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

hathor

Hi Alibuster.

I found this on horsetail, which might help. It's obviously a long-term job, not least because 1 bit of root can make up to 64 metres of growth in a year, apparently.

We have quite a lot of horsetail on our allotments,and we give this
advice to plotholders.

1) In May/June whenever you arrive at your plot, spend 10 minutes
(obviously more at first) seeking out and digging up the horsetail
growth with small handfork. Horsetail needs light to grow and
continually removing it significantly weakens it.

2) In July/August start applying glysophate(strong mixture mixed up
with wallpaper paste so that it sticks to it). Applying it at the end
of the season is far far more effective than earlier, since the plant
is naturally sending back down into the roots-rather than upwards as in Spring growth.

Several plotholders have removed horse tail in a couple of years
almost completely. This works.

hathor

Another opinion, still on horsetail:

Firstly, horsetail is different from mare's tail, but the two are commonly confused. Secondly, Please DO NOT try to dig this weed up!!!! It propagates via underground rhizomes that go metres deep and you'll basically end up turning one plant into many and worsen the situation. This plant has been around for thirty million years and is nasty, but I have managed to wipe it from my garden.

Most weedkillers don't work, but I had success with Deep Root which is designed for trees and shrubs. It is imperative that before spraying you trample or roughen up the plant to break down its external cuticles, otherwise its silicon soaked stems will just laugh at you, and you need to keep spraying until you see it dead. It took me about two months, but I did it. If you've just got a few then repeated weeding should eventually weaken it. A lot of people recommend enriching your soil - like most weeds it doesn't like rich soil.

hathor

For the couch grass, if you're delayed on doing the heavy work, "companion planting" (this time, to be a bad friend ) of Mexican marigold, Tagetes minuta, which apparently secretes a herbicide from its roots would be a good friend to you in the front garden, and make a temporary display of something pretty, pending your final post-works design.

The Mexican Marigold, Tagetes minuta or Muster-John-Henry, is an annual which grows to about 1.2 m (the species name refers to the flowers not the height of the plant). The roots have an insecticidal effect on nematodes and some effect on keeled slugs. The secretions responsible begin about 3 months after sowing and also affect the growth of Ground-elder (Aegopodium podagraria), Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Couch grass (Agropyron repens), Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria )and Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea). It is grown as a half-hardy annual which can be planted out after the risk of frost has passed, but this does not usually give them a long enough growth period to flower and set seed in Britain. Deadheading prolongs the growth for protection purposes.

Don't forget that dead-heading, if you go with this; if it takes 3 months to begin producing the beneficial nasties (there's an oxymoron for you) then you want to prolong the season as long as poss!

Alibuster01

Thanks Hathor, the horsetail is going to be a long term project I know!
Any ideas about the Basil?
Al

Penny1981

these are my toms and cucs

Penny1981

!!!!!!, i dint think i was gonna work tee hee

Penny1981

http://s717.photobucket.com/albums/ww175/hally1981/?action=view&current=ebay055.jpghttp://s717.photobucket.com/albums/ww175/hally1981/?action=view&current=ebay056.jpg
any advise is very welcome.....another newbie

MRSMCAWBER

robnye wrote: »

i looked last night.... me peas are just poking through......... how sad am !.... hehe

Wait until you are going out first thing every morning to count how many you have -its a daily ritual here
This mornings count stood at 46 bush beans either with their 1st leaves on or just unfurling and 48 peas from just peeping through to this size :rotfl:






Here are 2 of my squash -"jack be little"



And my tomatoes are nice n sturdy and now starting to get a move on -a couple have flower buds on :eek:

ooohhh and I have 2 courgettes with flowers on -and they really aren't big enough to be doing that yet and 1 cucumber is now doing the same :eek:and everything is outdoors :rotfl:

rhiwfield

My wind battered plot this morning. Wind has even ripped the vanes off the coke twirlies. Nearest raised bed block made 2 months ago; weed suppressant over the grass turves makes a great slug hotel . Most of the compost for the new plot came from a neighbours old compost heap, good stuff as you can see from the new potatoes and peas. The path was made from wood chippings from a tree felled across the road by the council

MRSMCAWBER

Oh my word rhiwfield..

Can I come and live with you ... I love your plot -now THAT is what I want if we can ever afford to move to a house with a bigger garden once back in the UK ..... I won't take up much space, Im very quiet and I love cooking *fluttering eyelashes*


I came on here to show how sad I am -I have just popped out in the rain to see what is hapening and since this afternoon -I have gained:-

1. another 20 peas
2. 14 beans of various sorts
3. 6 sweetcorn -about 1" tall and they weren't there at lunch time :rotfl:

I guess they are enjoying the humid and damp weather we seem to have :THubby thinks Im on the verge of naming every seedling Im out there that often
Im going to sit and admire rhiwfields plot now