Show Us Your Veg Patch - You Know You Want To!! (Merged Thread)

MRSMCAWBER

Afternoon all

Well we are on I think the 8th day in a row of glorious sunshine :eek:..Today has been that hot I managed to get the lawn strimmed and have left the mowing for when hubby gets home ...
This is the view from the back -now the sun has disappeared over the other side :DIt makes it so tempting to start shoving things outside -but Im resisting as I know it will snow if I do ..the sweet potato slips that "need 150 days of warmth" actually had flagging leaves earlier as it was that hot

I was out at 8am putting my new strawberries into their bags -I have some of those tube bags that I have hung on every fence post :Tand I still need to get some more strawbs whilst they are 50c each :j
Can't wait to start seeing all the updated pictures this year -my garden is totally different to last year -well the way I am using the space has..
Here are a few of my little brassicas -they are coming on nicely now...




Have got my peas set in loo roll tubes today -5 varieties..so next week will be the beans ..all 12 varieties I think
Hope everyone is getting lots done

hathor

Hi everybody.
Like many of you, my window ledges are filling up with germinating seeds and potted-on seedlings waiting to go out into the big containers. I use bought-in compost, as I don't have the resources to make my own, and I'm beginning to wonder if it's full of fly eggs or something.
I have loads of little flies around the area where my "nursery" pots are: some in the kitchen & some in the bedroom. As you can imagine, I'm getting pretty fed up with the insects.
Can anyone suggest what I might do about it? I'm assuming the compost is the source, but I don't know how to get rid of the flies. The windows are mostly closed, incidentally.
I did think of getting a venus fly trap, but after looking them up on th'internet, I don't think that's the answer.
Any clues, help, advice please? I'm hoping I'm not the only one with this particular problem

Money_saving_Diva_2

Hi there

These are fungus gnats and they love damp soil. They don't actually do too much damage to your plants and probably haven't arrived via the soil, but just found you and your plants!

I had this problem last year in everything I was growing on my windowsills. I did a lot of research and asked for help and this is how I got rid of them.

First of all I bought some cheap ground cinnamon and sprinkled it on the soil of the pots. The adult flies hate the smell apparently. Then I put a layer of sharp sand over the entire surface of the pot, about half an inch thick, covering all the soil. This stops the larvae climbing out and the adults burying down.

Oh yes, I was told just letting my soil dry out would work but I found that once I watered again they just returned, so the two pronged attack was what finally stopped them!

Hope that helps and good luck hon!

Diva.x

hathor

Thanks for that, MSD. As you say, they don't seem to bother the plants, but they sure bother me! Cinnamon & sharp sand, here we come.

My home currently reverberates to the sound of clapping hands, as everybody attempts to squish any of the flies that come within reach - not a great atmosphere, I think...

Dominic4975

ill post sum pics of mine nxt wk

mcspanna

paintpot wrote: »

Thanks mcspanna, well done you! Which veggies etc need to be protected and for how long do you all reckon? I am about to start sowing seeds and don't want things to be bitten by the cold so I am going to start saving bottles and using them like you mcspanna! :T

Thanks paintpot but I'm really no expert...just spend far too much time on here and the BBC gardening messageboards! The only rule to follow is if in doubt cover it to be on the safe side - until you get round to googling is to find out if it actually needs it! Depending on where you are in the country you may still get Frosts into June - just go with your instinct or as I tend to do - bung it in and see what happens :rotfl:

Finally got around to planting out my 3 potato tubers today :rotfl:


Also tidied up the other half of my 'plot'; earthed up the potatos which have sprung up on their own (in the bag under the tap - from some I obviously missed when I dug up last years first earlies!) they look very healthy so I thought I'd leave them where they are and see what happens!

Also made a bean pole wigwam and planted out 2 mangetout (in the corner by the downspout):

The non-veg in front of the door is a very large sedum spectible that I divided last weekend and various plants grown from tubers/corms etc bought in february and raised in the garage. They are only in my veg plot because I'm re-doing a flowerborder from scratch and it's not ready to have them back - I need to at least attempt to sort out the bindweed first! :eek:

SEE

Just sharing my slug free cut and come again salad hanging baskets. Planted with different lettuce and radish. The hanging basket stands have had plant pots put beneath with canes and the peas are clambering up to cover the stands.

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk232/SEEMEE123/saladbaskets2009.jpg

Dave101t

id love to show you my raised seed bed, 2 mini greenhouses with loads growing in it and the rest, but it wont let me upload pictures/attachments! must need more posts first?

mcspanna

Dave101t wrote: »

id love to show you my raised seed bed, 2 mini greenhouses with loads growing in it and the rest, but it wont let me upload pictures/attachments! must need more posts first?

Don't think you need any more posts Dave as I've uploaded pics and have less than you - you need to upload them to the internet (e.g. photobucket) first and then hyperlink to here; i've not found a way to directly upload pics to this site.

HTH

Mcspanna :beer:

SEE

And a view of my veg plot at the moment.
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk232/SEEMEE123/21-4-09010.jpg