A catalogue of trial, error and advice

ArbitraryRandom

One of my squash seeds has finally decided to show itself a little overnight. I carefully checked the other seed I'd sown and there's no sign of life at all so I've discarded it. 

If all goes well, Harrier are supposed to be harvestable in 90 days or thereabouts, so that's 7th September - which is right before my birthday! 

Just to check my understanding - with veg (butternut squash), plant outside in my prepared bed when it's got at least 2 'real' leaves (so in a week or two)*, water the base of the plant daily when there's no rain forecast, scatter chicken manure pellets weekly**?

*or should I put it in a 5cm pot for a while and transition it to outside first?
** or should I just put some pellets in the hole when i'm planting it out and fertilise with liquid feed weekly?

-taff

Wait until it's got at least two leaves, true ones before planting out so the slugs don't fancy eating it [so much], pot on into a bigger pot when it looks like it's outgrowing that one, feed regularly, water regularly. Clay soil, less watering with mulch because it will stay damp, free draining soil, more watering because it'll go...You can put pellets in the hole to start with, but remember, nitrogen is for leaves, potassium is for fruit. When it starts fruiting, definitely feed then.

ArbitraryRandom

Thanks.

I've got some 'growmore' liquid feed, but I inherited some liquid tomato feed and seaweed meal with the house - might put some seaweed mixed into the soil as internets tell me that's mostly potassium. 

ArbitraryRandom

Before I went to a carboot sale and impulsively bought a dozen strawberry plants... I bought a pack of 100 alpine strawberry seeds and figured I'd have a go growing my own. 

I dutifully sowed and watered and propagated - until today I noticed the roots growing through the little biodegradable pots. 

I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me that 100 seeds would translate to ~100 seedlings... not all made it, of course, but I've stopped for now at 36x5cm pots (some of which contain more than one plant) and I'm only about half way through. 

Send help! 

Farway

AR, another one raising a forest , fortunately Alpine strawberries are tiny, so you may get a spoonful of them for breakfast.

I have wild ones growing at the base of a wall, in shade, they did it themselves, so I assume it suits them & maybe suggest a place for yours

YoungBlueEyes

Foresters unite ha haa! 

Good luck Arb, I hope you have plenty of compost....

ArbitraryRandom

Thankfully compost comes FOC from the local tip as long as I have other things to get rid of at the same time! 

I've done another 12 today before the heat chased me inside and that's all my little pots (50 in total). 

I could probably do another 30 little plants... so I might see what tubs and pots I have around to repurpose. I just really don't like the idea of putting a plant that wants to live on the compost heap. 

But I think once they're grown to size in the 5cm pots they're probably hardy enough to be planted out in the wild. I don't have anywhere to put 70/80 baby strawberry plants, so I might give a couple to the neighbours kids, then look around and see if there's any out of the way places I can put them near footpaths or similar.

There's a dog walking field, but it doubles up as a football pitch and not allowed to grow too wild, but there's also a water company drainage field (for flooding?) which no one is allowed to walk on. I can reach through the fence one dark and quiet night to plant a few rogue plantlets maybe   and there's a wood a couple of miles away. I like the idea of planting some there... but I'm also lazy so we'll see. 

FreeBear

Before you go releasing a plant in the wild, just make sure it isn't an invasive non-native species. Fragaria Vesca grows throughout Europe in the wild and was probably introduced in to this country during the middle ages. It is a plant that is in sharp decline due to the loss of wildflower meadow, so replanting in suitable areas may be a good move.

ArbitraryRandom

Hmm... the packet (and I checked the website as well) says 'Fragaria Vescans'?

That said, I would tend to think that even if it's a cultivated variety/descendent of native woodland strawberries - when it comes to berries in particular, as soon as the birds eat some of the fruit, it's going to be in the wild aways. 

Farway

Oooh,  it seems my wild strawberries are Fragaria Vescans. Great, as I mentioned they just grow at the base of a wall in poor soil or dust

Here's a pic taken yesterday. I scoffed them after tasking their photo, a bit like spiders mating