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reagtools.co.uk

Small Ho-Mi

The Ho-Mi is the standard hand tool for the Korean farmer and is incredibly versatile. It can be used for almost every job you do with your hands when growing. From weeding, to breaking soil, and thinning seedlings to transplanting bulbs. You can replace a whole range of hand tools with just the...
reagtools.co.uk
I am shamefully behind on this thread, so apols for jumping in excitedly. I bloody love, LOVE a nifty hand tool and have put a lot of them to some brutal field testing (when many fell by the wayside). I have not found anything as useful as my hori-hori for ages, until coming across another peasant tool, the ho-mi. Aka Korean hoe. This is a charm and a wonder - not just a lethal hoe but a terrific cultivator, weed grubber and drill maker. Hand forged, for a measly £18 or so (inc. postage). The handle does look a bit rinky dink but my oldest (who originally brought it to my attention), left his outside for months and it was perfectly sound. I am much more keen on the business end and would replace a dodgy handle if I had to. NB. would benefit from a lick of lurid paint as I spend hours searching for inconspicuous hand tools ).
 
campanula said:
reagtools.co.uk

Small Ho-Mi

The Ho-Mi is the standard hand tool for the Korean farmer and is incredibly versatile. It can be used for almost every job you do with your hands when growing. From weeding, to breaking soil, and thinning seedlings to transplanting bulbs. You can replace a whole range of hand tools with just the...
reagtools.co.uk
I am shamefully behind on this thread, so apols for jumping in excitedly. I bloody love, LOVE a nifty hand tool and have put a lot of them to some brutal field testing (when many fell by the wayside). I have not found anything as useful as my hori-hori for ages, until coming across another peasant tool, the ho-mi. Aka Korean hoe. This is a charm and a wonder - not just a lethal hoe but a terrific cultivator, weed grubber and drill maker. Hand forged, for a measly £18 or so (inc. postage). The handle does look a bit rinky dink but my oldest (who originally brought it to my attention), left his outside for months and it was perfectly sound. I am much more keen on the business end and would replace a dodgy handle if I had to. NB. would benefit from a lick of lurid paint as I spend hours searching for inconspicuous hand tools ).
Click to expand...
Ooh, shinyprettystabby 😍
 
contadino said:
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.
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what a shame he is so grumpy. We loved having an allotment and chatting to the other allotmenters. :)
 
Hopefully get my early spuds in this weekend. Got loads of bushy chilli plants ready to plant in the garden but it’s too early no?
 
i've got some Meadow Cranesbill seeds.. googling leads to two completely different sets of instructions for how to sow:
One says 1mm deep the other says half an inch :hmm: What to do, do half one way half the other or all halfway in between?
campanula any advice ?
 
Has anyone spotted any cyclamen coum in the garden centres? I bought a couple of plants last year and want more. Thought they'd be available as mine have been in flower for ages.
 
bimble said:
i've got some Meadow Cranesbill seeds.. googling leads to two completely different sets of instructions for how to sow:
One says 1mm deep the other says half an inch :hmm: What to do, do half one way half the other or all halfway in between?
campanula any advice ?
Click to expand...
Geranium pratense? I'm not campanula but I'd just lightly cover them.

Chiltern Seeds is the website I usually check if I don't know how to sow something, they know their stuff and give more accurate, tailored advice than the likes of Mr Fucking Fothergills
 
Johnny Vodka said:
Has anyone spotted any cyclamen coum in the garden centres? I bought a couple of plants last year and want more. Thought they'd be available as mine have been in flower for ages.
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It's a bit late for them now I think? They're more an autumn planting thing iirc.

I did see some outside a local florist who also sells a few garden flowers though, so there's still some about.
 
iona said:
Geranium pratense? I'm not campanula but I'd just lightly cover them.

Chiltern Seeds is the website I usually check if I don't know how to sow something, they know their stuff and give more accurate, tailored advice than the likes of Mr Fucking Fothergills
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thank you
 
iona said:
And lightly compact soil underneath, then water with a fine rose, then sow seeds and dust some compost over the top and lightly press down to stick that to the damp compost underneath. In case that's not teaching you to suck eggs :)
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i have no idea what i'm doing, all and any advice always gratefully received.
These seeds are apparently 'erratic' so i feel brave even having a go.
 
Hopefully they'll do well for you but if not I have a work garden where they're absolutely rampant and I end up with buckets of offcuts looking for new homes in the autumn bimble, they should be postable
 
Actually would anyone be interested a little step-by-step picture instruction thing of how to sow seeds a few different ways? I was thinking of putting one together anyway since Nightmare Neighbour has left and I can potentially run the gardening group where I live again this year.

Edit - if people 'like' this post to say "yes" then if there's much interest I'll stick something up in the next week or two
 
Last edited:
iona said:
Actually would anyone be interested a little step-by-step picture instruction thing of how to sow seeds a few different ways? I was thinking of putting one together anyway since Nightmare Neighbour has left and I can potentially run the gardening group where I live again this year.
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yes! My method is to google every different seed, then google it again because i forget halfway though finding the seed tray then again when i've forgotten whether it wants light / heat etc.
 
iona said:
Actually would anyone be interested a little step-by-step picture instruction thing of how to sow seeds a few different ways? I was thinking of putting one together anyway since Nightmare Neighbour has left and I can potentially run the gardening group where I live again this year.

Edit - if people 'like' this post to say "yes" then if there's much interest I'll stick something up in the next week or two
Click to expand...
Is it REALLY important that I use seed compost instead of normal potting compost. Have a big bag of unopened potting compost, but no seed compost. I'm going to try really easy seeds (yeah right)... cosmos etc.
 
I sieved my potting compost because I didn't have any seed compost. They seem to be coming up ok.

There's loads of creeping cotoneaster in the valley and I didn't want to dig one up so I bought some seeds. Apparently they need 12 weeks at 20 C and then another few weeks chllled :rolleyes: I'm hoping 15 C is going to be ok.
 
Iona has offered up perfectly good advice and certainly knows as much and more as I do-(this may not be a compliment). As an additional source of info, though, have a look at the Jellito seed website where they also give you excellent germination advice...and for tricky seeds, they do a range called 'Gold Nugget' which have been treated to avoid the need for stratification/vernalisation. For many years, I have tried (and failed) to sow callirhoe involucrata seeds...until I ordered the Gold Nugget ones from Jellitoe (along with yellow flax (linum capitatum) and a few others. Amazingly, every seed has germinated. More than 100 of them! The seeds are not cheap but you get 10x as many as Chiltern, which, for all their good advice, are very stingy with quantities.
And yes, the (12) callirhoe seeds from Chiltern, which I ordered first, are still lying dormant in their pots. Sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and pay for reliability. OTOH, I did order jasione perennis and perovskia 'Blue Steel' from Chilterns, which are doing well (if in minuscule quantities).

I used to order from Chilterns, many years ago, but fear they have gone off the boil a bit, preferring to send out glossy catalogues instead of renewing their seed stock. I swear, I have ordered from numerous seed outlets and now have an internal database of value and reliability. Some should be avoided at all costs, while some are a bit dodgy, but are also very cheap (Premier).I am entirely happy to share a list of reliable seed merchants...but sadly, one of my go-to vendors (Seedaholic) is now unable to sell in the UK, being Ireland based and I fear B&T World Seeds might be in the same position. My best source of S.African seeds (Silverhill) are no more after the owners were murdered by fundamentalist terrorists! Have also bought from Chileflora and Seedhunt (Californian wildflowers).

My absolute best advice, for anyone exploring the fabulous world of seeds is to collect your own. Provenance, viability and cost all come in well ahead of anything you can buy from any seed merchant anywhere, tbh. Plus, you get to spend the dreary late autumn and winter, sitting at a table cleaning next years promise. A lovely way to survive December and January.
 
clicker said:
Is it REALLY important that I use seed compost instead of normal potting compost. Have a big bag of unopened potting compost, but no seed compost. I'm going to try really easy seeds (yeah right)... cosmos etc.
Click to expand...
No, just sieve the potting mix you have and pick out any big lumps. Depending on what you're sowing you might want to add stuff like grit/sand/perlite/vermiculite but "easy" seeds should cope in anything so long as you don't really over- or underwater them. I always chuck in a bit of well broken down leaf mold when I'm sowing and potting on but don't worry about this unless you happen to have some.
 
campanula said:
My absolute best advice, for anyone exploring the fabulous world of seeds is to collect your own. Provenance, viability and cost all come in well ahead of anything you can buy from any seed merchant anywhere, tbh. Plus, you get to spend the dreary late autumn and winter, sitting at a table cleaning next years promise. A lovely way to survive December and January.
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And local seed swap events! We've already had ours but they'll still be running in some places over the next month or two.
 
iona said:
And local seed swap events! We've already had ours but they'll still be running in some places over the next month or two.
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Yes, I went to a few of these...and they are great for vegetables but totally disdained my carefully cleaned, sorted and labelled flowers. Not a single packet (of mine) was taken home. I collected them, at the end of the day and scattered the lot along the verges leading to the village hall...where a few stalwarts still survive. With the rise in wildlife gardening, there might be more interest in wildflowers though - it was a long time since I did a 'Seedy Sunday'.
It is worth joining some of the plant societies though, such as HPS (Hardy Plant Soc.) just to have access to the free seed swaps every year. I get loads of new-to-me stuff from them and also the Scottish Rock Gardening Soc. Avoid the RHS though - spendy and not very generous with varieties or quantities.
 
iona, you save seed don't you? Have you seen an improvement in your germination rates. For years and years, I felt lucky to get 50% success from bought in seeds...and less, with trickier ones (double dormancy). I always blamed myself cos I am not always careful and certainly not consistent...until I started sowing my own seeds. I expect at least 70-80% germination rates now...and would probably have more if I managed to keep pots and labels sorted. I did really start to appreciate how viability is affected by storage, age, humidity etc.
 
I've just managed to germinate some spinach, microgreens, basil and coriander from some old seed. They're in fibre pots near the growlamp garden though (which is thriving). Dwarf sunflowers getting adult leaves now, they seem to be doing very well. And I've just spotted the first red chilli seedling.

Spring onions growing in water. And two stems of hard ruscus (that just looked like twigs in with some cut daffodils) have opened up leaves throughout. These are in water too, I hope I get some roots so I can plant them out.

My box of B&Q spring bulbs, planted a bit late and not much care taken have sprouted and the early ones have done well, 13 orange crocuses!

(You can see that I haven't gardened in a while :D )
 
campanula said:
iona, you save seed don't you? Have you seen an improvement in your germination rates. For years and years, I felt lucky to get 50% success from bought in seeds...and less, with trickier ones (double dormancy). I always blamed myself cos I am not always careful and certainly not consistent...until I started sowing my own seeds. I expect at least 70-80% germination rates now...and would probably have more if I managed to keep pots and labels sorted. I did really start to appreciate how viability is affected by storage, age, humidity etc.
Click to expand...
Yeah I save a lot of my own seed where I can (I have an irrational thing about with Real Seeds' "It's so easy to save your own brassica seed - all you need is the space to isolate 20 plants per variety!")

For me I think the biggest difference I notice in germination rates is between the cheap brands you'd pick up in Homebase etc. and everything else (home-saved / decent supplier / whatever). Not much difference between seed I've saved myself and seed I've bought from a good company, apart from when I sometimes save something myself with no real idea if or how it'll germinate and can't find a definite answer online - those tend to be a bit more hit & miss. With seeds I'm sowing individually counted in pots to be babied, rather than just chucking them about the place, I reckon I probably manage a 90-95% germination rate tbh if the seed's fairly fresh. A potting mix that holds just the right amount of moisture & structure is hugely important too I think.
 
Totes agree with last point, iona - my greatest attrition occurs from over-watering in winter - to my utter shame, I managed to kill off the ridiculously expensive tecophileas and also a climbing nasturtium tuber. TBF, if everything germinated, I would be completely overrun with tiny plants, so yep, I am pretty immune to the enormous amount of annual planticide under my not tender care.
 
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