:

heynonnynonny

Dibber? SEED dibber? How handy!! Saves getting a clump of seeds stuck on your finger and sowing willy nilly ending up not knowing where you've sown them

berkshirelady

Hi all!

I'm pleased to be able to report that the 99p shop poly tunnel is working a treat. 3 metal hoops, thread them through the plastic, stick the hoop ends in the ground, 2 mins to put up. I braved the wind and rain earlier and put as many pots as I could underneath. It's now pretty much blowing a gale, but I've tiptoed out to have a look and the polytunnel hasn't blown away yet! and the pots look pretty snug in there.

I'm going to buy 2 more tomorrow. My poor pots are so soggy right now. I do hope I've rescued them in time! fingers x'd...

wishing all you fellow newbies good luck in this horrible weather! xxx

wssla00

Hi guys! Quick question! HELP!!!! My apple tree is flooded! Can i rescue it? Shall i dig it up and put it somewhere else?

paybacktime2008

Just sowed leeks, courgettes and aubergine and one more cucumber to go with the two already growing.


Son was looking in a cupboard yesterday and found a carrier full of seeds.......all sorts....not exactly sure where they came from! But will be using up.

Chillis about an inch high-still on the windowsill
Toms about 2 inch high window sill
Was late chitting my pots but they are showing signs of life
Various other flower seeds doing their thing!

I think the key if you have the room is successional sowing-my friend sowed very early last year, I was late. I was jealous of his garden in June and vice versa in September.

Can't wait to see pics of our harvests.

Furny

Just potted on my peppers,chillis & tomatoes out of there 4inchpot in to smaller pots.
There didn't look many when they where all sown in one large pot but potting them on seperatley made me realise how many i actually had & i had to get rid of a few by choosing the best looking ones with the best roots or i had visions of my decking in summer been a swamp of MR M buckets!.:eek:
Even by getting rid of some my living room south facing windowsill is now almost full now they have there own pots, got family coming to stay in a couple of weeks they are going to think i'm mad!.

elysia2003

Hi everyone. Can I join in please?

I am lucky enough to have a greenhouse, but last year was my first year and hadn't a clue what to grow, so ended up growing only the runners from my strawberry plants.

This year, theres nothing in the greenhouse yet, but I have bought a raised bed for my DD2. She has planted onion sets (not many) just enough to say she's grown some. Carrot seeds, peas (twinkle I think they were) and some salad (an all year around variety).

We only did this yesterday hopefully everything will be ok.

I have tomato plugs, already about two inches high on windowsill, and will plant out spuds into bags at the weekend. Does this sound alright to everyone?

I've only caught the last couple of pages, so I'm off the catch up on the thread from the start. :j