Next steps; grip-relaxing bimbling, and avoiding the temptations

foxgloves

Yes, I thought washing jelly off tomato seeds looked like a faff too, though I usually buy tomato seeds. I need an F1 variety which resists blight, as it's quite a bad area for it here.

Suffolk_lass

foxgloves said:

Yes, I thought washing jelly off tomato seeds looked like a faff too, though I usually buy tomato seeds. I need an F1 variety which resists blight, as it's quite a bad area for it here.

@foxgloves If you want to try Black Russian in a greenhouse, I can send you a few to try for free. I have never had a blight issue with them. My mitigation is to always grow tomatoes in pots of new compost, and to spread the spend tomato pot contents on the flower beds, not the veg beds. I also only grow second early new salad potatoes to ensure early harvest and crumbly soil so I can grow carrots that are reasonably straight. Back to tomatoes, it is the Italian Costaluto varieties (genovese and fiorentina) that I have most trouble with. Blink and you have bottom end rot! I can see why the F1s are essential for you if you grow outside. I have/had blight in potatoes, two beds, twice in one, once in the other, hence my modification of what I grow now. I've also got a 15kg bag of pelleted chicken manure to try as my fertiliser next year, instead of three bulk bags that seemed to introduce new pesky weeds!

foxgloves

That's kind of you, @Suffolk_lass. I could probably fit a couple in - I mostly grow 'Roma' in the greenhouse & an anti-blight variety "Oh happy day" outside. My friend gave me a 'Costaluto' to try & it  took up a lot of space for very few fruits.....before getting chomped by a badger! I wouldn't bother with it again. 
Would you like to do a swap as I have saved a decent batch of this year's Guatemalan Blue Squash seeds, which are drying beautifully. This variety has always 'come true' from saved seed - they are big rugby ball ones, not the banana-type & are orange inside like a butternut.
F

Suffolk_lass

foxgloves said:

That's kind of you, @Suffolk_lass. I could probably fit a couple in - I mostly grow 'Roma' in the greenhouse & an anti-blight variety "Oh happy day" outside. My friend gave me a 'Costaluto' to try & it  took up a lot of space for very few fruits.....before getting chomped by a badger! I wouldn't bother with it again. 
Would you like to do a swap as I have saved a decent batch of this year's Guatemalan Blue Squash seeds, which are drying beautifully. This variety has always 'come true' from saved seed - they are big rugby ball ones, not the banana-type & are orange inside like a butternut.
F

Ooh, That would be lovely, yes please, @foxgloves. I will switch to PM you. If you want anything else seed wise, I have collected a few flowers; hollyhocks, Stachys (lambs ears), cornflower, lupin, - and I went mad with sweet peas so say if you would like some.