This week in your Kitchen Garden.

[Melinda]

I've been very tempted by the ladybird larvae you can buy online. Considering getting a bagful then scattering them over all my plants, once I've got a load outside

Im open mouthed! You can order ladybird larvae! Ace!!


How do you hold onto them though...? Buy in more aphids? Tiny tethers?

 

[gentlegreen]

It's started and spreading fast
Its not this bad yet, but its only a matter of time.

My climbers and hybrid teas always seem so susceptible no matter how well I much and look after them.

I really dont want to use a chemical fungicide- any tips on natural alternatives?

Move to somewhere polluted ...

I've heard people swear by this "probiotic" treatment for other kinds of leaf fungus ... :-

http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/Organics-36/Plant-Magic-490/Plant-Magic-Essence-1276.asp

It's very expensive and I don't know if it will touch Rose Blackspot ...

Given you aren't going to eat it, I would simply use a systemic fungicide.
Do they recommend winter tar washes for roses ?

 

[fogbat]

Im open mouthed! You can order ladybird larvae! Ace!!


How do you hold onto them though...? Buy in more aphids? Tiny tethers?

While they're still larval they don't have wings, so will stay on the plant, munching on aphids.

Once they become adults, they fly away, unless they're in a greenhouse.

You can even buy them on Amazon

 

[gentlegreen]

Toggle how long for your carrot seeds to germinate?

Im losing heart. Its not fair.

Fluid drilling in fungicide-free wallpaper paste - or pre-chitting at least ..

 

[toggle]

i ust had kids throw them into a couple of p[ots

 

[Melinda]

Move to somewhere polluted ...

I've heard people swear by this "probiotic" treatment for other kinds of leaf fungus ... :-

http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/Organics-36/Plant-Magic-490/Plant-Magic-Essence-1276.asp

It's very expensive and I don't know if it will touch Rose Blackspot ...

Given you aren't going to eat it, I would simply use a systemic fungicide.
Do they recommend winter tar washes for roses ?

Plant 'magic' Essence?


I might give the paste trick a try for my next sowing. Thanks

 

[Strumpet]

I've been very tempted by the ladybird larvae you can buy online. Considering getting a bagful then scattering them over all my plants, once I've got a load outside

PLEASE do it!! I wanted to get some but no garden at all Gwan n post pics!

How do you hold onto them though...? Buy in more aphids? Tiny tethers?

Weeny collars n leads

 

[Melinda]

looks like a variety of mint, and if it's a foot tall that's pretty mint like as well, but I've not seen that variety before myself.

have you tried tasting it?

Not tasted it...

However I crushed a leaf and its pungent, vaguely like lemon thyme. The leaves are very thick and rubbery- at least 1-2 mm- like a succulent.

 

[Melinda]

While they're still larval they don't have wings, so will stay on the plant, munching on aphids.

Once they become adults, they fly away, unless they're in a greenhouse.

You can even buy them on Amazon

We breed them big and showy down here.

 

[prunus]

Not tasted it...

However I crushed a leaf and its pungent, vaguely like lemon thyme. The leaves are very thick and rubbery- at least 1-2 mm- like a succulent.

I think it's Plectranthus amboinicus http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUK307&q=plectranthus%20amboinicus&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

Or its cousin Plectranthus aromaticus http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&lr=&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUK307&resnum=0&q=Plectranthus%20aromaticus&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

NAME: All-Purpose herb, Five Seasons Herb, Mother of Herbs (Plectranthus aromaticus syn. Coleus aromaticus).

There is quite a deal of confusion about the name of this herb. Some sources indicate that P. aromaticus is synonymous with P. amboinicus, under which name this herb is often sold, but I suspect they are, in fact, two different species. P. amboinicus appears to be widely grown in the Gulf of Mexico area where is has the common name of Cuban Oregano or Mexican Oregano. P. aromaticus on the other hand appears to originate from the Seychelles and possibly India and Indonesia, where it is given the common name Indian Borage, among others. The plant identified in this picture seems to me to be closest to the plant I know as All Purpose Herb.

DESCRIPTION: This succulent herb has the typical four-cornered stem of the Lamiaceae family. The leaves are very thick and succulent, grey-green and hairy. The plant grows to around 50cm tall. The leaves are highly aromatic with a strong flavour of mixed herbs.

ORIGIN: Seychelles, India & South East Asia

CULTIVATION: The herb grows easily in a well-drained, semi-shaded position. It is frost tender and grows well in sub-tropical and tropical locations, but will do well in cooler climates if grown in a pot and brought indoors, or moved to a warm sheltered position in winter. Water only sparingly.

USES: The leaves are strongly flavoured and make an excellent addition to stuffings for meat and poultry. Finely chopped, they can also be used to flavour meat dishes, especially beef, lamb and game. The leaves have also had many traditional medicinal uses, especially for the treatment of coughs, sore throats and nasal congestion, but also for a range of other problems such as infections, rheumatism and flatulence. The herb is also used as a substitute for oregano in the food trade and food labelled "oregano-flavoured" may well contain this herb.

Plectranthus aromatica [sic], usually described as native to Indonesia, but found flourishing in the Seychelles, is a hairy herb with small white flowers and ovate and green somewhat fleshy serrated leaves, which are strongly and pleasantly aromatic. It grows on waste ground and shady wooded areas, especially in rocky places, and may be seen entirely covering many larger granite boulders. A detailed morphological description can be found in Francis Friedmann’s Flore des Seychelles – Dicotylédons Éditions de l’Orstom Paris 1994. In the Seychelles an infusion of the leaves (often with honey) is used medicinally for treating coughs & colds, but leaves can also rubbed vigorously between the hands and the vapours from the leaves inhaled vigorously to clear obstructed nasal passages. According to Plarm, the indicated uses for this herb are as an expectorant, for the treatment of brochitis, eczema, fever and rheumatism. (ref: Medicinal Plants of the Seychelles Series Two pub. National Heritage Printed by Printec Press Holdings). It should be said that with little currency available for prescription medicines, many islanders are totally reliant on local herbs and plants for the treatment of their ailments.

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

lemon balm?

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

I have aphid things on my strawb. plants!! So...any natural type ways to get rid?

Someone recently told me that nettles make a good pesticide. You get a loads of stinging nettles and soak them in water for at least a week then you spray it over the plant. Haven't tried it yet though.

 

[gentlegreen]

lemon balm?

same family, but the leaves are a lot thinner.

Whatever it is, I would nip the top out to encourage it to branch...

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

Close then

 

[Melinda]

lemon balm?

Funnily enough, I found some lemon balm growing wild in my veg patch a few ago and Urban ID'd it.

I think it's Plectranthus amboinicus http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUK307&q=plectranthus%20amboinicus&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

Or its cousin Plectranthus aromaticus http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&lr=&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUK307&resnum=0&q=Plectranthus%20aromaticus&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

Prunus, I think you've ID'd it!! Well deduced! Thanks so much!

 

[gentlegreen]

Close then

Assuming the stem's squarish, it's got to be in the deadnettle / mint / sage spectrum.

A Greek colleague once forced some "Greek Mountain Tea" on me - another member of the same family - labiatae ...

 

[ooo]

That's early

My pepper plants are only as big as my little finger at the moment. That's very impressive - when did you sow?

LOL!

Was growing these in the same pot prior (pic).
It was called 'Chinese vegetables'(???) on the seed package.
I didn't get to eat them 'cos I thought they'd be growing taller
Before I knew it, they died off.
Then I started throwing bell pepper seeds into the same pot. That was early this year!

 

[gentlegreen]

Odd that.

The salad looks drawn due to lack of light / over-watering maybe, whereas the high-light pepper is thriving ...

 

[fogbat]

My sweet peppers are approximately 4" tall or so - planted in (I think) early March, but they're putting my chillies to shame in terms of growth rates.

 

[BoatieBird]

My sweet peppers are at about the same stage and are looking like really healthy plants.

No sign of my runner or borlotti beans yet

Rain is forecast this weekend and normally I would be pissed off at the thought of a rainy bank holiday. Part of me still is pissed off, but there's another part of me that's thinking 'oh good, that'll fill up the water butt'

 

[northernhord]

Heirloom salads, viroflay spinach, hopi corn.

 

[gentlegreen]

Heirloom salads, viroflay spinach, hopi corn.

*jealous*

 

[northernhord]

I had to wait over a year for the heirloom seeds to arrive from the US, they came after I complained to Oregon State Police, well worth the wait through.

 

[Biddlybee]

For those of you in London, there's a seedling swap on Goose Green in East Dulwich on Sunday 9 May

 

[fogbat]

For those of you in London, there's a seedling swap on Goose Green in East Dulwich on Sunday 9 May

Cheers

I'm no more than five minutes walk from Goose Green, and should have a few things to swap.

 

[Melinda]

That sounds fun There has also been talk of one at Bromley Reform Temple.

Though I fear I wont have anything left to swap as first thing this morning I discovered slugs n snails in my cold frame.

Fury gripped me and I salted the buggers. And for once I didnt feel bad.


I figure the garden is fair game, they take one of mine and I take one of them.

But my cold frame is Out Of Bounds. Mollusc Death Zone.

(I may also be considering slug pellets ).

 

[Melinda]

Oh and carrot seedlings have been sighted! I'm only talking 2 or 3, but surely the others cant be far behind.

Also potato growth!

Oh yeah!

 

[prunus]

(I may also be considering slug pellets ).

Do it. No quarter.

 

[prunus]

Potatoes!

(And herbs in pots)

 

[Melinda]

Look at you showing off!

Gah.

*jealouses*