The 2013 'Growing' Chat Thread

katholicos

Another option is to do what i do, if you have a water butt or a largeish container that you can use. I 'steep' the comfrey leaves in a water butt. Mine go in a netting bag so that the tap doesn't get clogged up. So i cut the leaves from the plant, put them in the net bag and in the bag i put a couple of old empty tomato feed bottles....though any will do, the point of the bottles is to keep the net bag floating so i don't have to struggle to get hold of it to put a fresh supply of leaves in.

That water butt is dedicated entirely to homemade comfrey feed, though i do also put non seeding weeds etc in there as well as other bits and pieces i find.

You don't have to have a water butt to do this though. A tub with water in will suffice, just chop up your leaves and bung them in and let them stew...it doesn't smell terribly pleasant, but that isn't a big problem in the scheme of things.

katholicos

Well, how are you all and more importantly, have you sown anything lately ?

I Will update tomorrow on how many seeds have germinated from my previous sowings in windowsill propagator.

Tonight however, i have sown the following and just want to make note on here of what i have sown.

10 th Feb sowings:

2 x orange bell early sweet pepper

2 x lipstick sweet pepper

2x chocolate beauty sweet pepper

2 x cayenne red hot pepper

4 x small modules Bedfordshire champion onion

4 x small modules mixed beetroot

2 x chadwick cherry vine tomato

2 x amish paste vine tomato

2 x urbikany bush tomato

2 x latah bush tomato

2 x black russian tomato

2 x golden sunrise tomato

4 x small modules woodland strawberries

8 x small modules mignonette strawberries

Take care all....and don't forget, spring isn't far off now, even if it doesn't feel like it!

lbnblbnb

This thread has got me so excited about getting sowing! I sorted out all my seeds on Saturday and listed them, I have a huge amount. I need some compost and will have a look for pots and rolls to start off the plants in.

mansars

Well as it was a nice day yesterday and SWMBO was awa visiting her friends I burst into action.

I cleared and moved my wood pile (bits of old fence and wood that I wil get round to using one day), layed some slabs and put together the greenhouse I bought from Homebase with my Nectar points.

After lunch I planted my seven new apple trees that arrived on friday night (2x Stirling Castle, Melrose white, 2x katy and 2 x another one that I cant remember), I then planted up some rhubarb, sweetpeas and repotted my Goji, Honeyberry, Cranberry and appleberry plants tat have been overwintering in the garage.

I had planned to get the grass cut and a tree polarded but it was getting dark and windy...so thought better of it.

My other plants are doing well, with the exception of the Comfrey that is obviously dormant,

Hows everyone else getting on?

midnightraven3

for those who have "old" seeds
get some kitchen paper and dampen it, put 10 seeds on the wet paper, fold it over, and place in a baggie sealed up
leave it 2 weeks

count how many have sprouted (and mutliply that by 10)

70% and over, they are fine
40-70% sew a bit more densely
under 40% they are no good

still not started anything off here yet either
but making paper pots by the dozen in prep:D

Fosterdog

I'm new to the thread, been having a good read and getting some good ideas for my planting.

We're sowing a bit late this year and will probably only start on the weekend.

Sorting through our tubs and pots yesterday I found three very nice carrots still in the ground, they've been hidden away all winter since we harvested what we thought was the last of them, at least I know they will survive later this year so can plant more.

We planted three long cane raspberries (never heard of them before) and a pear tree yesterday thanks to cheap offers at Aldi. Not expecting anything from them this year but last years buys of raspberries, tayberries, cherry tree, plum tree and two varieties of apple tree should give us some fruit this year.

Now need to sort through seeds and see what we already have and what we need to get. I will have to try the 10 seeds on wet paper trick as some of my seeds are from a few years ago.

dad62

Anyone got any advice on what's OK to sow this early. I often have problems with seedlings getting leggy. But I'm guessing it is less of a problem with Onions and Leeks than with other plants.

deniseduck

It depends, if you have a propagator, even a little windowsill one, you can sow tomatoes and peppers now, but the problem will be when they grow big enough to go into bigger pots it will still be too cold to go outdoors, so you need somewhere that will be light enough and warm enough to keep them going until after the frosts. So you could wait a bit and then sow, or you could just buy plants later on. I think you probably will be OK with onions and leeks and they don't need much in the way of warmth either.
If you're thinking of sowing some flower seeds, sweet peas can go in now in seed trays and they're quite hardy so they don't need to stay indoors for long, in fact if you have a cold frame you can sow them in there and then plant them out, usually in about April here in Yorkshire, but depends on where you live and what the weather's like.

Muppet194

Do my sweet peas need to be in my conervatory then? or can i pop them in the greenhouse? I planted them last week, and keeping them on my dinner table in conservatory but having to keep moving everything so we can eat! Did loads of pots of them all covered with sandwich bag hats, I know they have begun to germinate as the cat knocked one pot over and I saw his little root as I quickly popped him back in! All advice gratefully received!!

Margaret54

Hello I will join in too. I grew beautiful strawberries for the first time last year, and we had loads of them. So easy to grow I found. I have seed potatoes to go in as soon as the frosts pass, and will also have a go at growing peas and tomatoes again. Last year was so disappointing, only the strawberries took off, so can't wait to get out there again. I have health problems too and will take it easy and do little bits at a time. It really helps lift my mood being out in the garden, and it will be so nice to read what others are hoping to grow too.:)