Minnie's Gardeners' Question Time - help for the new gardeners

[Minnie_the_Minx]

you don't need rooting powder for impatiens, Minnie, but if you are bothered, then you could always make your own with some bits of willow made into a tea. Just boil a few willow twigs and soak the impatiens stems for a minute in the cold tea.

You do realise I'm brand new (couple of months) to gardening don't you?

Willow twigs? Making tea?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I got the idea from here, although this person reckons New Guinea Impatiens are sun lovers. Mine seem to thrive in full shade

http://yourhomegardenblog.com/annuals/how-to-propagate-and-overwinter-annuals

 

[campanula]

true, they do like being in shade. Begonias too. Sorry for sounding like a know-it-all tosser...but do beware, this gardening thingy can become all-consuming (at least for sad obsessive misanthropes)
So, willow...any sort will do, either bit of twig (it is the bark, you want ) from big old weeping willows or even from smaller bushes - they often have coloured stems. Just chop a handful up and pour a cup of boiling water over it and leave to cool. Then dip the impatiens stem in. They are really good quick rooters though and if you have no powder and don't want to faff about with tea, just stick the cuttings in a pot with some nice loose free-draining mix. You can pop a plastic bag over it if the leaves start to look a bit limp, and leave it in a not too bright place. You will know it has rooted because it will start to put out new growth.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

true, they do like being in shade. Begonias too. Sorry for sounding like a know-it-all tosser...but do beware, this gardening thingy can become all-consuming (at least for sad obsessive misanthropes)
So, willow...any sort will do, either bit of twig (it is the bark, you want ) from big old weeping willows or even from smaller bushes - they often have coloured stems. Just chop a handful up and pour a cup of boiling water over it and leave to cool. Then dip the impatiens stem in. They are really good quick rooters though and if you have no powder and don't want to faff about with tea, just stick the cuttings in a pot with some nice loose free-draining mix. You can pop a plastic bag over it if the leaves start to look a bit limp, and leave it in a not too bright place. You will know it has rooted because it will start to put out new growth.

My trailing begonias are in the shade. I have others in baskets in full sun which seem quite happy as well, although they're a different type. Looks a bit messy, but I didn't really know what begonias looked like when I put them in the basket and I didn't really know what lobelia did either This one is in sunny corner.



This one's in fully shaded corner

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

This is what I want to take a cutting of

hm, saying file's too big

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I have a Salix tree, but only a little one

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I have a Salix tree, but only a little one

How long do I leave it in the tea?

 

[ringo]

Why do my thyme plants keep dying? Grown a couple from seed and potted a couple I bought. All seemed to do well for a while, then brown and die.

They were in a large pot, getting enough water, not that much direct sunlight though. The one I bought from a supermarket seems to be doing better in a sunnier spot.

Have I just answered my own question or is there more to it?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I don't know ringo, but my Vietnamese Coriander seems to be going brown on the top.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

More questions:

Cactus Dahlias - Are cactus dahlias only meant to flower on the top or am I meant to do something to make it flower lower down. All of my flowers have appeared at the top for the last few weeks. Seems like such a big sodding plant for so little return.

Gaura - er, what do you need when the flowers get tatty. Do you get them right down to the bottom, slide your fingers up and down the stalks to make the flowers fall off, pull the petals off? Not sure how to deadhead it/get it producing more flowers

Lemon Grass - how do you know when it's ready to harvest, and how do you do it (ie. so you've got the stuff similar to what you buy in supermarkets/Asian supermarkets - the dry stuff).

 

[campanula]

cactus dahlias - yep, they have a few HUGE flowers usually - cut the dead ones off - what should happen is that the really big blooms will flower, die and then, smaller blooms will appear coming from 2 new stems on each side of the main flowering stem. Just keep feeding them every couple of weeks and removing dead blooms - the plant will keep trying to flower as it wants to eventually make seeds - they are really greedy and will respond to a liquid feed every couple of weeks..
Gaura - just cut the whole stem back to the base - more will continue to grow from the bottom of the plant and the clump will get wider every year..
Minnie, begonias are really fun to take cuttings from - they will grow from leaf cuttings - there are various ways of doing these -for example, you can cut across the veins on the back of the leave with a sharp razor blade, lie the leaf on top of some gritty compost with the cut side down and put a stone on the top to keep the leaf back in contact with the soil - little leaflets will start to sprout beneath the old leaf. Not explaining this very well but check out the RHS site where there are pages of advice. Look under propagation - there are loads of astonishing methods of getting more plants for free.
Willow tea, just dip the cuttings in the cold tea for 30 seconds or so. Strength of tea is not really that crucial.
Ringo - yep, thyme needs as much sun as possible, no extra feeding and let the pot dry out between watering - it is a plant which thrives on benign neglect in freedraining soil with lots of sunshine.

 

[geminisnake]

How long do I leave it in the tea?

I may be misunderstanding here but have you put willow bits into tea?? The term willow(or whatever else you're using) tea generally means pour boiling/just boiled water over willow bits and leave for some time. The water with the willow bits in it IS the tea, you don't add 'normal' tea

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I may be misunderstanding here but have you put willow bits into tea?? The term willow(or whatever else you're using) tea generally means pour boiling/just boiled water over willow bits and leave for some time. The water with the willow bits in it IS the tea, you don't add 'normal' tea

Yes, I got that bit that the wilow's the tea, but I don't fully understand how to make it, how strong to make it, exactly what to make it with, and how long to leave a shoot in?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

oh, just seen campanula's previous post about willow tea. Not sure why this thread wasn't flagged up as one that had a new post in it.

erm, as for feeding stuff liquid feed, well everything gets a liquid feed once a week as I just can't remember which ones are weekly, which ones are fortnightly, which ones are monthly, which ones are an even more diluted feed than normal. I've even got one plant that says 3-weekly. Naturally that gets fed weekly along with everything else.

Ah, so I cut the gaura right back. I've just been pulling the flowers off the top.

hm, begonia sounds a bit complicated at the moment I'm afraid. Need simpler stuff for now 'til I get the hang of it. My begonias are tiny compared to my sister's. Hers are absolutely huge but I think they get some morning sun. Mine don't get any sun.

Have been practising growing stuff with seeds even though I know it's not the right time of the year and they'll probably all die, but I've just taken a few seeds from some packets of seeds I've got just to see if I can grow them.

Oh, and my campanula is flowering again at the moment which I'm happy about. Was told it would start flowering again come September, but wasn't sure what to do with it when it stopped flowering a month back, whether to cut it right back or to pick all the dead flower heads off so I cut someright back and pulled the dead flowers off loads more.

 

[ringo]

I don't know ringo, but my Vietnamese Coriander seems to be going brown on the top.

OK, I'll stick the sunshine experiment for the minute, if the weather would just remember its August for a minute. Oh shit, we're in England.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

OK, I'll stick the sunshine experiment for the minute, if the weather would just remember its August for a minute. Oh shit, we're in England.

It doesn't seem it's going to remember it's August this week anyway

 

[campanula]

it always seems to turn a bit shite as soon as the kids are let out from school for the summer - thank fuck mine are 25, 28 and 34 (still loafing scrounging useless layabouts) but at least I don't have to take them swimming in over -chlorinated pee pools or shuffling about indoor shopping areas fervently hoping for some security/shoplifter entertainment (the tedium of demanding shrieks of 'um bored').

 

[Miss Caphat]

Ooh ooh I have a question.
I didn't properly stake my tomatoes earlier in the season and they're all droopy and I have lost some because of how they grew sitting on the soil or up against the frame of the raised bed (I guess that's why you're supposed to stake them )
Should I attempt to re-stake them now, or will I risk breaking the stems or something?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Ooh ooh I have a question.
I didn't properly stake my tomatoes earlier in the season and they're all droopy and I have lost some because of how they grew sitting on the soil or up against the frame of the raised bed (I guess that's why you're supposed to stake them )
Should I attempt to re-stake them now, or will I risk breaking the stems or something?

I've no idea, but am interested to hear.

I got given some tomato plants but have no idea what to do with them

 

[Miss Caphat]

do people grow tomatoes outside in the UK?

 

[gentlegreen]

do people grow tomatoes outside in the UK?

I used to - made a lot of green tomato chutney though.

 

[gentlegreen]

There is a plant id like to get for our garden but cant remember what it is called & dont want to waste time trawling round garden centres hoping just to see one or even trying to describe it as id be embarassed. It is a peculiarly alien looking plant. The leaves look like little tongues that are made of a wine gummy type material & are deep purpley/black colour. The stem is a quite bright colour. Anyone?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiopogon_planiscapus

Ophiopogon planiscapus Nigrescens (Black Lily Turf)

Apparently related to aspidistras, yuccas and agavaes etc ...

EDIT :-

I see you already found it was something else ..

 

[Miss Caphat]

I used to - made a lot of green tomato chutney though.

hmm. I see. and did you stake your plants?

 

[gentlegreen]

I

hmm. I see. and did you stake your plants?

It depends if they're bush-type - but I probably supported even those.

There are two kinds. Most tomatoes are "indeterminate" or "cordon" type where you pinch out side branches and encourage them to grow tall, the bush type are also called "determinate" and you leave them to do their thing.

Starting 3 months late, you'll have to pinch them out after maybe one truss of fruit....

My greenhouse ones went in very late and I've only had one ripe one so far ...

 

[Miss Caphat]

I

It depends if they're bush-type - but I probably supported even those.

There are two kinds. Most tomatoes are "indeterminate" or "cordon" type where you pinch out side branches and encourage them to grow tall, the bush type are also called "determinate" and you leave them to do their thing.

Starting 3 months late, you'll have to pinch them out after maybe one truss of fruit....

My greenhouse ones went in very late and I've only had one ripe one so far ...

hmm. still confused. but thank you.

 

[gentlegreen]

They're supposed to be planted out end of May / beginning of June. How big are they ?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

do people grow tomatoes outside in the UK?

I don't know anyone who grows them inside (but suppose it could be because I live in London and most people don't have space for greenhouses/conservatories etc.)

 

[Miss Caphat]

I just meant is it warm/sunny enough there for them to grow outside. I wasn't sure.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I just meant is it warm/sunny enough there for them to grow outside. I wasn't sure.

oh right, well my neighbour gave me half a dozen the other day and my sister's made up loads of jars of tomato something or other. My two plants probably have about 8 tomatoes each on them and only one is going red. I have no idea how to look after tomato plants or what to do with them

It's been a bad year for sun though

 

[Miss Caphat]

ok. mine are very big even though I have only had about 7 or 8 red tomatoes from a total of 3 plants. I think we've been able to eat 4 of them.
And then I have 3 cherry tomato plants which have been doing excellent and I pick about 8-10 tomatoes off those every other day.
I think I might need to get one of these and gently place it around the big plants.