A little thread of calm?

[Trainee neophyte]

Chris.

I suspect your crop will be riddled with wire worm .
Regarding fertiliser, growmore works fine.

When I plant spuds the spud goes into the bottom of the trench and then a layer of compost on the top. I find that this reduces scab.

Oh dear! What have I done to deserve wire worm?? Is it the converted lawn thing?
But maybe putting compost on after was a good thing (scab). I've been trying to not go out to the shops but perhaps I need to get kitted up and head out looking for fertiliser. I can always carefully dig the lot up and start again - it's not like I'm pushed for time at the moment.

No problem - you can go all eco-green-mentalist and make compost tea. It's marginally more of a faff than shopping, but only just, and it will be all organic and tasty! Endless internet info about it, but basically soak green stuff (lawn clippings, weeds, cuttings, anything you like) in water for a few days,and pour the results on the plants. It's really strong stuff, so dilute it 3 or 4 to 1. Some people strain it, some people don't. Some people put all sorts of weird extras in, other people don't. You can give this to your spuds pretty much constantly, I think, although I would recommend some research; my organic days are behind me, and I am a big fan of chemicals these days.

In about a month you'll want to earth them up - other than that, a little light weeding, and some Bordeaux Mix to spray after rain,if you have it- to stop blight.

 

[lurker]

Best gardening book of all time
Adam the Gardener
I still refer to my grandmother's copy.
A second hand reprint can be had from Amazon for less than a fiver delivered.

 

[lurker]

Chris,
Don’t waste time looking for Bordeaux as it is banned in the uk.
Although I do use it because I stock piled beforehand.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Chris,
Don’t waste time looking for Bordeaux as it is banned in the uk.
Although I do use it because I stock piled beforehand.

Wow! I didn't know that! Is it evil? Or just replaced by a patented Monsanto product? Will investigate. Must admit I have never grown spuds in the UK, so my experience is quite different - it's now too late to plant for eg, as it will be too hot and potatoes don't set of the roots are over 25°C. Probably a fact you don't need to know.

 

[jeremyduncombe]

I make my own Bordeaux mix now the shops have stopped selling it. Equal parts of copper sulphate and slaked lime, both easily and legally available via the Internet. I don’t grow potatoes any more, but it is a magic cure for peach leaf curl. I think it is banned because long-term heavy use ( eg in commercial vineyards ) leads to a toxic build up of copper in the soil. I can’t see it being a big problem if you use in in moderation in your garden, especially if you practice crop rotation.

There’s nothing to beat your own new potatoes - I used to have them on the table within half an hour from digging them up and they were delicious. Veg gardening is just too hard on my back these days.

 

[lurker]

I make my own Bordeaux mix now the shops have stopped selling it. Equal parts of copper sulphate and slaked lime, both easily and legally available via the Internet. I don’t grow potatoes any more, but it is a magic cure for peach leaf curl. I think it is banned because long-term heavy use ( eg in commercial vineyards ) leads to a toxic build up of copper in the soil. I can’t see it being a big problem if you use in in moderation in your garden, especially if you practice crop rotation.

There’s nothing to beat your own new potatoes - I used to have them on the table within half an hour from digging them up and they were delicious. Veg gardening is just too hard on my back these days.

I am exactly the same, except I do grow a few early spuds.

 

[Chris152]

I have a limited supply of Bordeaux but not planning on wasting it on the plants.
Lurker - yes, I've got the earthing up thing - thanks!
T-n - I'm going to mow the lawn today so I'll have a go at a little compost tea, hopefully I won't make the situation any worse.
Cheers all - I'll report back on the potatoes in a month or so...

 

[Droogs]

Is it too late in the year to plant stuff?
As we are all stuck inside (well I am) until June. I was thinking, that to ease the pressure on SWMBO having to go out to forage kind of thing, we might as well plant some veg etc. But I really don't have a clue about it. I only have space for pots really and would appreciate some advice. Lots of conflicting stuff on the tinterweb and what zone am i in

ooh and what do the little roman numerals on seed packets mean?

 

[Chris152]

If I can add to Droogs' question, which do you think is the most bullet (silly person)-proof tomato plant to grow from seed? Ta.

 

[jeremyduncombe]

I have a limited supply of Bordeaux but not planning on wasting it on the plants.
Lurker - yes, I've got the earthing up thing - thanks!
T-n - I'm going to mow the lawn today so I'll have a go at a little compost tea, hopefully I won't make the situation any worse.
Cheers all - I'll report back on the potatoes in a month or so...

What are you going to do with your Bordeaux mix if your plants aren’t getting it - drink it ? It might be a good cure for coronavirus.

In answer to Droogs - definitely not too late to start sowing things. You can sow herbs and salad vegetables from now up to June or July. If you are short of space, try growing mixed salad leaves. You sow them very thickly in the pot, and when they are two or three inches high you simply cut off as many leaves as you need. They will sprout again and with care you will get a daily crop for a week or two.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If I can add to Droogs' question, which do you think is the most bullet (Silly person)-proof tomato plant to grow from seed? Ta.

Gardener's Delight.

 

[novocaine]

hers an interesting aside.
contrary to popular believe we don't irradiate our food supply before it reaches the shelf, so a fair few past it fruit and veg is perfectly acceptable as a seed source. it might not grow in your climate but no harm no foul.
strawberries, tomatos, raspberries, potatos etc. are all for the taking.
onions, when you chop the top off you can use the bit you usually chuck away to start from, then collect the seeds from the plant (Although growing from seed is tricky), garlic can be a couple of cloves to get you started.

can't do it for things like carrots as they need the seeds that grow from the flower not the tuba.
herbs can be tricky unless you buy them in a pot as they are all seed germinating.

don't forget about the spaghetti tree either, just stick a few lengths in a pot for a week or two before transferring to the green house, needs to be warm for that.

 

[Andy Kev.]

This enforced idleness could turn out to be really useful.

That's spuds sorted out, then.

What are the chances of getting the really big things sorted out:

a. Milk in first or second.

b. Dark matter.

c. Jam or cream first on the scown.

d. What's beyond the event horizon in a black hole?

That should be enough for the next fortnight. Obviously we'll never be able to do the really big ones like sharpening. One has to keep one's feet on the ground.

 

[Chris152]

don't forget about the spaghetti tree either, just stick a few lengths in a pot for a week or two before transferring to the green house, needs to be warm for that.

once i've cobbled together something vaguely resembling a greenhouse that'll be the first thing to plant. Apparently there's a shortage in the shops so i could make some money on it too.

 

[Droogs]

What? we've now run out of greenhouses, will it never end?

 

[lurker]

hers an interesting aside.
contrary to popular believe we don't irradiate our food supply before it reaches the shelf, so a fair few past it fruit and veg is perfectly acceptable as a seed source. it might not grow in your climate but no harm no foul.
strawberries, tomatos, raspberries, potatos etc. are all for the taking.
onions, when you chop the top off you can use the bit you usually chuck away to start from, then collect the seeds from the plant (Although growing from seed is tricky), garlic can be a couple of cloves to get you started.

can't do it for things like carrots as they need the seeds that grow from the flower not the tuba.
herbs can be tricky unless you buy them in a pot as they are all seed germinating.

don't forget about the spaghetti tree either, just stick a few lengths in a pot for a week or two before transferring to the green house, needs to be warm for that.

Not quite.
F1s which most bulk vegetable growers use, will not come true to type.
Also carrots will most likely cross fertilise with similar weeds .
Brassicas will cross fertilise and the resultant crop will be bitter DAMHIKT

I have been using Lidl seeds successfully for a few years. They are very cheap and plenty of seeds in the packet .

I do often buy growing herbs from the supermarkets, crop them and then transplant the roots into the garden for a second crop.

 

[Chris152]

Ok, tomato seeds ordered from ebay (I went for Moneymaker in the end, I remember Dad growing them), coming in about a week. I found a very old bag of compost that the ivy's had a fine time stripping of its nutrition. But, is it possible to put nutrition back into the compost/ other soil by using this sort of thing?

Both old, I found them in my shed.

ps And if I poke holes in the bottom of plastic take-away food containers (about 35mm deep) will that do for planting seeds in?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If you buy supermarket herbs such as mint, basil and even parsley you can break the plants into two or three and re pot - they'll grow for several weeks on a windowledge, but don't leave the plants until they're exhausted before you plant them on. Parsley doesn't really do well transplanted, but as long as you don't try to tease out individual plants it does OK.

 

[lurker]

Moneymaker is excellent, in fact I have gone back to growing a few after going all exotic and the results not living up to their promise.

You don’t need to fertilise at all until the plants are transplanted.
Do this as soon as they have true leaves
Then little and often is the secret.
I use Wilko own brand liquid tomato feed.
You more than a month away from needing any .

 

[Chris152]

Phil - I did try that one year with basil, one plant from the shop was enough to produce a whole growbag full of plants. We ate lots of basil that summer!

You don’t need to fertilise at all until the plants are transplanted.

Is that right even if I'm using really old compost that's been pretty much stripped of its nutrition? Cheers.