Square Foot Gardening (Merged Thread)

Larumbelle

Officially it's a 'no' for carrots and potatoes, but I always plant some about now and have no problems. Just be careful of carrot root flys - best way is to grow carrots near spring onions, if you decide to do them, and to put netting over them (i use an old net curtain draped over old canes).

BigDonut

Thanks for the replies.

Been thinking about the mixes to put in the boxes.
Vermiculite seems very expensive per litre so I was considering whether its really needed.

Was thinking about trying this water retaining compost(http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/invt/0261820)
mixed with some standard compost.
Hopefully that will give a strong level of nutrients and enough water retention capability to do the job.

I guess its a try and see what happens but does anyone have any thoughts on it before I take the plunge

Cheers

Larumbelle

I have used this compost. It's okay but not 'that' good at retaining moisture IMHO.

I used vermiculite but nowhere near as much as SFG recommends. I used 1 litre of perlite and 1 litre of vermiculite per bed, the beds are 4ft by 2.5ft by 1ft (sorry no good at maths to tell you what proportion of the volume is).

Vermiculite is good because it traps trace minerals as well as water.Personally I think a bit of vermiculite is good but 'feeding' your growing medium is far more important.


Hope this helps.

Filey

If you buy vermiculite at a garden centre it is more expensive if it has been weighed out into 10 litre bags. Many garden centres/nurseries sell it in 100 L bags which cost about £16. If you go to a builders merchants they sell the coarser grade used for insulation about £14. The SFG book recommends industrial grade which I assume is the builders merchant stuff. Ask at more than one builders merchants before you buy - the price may differ.

BigDonut

Thanks for the info both of you.

silvercharming: 4ft x 2.5ft x 1ft is 10 cubic feet which is about 280 Litres so your 2L is a very small ratio.

What do you use for "feeding"? I currently use tomato feed for tomatos and a pepper palnt I have indoors.

Larumbelle

If you buy vermiculite from a builders merchant, make sure it is marked ASBESTOS FREE. Some of the insulation grade contains small traces of asbestos, which it is astoundingly still allowed to do.

Donut, I know that my perlite and vermiculite is a small ratio - I do believe that feeding your plot with good quality organic matter is more important. The thing about the SFG book is that it is designed to run the whole gamut of US climates, and that much vermiculite is really not necessary for non-specialised gardening in the UK.

I do tend to use tomato feed on everything, about once every 7-10 days and twice as often when they're setting fruit. I also use chicken manure pellets, blood and bone and seaweed in each bed before I plant it up. And I used to use rotted manure, which I don't think I will use anymore. Someone has suggested rock basalt as an alternative.

2cats1kid

Vermiculite in Wilkos is £1.49 for 5l, as opposed to garden centres which are charging £4.99 for 5l. I'm planning on grabbing a couple of bags each time I'm in for something else.

Something has eaten all my turnips . I'm guessing it's a bit late now to try again with them, but I might have a crack, just for the sake of trying LOL. Whatever it is doesn't like carrots though (at least not yet) and the swedes are doing well, so I'm trying to focus on the positive.

My third bed is constructed, and because it is on a pretty weedy bit of ground I have put down a pretty thick layer of corrugated cardboard on the bottom to suppress them a bit. Figure it will rot into the soil in due course. I've started filling it, but need more compost, and have put the mesh over to stop the cats thinking it is a litter tray. Might make a start on my 4th (and last, for now) bed tomorrow.

I say for now, as I am casting covetous eyes at our (largely useless) front garden, which used to be grass and is now heathers, hebes, and other ground cover type things, and looks a mess (but at least a mess that we don't need to mow!). We are at the end of a driveway, so people don't walk past, and I'm thinking 6" deep beds rather than the 12" deep ones that I've put in at the back. I'm also thinking maybe some fruit bushes rather than just the veg we have at the back. But I'm also thinking maybe I should get a season's experience with the 4 veg beds at the back beforehand. What do you reckon? Rack up some experience, or jump in with both feet?

JenniO

Hi

I have fruit bushes in my SFG but I did use 12 inch planters for them as I was worried about the roots. However, I bought 'dwarf' self-fertile fruit bushes which i think is important. They are doing surprisingly well!

Here's a pic of my 'fruit cage' built with the fruit planters in it I just took a week ago: http://homemattersmost.blogspot.com/2008/07/square-foot-gardening-july-update-pt-1.html

jen

meanmarie

We have 4boxes of 4x 4 feet and grew carrots, shallots, peas, beans, tomatoes (OH's idea) beetroot, kohlrabi, cabbage and spinach this year...came back from 6 weeks away at the beginning of July to discover that somewhere along the line some potatoes had found their way in and grown well..patches becoming overgrown so we 'harvested' our potato crop on Wednesday and had about 2 k potatoes which would have grown bigger if I could have given them the time.

The only thing that I would be careful about is cabbage, we have red and a couple of other varieties but they take up a lot of space, so will have to plant them somewhere else next year.

Spring onions planted now thickly will give you a supply for the whole winter...spinach is a wonderful winter crop and I found the asian mixed leaves or some such lasted very well through last winter, as a salad when young and stir fried when more mature.

Give it a try is my advice to anyone, you will have failures but so many more successes and will feel so proud to be able to produce anything to go on the table...which will be much more healthy than you can ever buy

Marie

Bunny200

Right I've built my bed, filled it with peat, soil improver & vermilicite, got the chicken manure on standby. Deceided what I'm going to grow, need to order the seeds from Alan Roman and I'm soooo excited! Hope something grows!