The all new good, bad and ugly of growing your own in 2020

zafiro1984

Bluesooz:- celery.... I only grow it under cover and sow the self blanching sort not the trench sort. The trick is to grow it as fast as possible and keep it moist at all times. The seeds take about 10 days to germinate and they are very tiny, don't cover the seed as it needs light to germinate. It seems to be very small for a long time and then all of a sudden it springs into activity. I pot it on for a couple of weeks and then plant it out about 30cms apart. Grow it as quickly as possible. It's not like the shop bought stuff, it's more substantial and has a lot more flavour but its still crispy/crunchy. I've had a few disasters where I haven't given them enough water and they have gone stringy on the outside so I use those stalks in stews/soups.  Harvesting - once they are ready you will find it hard to stop eating them but I think they last for about a month in the ground, gradually becoming tough on the outside, again can be frozen and used in stews - hope this helps

zafiro1984

Suffolk Lass A long time ago I had a friend (no, not a friend more of an associate to do with work) They made a high wall surrounding their sunken swimming pool out of all sorts of bottles and had lights installed behind it. Then to add a bit of style they hung wrought iron baskets off it, crammed full of plastic greenery. They were so impressed by the result that they had a path down to the said swimming pool made out of the same material.  It looked horrendous, not my style at all. 

Suffolk_lass

zafiro1984 said:

Suffolk Lass A long time ago I had a friend (no, not a friend more of an associate to do with work) They made a high wall surrounding their sunken swimming pool out of all sorts of bottles and had lights installed behind it. Then to add a bit of style they hung wrought iron baskets off it, crammed full of plastic greenery. They were so impressed by the result that they had a path down to the said swimming pool made out of the same material.  It looked horrendous, not my style at all. 

Sounds a bit lairy for my liking. My grandfather's features were set into mortar so just the filler effect - not too sparkly or OTT.

Sounds as though everyone's efforts are doing well. My tomatoes have been in the seed trays for three weeks now and although loads have germinated, many are still the two-leaved seedlings that are too small to !!!!!! out into pots. I am inclined to sprinkle some John Innes No2 on top of the seed compost (which is only about 3cm deep) so they have a bit more by way of nutrients. I know they are really late but I cook most of what we grow, freezing in bags after washing and de-stalking and then making big jars of passata in the autumn, following an Italian Grandma's (Nonna) recipe from Utube.

It worked well last year and they lasted most of the winter. More importantly, they tasted fantastic!

In the absence of things to go in hanging baskets (normally trailing pelargoniums and blue and white trailing lobelia) I ordered some trailing begonias - these arrived as posted plugs yesterday and must go in today. I did none of my intended potting on yesterday as I spent most of the day fighting with my sewing machine (desperately needs a proper clean and service but that is possible a "when hell freezes over" or at least it is piddling down outside sort of job). So I rethreaded it about 50 times while doing a simple bit of sewing for a neighbour. It wasn't disastrous and he seemed pleased (by text, no contact).

Scrimps

Ive caught up with most of the thread, all growing well
We've done quite a few slug patrols when we had some rain and relocated a load of slugs and snails to the local frog pond - the circle of life....with a little help!
I got over tired which made slugageddon seem very important. 

Last weekend I sowed some parsnips and carrots in the square foot gardening method and planted out some red cabbage and kale. Then one evening this week, some turnips (sweetbell and goldenball) and some radish.  These later things im trying the charles dowding multisowing method.
Last weekend I also cleared the old herb bed I did a half baked attempt at creating last year.  It was full of messy growth, broken slabs which I was using as stepping stones and a few small piles of timber -  a little sluggy heaven.  I have put down a good layer of cardboard and a very thick layer of compost.  I will make this a planting area again but a better kept one  I have come to the conclusion that I really like the untidy potager / nature garden style but the associated pests it harbours is just not worth it for me.  I have one 'wildlife corner' left where I have put logs to rot down and routinely add things to it, it is away from the veg beds but not that far and I see the fox gloves are taking a hammering from slugs/snails so I may clear this one too.  I will have to find another, more tidy way to benefit the wildlife so I dont spend all my time begrudging pests.  We have a thriving woodlice populations and the little blighters take our strawberries too!

Suffolk_lass

Potted on loads of tomatoes while DH planted out french beans, runner beans and borlottis and planted peas direct in the warm soil. Still for a couple of hanging baskets to wrangle with and a container to plant up with last summer's remnants.

peewhyeff

Growbags or alternative growing medium.
I am finding it impossible to source growbags locally.  Can't  browse b&Q website to select which I want without a long wait to join the queue.   I usually grow my tomatoes in large pots in the greenhouse using growbags emptied into the pots , and mixed with some of last years  'used' growbags to bulk it out.  Any suggestions?  I  do have some multipurpose compost, but it doesn't have much life in it compared to what is in growbags. Has anyone ordered from b&q , what have they got, and prices please.  

-taff

Just get some common or garden fertiliser, blood fish and bone for example and add it to your multi purpose. No need to get a gro bag. As long as you feed the toms with tomorite or similar [ lots of potassium] when they set fruit it'll be fine. I use mulyi purpose every year for my toms in pots. Hasn't harmed them yet.

peewhyeff

-taff said:

Just get some common or garden fertiliser, blood fish and bone for example and add it to your multi purpose. No need to get a gro bag. As long as you feed the toms with tomorite or similar [ lots of potassium] when they set fruit it'll be fine. I use mulyi purpose every year for my toms in pots. Hasn't harmed them yet.

Thanks taff. Good to know someone has used, and got results,  using standard  multipurpose.   I don't think it will be a problem getting B.F. and B locally, and I already have Tomorite.  I have garden compost which is ok in the garden, but I don't think it's good enough for getting good results in pots.

zafiro1984

-taff said:

Just get some common or garden fertiliser, blood fish and bone for example and add it to your multi purpose. No need to get a gro bag. As long as you feed the toms with tomorite or similar [ lots of potassium] when they set fruit it'll be fine. I use mulyi purpose every year for my toms in pots. Hasn't harmed them yet.

If you have an open fire/woodburner and burn wood use the ash as it's rich in potassium/potash - I put it around my fruit bushes as well (Potash and potassium are not identical but work the same way)

carinjo

peewhyeff the B&Q site has a loud bell sound once it your turn to access site, you can carry on on other sites etc. My first try, took almost a week to get things, but the staff said that they finally got a handle on orders and it should be faster now (that was a week ago). I was lucky in that i have 3 stores in my area, so could pick which had everything though.
-taff thanks for the advice on the tomatoes!

Yesterday woke up early to an overcast day. Sun and my skin don't like each other, so hurried to the allotment and managed about 4hours before it became too hot for me! Done 2 raised beds and planted some beets, turnips and leaf beet. Prepared another raised bed for lettuce, parsnip and radishes.
Have an unfortunate issue with marestail, swear i could see it growing as i was taking a break! Done a bit of reading and looks like bark chippings is just a lovely breeding ground, so will carry on with grass paths for now. 
Doing a week of early shifts this week coming, so will adjust my mind set for going to plot after work. The early mornings the last month have been wonderful though.