The gardening thread

[TopCat]

The squirrel colony are digging up all my onion sets this morning.

The crows watch where the squirrels bury their nuts and nick them. The squirrels are clueless as to where they have buried stuff.

Bird scarers have so far kept the pigeons off my sowed grass seed. No need for the air rifle.

 

[clicker]

This was a present , so I'd like them not to die immediately.

BUT....there are no holes in the bottom of the grey plastic pot that was part of the kit. Should I just make a few holes, or is there no need?

It says once seedlings appear, (yeah right,) I remove spindliest. And leave others in situ. I've only ever grown chilli's outdoors and not in UK. So how many seedlings do I leave to grow in one pot and can they go outside in UK after Easter time ish?

They're going to die aren't they.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

View attachment 365539
This was a present , so I'd like them not to die immediately.

BUT....there are no holes in the bottom of the grey plastic pot that was part of the kit. Should I just make a few holes, or is there no need?

It says once seedlings appear, (yeah right,) I remove spindliest. And leave others in situ. I've only ever grown chilli's outdoors and not in UK. So how many seedlings do I leave to grow in one pot and can they go outside in UK after Easter time ish?

They're going to die aren't they.

Certain varieties of chilli are super easy to grow on a sunny windowsill. Ultimately you're only going to want one plant per pot. Pretty sure my plant on the left is a cayenne.

Chillies need a good bit of water, but I would go with a few drainage holes.

 

[Idaho]

Overwinter broad beans haven't survived the various cold snaps.... Always feel daunted by the season ahead, but I know it'll be fine when I get going.

Got the spuds chitting and I might get some raspberry canes to plant. Peas and carrots are the first things to sort out. Need to find a bit of guttering to start the peas.

 

[two sheds]

Just put in 50 snowdrops in the green mainly out front of the house out in a minute to add 25 mini daffs

 

[cesare]

My dwarf sunflowers have germinated and I have a pot full of bulbs that are growing strongly.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

Think it's going to be a bit cold to plant much outdoors, but aim to start these indoors within the next week.

 

[cesare]

These are my bulbs btw, loads for just a tenner at B&Q

 

[two sheds]

Actually 50 daffs gone in. Impressed with myself it's a tad cold out there. Tomorrow the rain sets in

I've got a fair few seeds in the airing cupboard at the moment - peas and sweet peas and more peas and ... things. I've never been successful with peas I must study up on how to treat them. Am thinking of getting tomato plug plants this year I'll perhaps water them properly this time.

 

[cesare]

I've just noticed that overnight my coriander and spinach have germinated. They now have plastic bottle greenhouse-y type hats on.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

I've just noticed that overnight my coriander and spinach have germinated. They now have plastic bottle greenhouse-y type hats on.

I have quite a few germinating seeds in my flower pots, the result of self-seeding from last year.

 

[Wolveryeti]

Treated myself to a new toy - now chock full of completely inappropriate plants for this cold rainy climate

 

[two sheds]

I got a proper heated propagator years ago which didn't work it didn't heat up so I cut the plug off to use for something else.

Much later I wondered whether it did actually after all work so last week I reattached a plug and it works it was just very low power so it didn't feel like it was working, but did work. I now have a few seeds in it but none have come up yet so it may not actually work at all.

 

[TopCat]

Managed to get mites on my indoor grow chillis. Fuck my luck.

 

[Wolveryeti]

I got a proper heated propagator years ago which didn't work it didn't heat up so I cut the plug off to use for something else.

Much later I wondered whether it did actually after all work so last week I reattached a plug and it works it was just very low power so it didn't feel like it was working, but did work. I now have a few seeds in it but none have come up yet so it may not actually work at all.

I thought mine was broken too initially - very low wattage (IIRC 13W) - can definitely feel it after its been on for 30 mins though...

 

[two sheds]

Yes mine too - measured at 4W so I've put it on an insulating mat and it's up to 20C in there

Still nothing coming up though - having more success putting trays in the airing cupboard I'm hoping some peas are coming up

 

[Idaho]

Managed to get mites on my indoor grow chillis. Fuck my luck.

I struggle with chillies in my kitchen. They always get nibbled and suffocated by something. Outdoors I usually get a bumper crop.

 

[sparkling]

I've seen Charles Dowding mentioned a couple of times on this thread but (and please redirect me if this has been comprehensively discussed before) has anyone gone all in on the No Dig method?
We are going to attempt it with a new garden (new to us but old to previous owners). We've laid down loads of cardboard and investing in compost (hopefully next year our own produced compost will be ready).
Several people have said that they have had good results but not kept it up in subsequent years. Just wondering if it is so good why not keep it going?

 

[andysays]

I've seen Charles Dowding mentioned a couple of times on this thread but (and please redirect me if this has been comprehensively discussed before) has anyone gone all in on the No Dig method?
We are going to attempt it with a new garden (new to us but old to previous owners). We've laid down loads of cardboard and investing in compost (hopefully next year our own produced compost will be ready).
Several people have said that they have had good results but not kept it up in subsequent years. Just wondering if it is so good why not keep it going?

I wouldn't claim to have gone "all in", but I've taken inspiration from Charles Dowding's No Dig method for a few years now.

I already had raised beds at my allotment which I used to dig, but now I keep digging and other soil disturbance to a minimum and just add a layer of compost on the surface each year. Works well for me.

 

[Wolveryeti]

Just wondering if it is so good why not keep it going?

You need large quantities of mulch and compost in particular as that is how CD chokes the weeds and feeds the soil for new crops. That is typically quite expensive or a faff and not everyone can sustain it. In contrast it is easy and cheap to pick up a spade or mattock and have at some weed infested ground.

 

[andysays]

You need large quantities of mulch and compost in particular as that is how CD chokes the weeds and feeds the soil for new crops. That is typically quite expensive or a faff and not everyone can sustain it. In contrast it is easy and cheap to pick up a spade or mattock and have at some weed infested ground.

I'm not sure this correct, at least after the first year when you've established the beds, which I agree does require lots of compost.

I'm not using any more compost now than when I was digging, and the amount of weeding is greatly reduced because I'm no longer bringing up weed seeds from beneath the surface.

If you're gardening organically, you need to add compost to the soil anyway; the difference with No Dig is that you just add it to the surface.

 

[TopCat]

Lidl has potato towers in stock for fourteen quid. Has anyone had success with this type of growing spuds? I set one up once but never got to harvest it.

 

[bimble]

Think it's going to be a bit cold to plant much outdoors, but aim to start these indoors within the next week.

how's yr morning glories then?
Mine started appearing couple of days ago and now i can't stop going to check on them, see how they're doing if they're happy, as if they were a new pet, i do love this bit.

 

[The39thStep]

Lidl has potato towers in stock for fourteen quid. Has anyone had success with this type of growing spuds? I set one up once but never got to harvest it.

I've grown potatoes in bins, plastic sacks, and in piled up car tyres but I have just had a look at those towers on the Lidl site and I'm not impressed . Too small in my view. Might be ok for salads and strawberries but looks like a bit of a gimmick.

 

[iona]

If you want to do easy container potatoes you can just put a big bag of compost inside another empty compost bag (to keep the sunlight out), give it a stir up, stab some drainage holes in the bottom and plant potatoes in that TopCat

 

[TopCat]

I liked the Lidl idea of using vertical space but was dubious.

I generally plant my spuds in the ground but don’t have a lot of room unless I nick more lawn back.

 

[iona]

I generally plant my spuds in the ground but don’t have a lot of room unless I nick more lawn back.

I reckon undersowing salad leaves around spuds in the ground, in late spring / summertime once you're finished earthing up, would work well as a space saver...

 

[Johnny Vodka]

how's yr morning glories then?
Mine started appearing couple of days ago and now i can't stop going to check on them, see how they're doing if they're happy, as if they were a new pet, i do love this bit.

View attachment 366947

Just planted them in pots on my windowsill yesterday. Also the nicotiana seeds in a propagator. Was surprised how tiny these were and how few there were in the packet.

 

[RubyToogood]

I liked the Lidl idea of using vertical space but was dubious.

I generally plant my spuds in the ground but don’t have a lot of room unless I nick more lawn back.

I bought some grow sacks last year to grow early spuds in first and then runners/courgettes. That worked pretty well. I mean, the potatoes were crap because I picked a crap variety but they spudded fairly well.

I don't have masses of space either for things that need digging up so containers on the patio is the way to go if I want more.

 

[contadino]

I've seen Charles Dowding mentioned a couple of times on this thread but (and please redirect me if this has been comprehensively discussed before) has anyone gone all in on the No Dig method?
We are going to attempt it with a new garden (new to us but old to previous owners). We've laid down loads of cardboard and investing in compost (hopefully next year our own produced compost will be ready).
Several people have said that they have had good results but not kept it up in subsequent years. Just wondering if it is so good why not keep it going?

The bloke on the allotment plot next to mine switched to no dig 3 years ago and it's looking much better now, consistently.

He also retired at the same time so maybe it's coincidence.

I'd ask him about it but he's a mardy git.