Awful weather - typical Brits talk

greenbee

Farway said:

greenbee said:

Fairway - no fruit or veg in mine (apart from a very neglected scabby apple). Shrubby in a ‘supermarket carpark’ style. Or at least it was. Most of them have now gone through the chipper 😂

Sorry if my remark seemed critical in any way, it's just DD had fruit in her old garden, making jam etc from it, so I think in her case fruit is a good idea.

I'm desperate to get fruit in mine. Or anything interesting come to that We did unearth some camellias, and there are masses of purple crocuses that we'd never have seen if the shrubs had been left. I'm not sure whether it's a renovation or a complete blank slate. 

I currently have 2 HUGE full compost bins, one pile of stuff that's well-rotted enough to use, a builders' bag of leaves, a builders' bag of leaves and twigs, a builders bag of chipped wood, more bags of leaves and twigs waiting to be composted, and three (probably 4 soon) huge piles of chipped wood. It will all be composted eventually! And hopefully feed some fruit. 

twopenny

Farway, I've found the trick with finding plants wherever these days is they bring them out in flower a month or so before you want them.
I asked in the garden centre a couple of years ago why they had no aubritia in March and after some pfaffing it came down to 'we sell them out of season'

If I have time I'm hoping to get to the garden centre to buy a tomato grow bag. Cheaper for seeding compost than the labelled stuff 

ArbitraryRandom

I've wondered before - is there anything special about the tomato bag soil (higher nitrates than bog standard compost or whatever), or is it just compost in a long bag with spacing marked? 

Because as you say, sometimes it's cheaper per litre than the other stuff and at the end of season they can be marked down locally to ~£3

Farway

ArbitraryRandom said:

I've wondered before - is there anything special about the tomato bag soil (higher nitrates than bog standard compost or whatever), or is it just compost in a long bag with spacing marked? 

Because as you say, sometimes it's cheaper per litre than the other stuff and at the end of season they can be marked down locally to ~£3

It's a special mix, sort of

Has wetting & more drainage, plus tomato stuff, like extra potash.

However, I'm fairly certain every supplier is different, no doubt Levington bag is very different from the cheapo stuff I buy

Last year I just emptied cheap tom bags into pots and grew in that with good results

I think for seeds it may not be "fine" enough but depends on seeds, beans better than say lettuce

Paspatur

@Farway love the new signature. Don't love that it is true
Total freak out today, looked out the kitchen door window and the automatic window on the greenhouse was hanging upside down and inside out on the outside of the greenhouse just held by the arm mechanism. No idea what happened. I hate step ladders but as it was banging itself in the wind against one of the aluminium edges I was terrified it would smash so climbed up and slotted it back in. Wasn't 100% happy so got someone else to check it. Still not convinced it is slotted securely.
Will call Rhino tomorrow and ask advice. 

ArbitraryRandom

Farway said:

ArbitraryRandom said:

I've wondered before - is there anything special about the tomato bag soil (higher nitrates than bog standard compost or whatever), or is it just compost in a long bag with spacing marked? 

Because as you say, sometimes it's cheaper per litre than the other stuff and at the end of season they can be marked down locally to ~£3

Has wetting & more drainage, plus tomato stuff, like extra potash.

So, from what I'm reading, would also be good for the potatoes I'm planting this year...? (which shouldn't be surprising O guess as they are related)  

twopenny

Poppy, yes the hessian ones will work.
You could use a bin bag with some big cuts in it and pop that in to keep the muck and moisture in.
Trim down and staple the bag to the rim so it stays put.
Should be attractive - and look like an expert  . 
https://gardentherapy.ca/growing-tomatoes-peppers-and-herbs-in-burlap-grow-bags/

I like the metal basket - and strawberries hung up.
Time for another trawl of the charity shops !

Dustyevsky

ArbitraryRandom said:

I've wondered before - is there anything special about the tomato bag soil (higher nitrates than bog standard compost or whatever), or is it just compost in a long bag with spacing marked? 
Because as you say, sometimes it's cheaper per litre than the other stuff and at the end of season they can be marked down locally to ~£3

 I'm not keen on the tomato bag stuff, but if others find it OK, or even good, who am I to gainsay them? Frankly, I've never entirely got over the loss of sphagnum peat, but it was for a good cause. 'Fraid I spend out on good compost, especially for seeds, and even then, I tweak it with vermiculite, grit coir etc. It probably makes little difference, but I'm potting compost's equivalent to hi-fi nutters, who think they can hear the difference gold-plated connections make!

 OTOH, I'm also lucky enough to garden on soil that can be mixed with old compost, some sand/grit and slow-release fertilizer to make a passable copy of John Innes no3.   

It stayed sunny here all day, so Mrs Dusty and I went on several garden-related missions, but drove past Rosemoor. We still managed to return home in time for me to finish the concrete step at the east end of the polytunnel; a job which has waited for 2 consecutive dryish days! We didn't go indoors until 6pm, when at least 4 blackbirds were giving it all they'd got from various tall vantage points. It almost felt like May! What a difference a day makes.

Oh, and the car fluid leak is just a pipe.....but the front bumper and a ton of other stuff must come off to reach it!

YoungBlueEyes

I'm no expert (!) but when my toms finished last year I slung carefully distributed the soil round my garden. It'll have been a bit depleted of goodness but it seemed a shame to just bin it. So I put it round the base of my roses and trees and bushes. Nobody died *shrug*

That's a brilliant sign Dusty. Make a good avatar would that Good news that your car has nothing majorly wrong with it, but dismantling still sounds a bit expensive... 

I don't know what my sing-every-song-bird is pp cos I haven't seen it. I was picturing something blackie/starling sized, that's how big it sounded. Gawd it gonna be a starling isn't it I'll keep my eye out for a wren though... :fingerscrossed:

Good luck with Rhino pas. It might be a 2 minute job and they'll either send someone right out or talk you through it  

OT Mild out there but less so than it has been. Another grand drying day, possibly, so my last wash is on. Did anyone see the weather forecast last night?
A huge slow moving low pressure rain-filled swirling mess is on it's way and we're allll dooooomed! So I checked the app and the drunkards have given heavy showers at 1500-1700. They don't care do they!  

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

Good luck with Rhino pas. It might be a 2 minute job and they'll either send someone right out or talk you through it

Or maybe you'll wake to find 4 blokes sitting on top of it!

Hope not!

It appears not to be very sunny today, but we're promised 11c and the big blob of precipitation ("slow moving low pressure rain-filled swirling mess") out to the west seems like it may head into Wales and on to Yorkshire. My concrete's going to be OK anyway.  

Tomorrow, another yellow rain morning...... It's not a great time for those of us with septic tanks!