Advice for a hopeless gardener

Food, Nutrition and Agriculture
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Medusa
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Location: UK

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by Medusa »

We appear to have a new garden pest to deal with. We had quite a lot of issues with vine weevils but since using nematodes these aren't such a problem. Planted a load of dwarf French beans in tubs and then some in individual pots. The pots germinated really fast and have grown well but not single thing in the tubs. Had a bit of a poke around and found only 2 beans left out of the 6 in each tub and both were riddled with tiny white maggots and I have found lots of tiny pupa. Some of the leeks have had it too and their roots have been sucked dry and look like strings of plastic. Investigations point to sciarid fly (fungus gnats) so bought a different type of nematodes and hoping that these help.
Growing old disgracefully!
GillyBee
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:46 am

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by GillyBee »

For me it is usually the mice that get to the beans and peas I have taken to germinating them on kitchen paper and sowing them once the root shows to give them a chance to grow before the mice find them. I will use poison if things get bad but tend to try to only use this if really necessary.
Sciarid fly is a pain in the neck. Sometimes keeping the soil a bit drier helps. Otherwise it is the nematodes or finding a suitable pesticide which is easier said than done.
jennyjj01
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

Spuds in a tub...... A follow up to 'Peas in buckets' :roll:

Trying it in a largeish rectangular tub, that the council once gave us for newspaper recycling. I popped 4 sprouting spuds (not bought seeds) in , half way down in 6 inches of nutrient free compost. Then I drizzled it with made up fertilizer. Anyone care to wager on how I kill them :)
I'm guessing that their demise will be from overfeeding and digging them out every week to see how they're growing* :D :D :D Vis-a-vis impatience!

To what extent does it sound like I cocked up? The spuds were just from the bottom of the veg basket**. Smallish Maris piper, gone a bit soft and green with one inch sprouts.
Do I stand any chance with such dubious 'seeds'?
Should I have let them chit longer? Why? Why not?
Did I plant at a stupidly wrong time?
Does 4 in a 500mm foot tub sound right?
Are they doomed because they are not proper seeds?
How can I resist over-feeding them?

The plan, for what it's worth is to earth them up with just neutral Coir and feed them fortnightly on just dilute tomorite. Almost hydroponic.

I bought a job lot of two gallon buckets which are now dominating my patio :D :D
Feeling the urge to splurge on more seeds.

* I won't really dig them up weekly.
** No way on god's earth will I pay a fiver a bag for garden centre seed spuds.
*** The peas in buckets are doing fine
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
jennyjj01
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

Some proud family photos :)

Beetroot and Swiss Chard. Chard is ready to nibble on.

(4) Peas in a bucket and Cousin Carrots (Amsterdam Forcing)

Curtis Courgette and his little sister Caz

Curtis has somehow prospered compared to Caz. I've no idea why the size difference. Caz has shallower compost?
IMG_20220519_113950.jpg
IMG_20220519_114204.jpg
IMG_20220519_114047 (1).jpg
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
GillyBee
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:46 am

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by GillyBee »

Hi Jenny,

Potatoes - Have a go!
The reason that you are usually recommended to use special "seed" potatoes is that these are checked for any diseases that may be lurking in the tuber and ruin all your hard work. There is no reason why your old supermarket spuds will not grow. I actually have a few spuds lurking behind my greenhouse that came up after some were chucked on the compost heap. We have wam winter hear and they have reappeared every year now for almost ten years and still look healthy. I have no idea of the variety.
Maris Piper are a maincrop spud so you are not likely to see any potatoes before September - maybe even October which might be a problem if you get early frosts. They are susceptible to blight so a wet summer could turn them to mush. Earthing up can by anything organic. Potatoes are pretty greedy so you will need to feed them plenty. Watch out for pale leaves or slow growth as a warning sign of a hungry plant. Coir can be pretty alkaline which potatoes dont like. You may be able to earth up with something else to balance that such as grass clippings.
I have grown early potatoes 4 to a tub as you describe. They may be a bit squashed but you will only find out by having a go. Have fun!
Nurseandy
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Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2018 7:12 am

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by Nurseandy »

Result! We moved to our new property 6 weeks ago. The gardens a bomb site so I'm getting some raised beds going to at least grow a bit of veg, BUT! more excitingly it appears that we have two mature apple trees that have come out in full blossom so let's hope we get some apples :D
GillyBee
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:46 am

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by GillyBee »

Brilliant news! Here is to a good crop of Apple Pie, Apple Jelly, Apple Butter and dried/bottled apples. I am jealous. We only have apples because next door dont want to process theirs and trade carrier bags full in exchange for apple jelly.
jennyjj01
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

HELP, gardening experts. I think my Okra has nits !!!

My indoor okra is now about 5 inches high, with not many leaves. A bit leggy.

I just noticed on the underside of each leaf, about 5 to 10 little white/clear grains, just like small grains of sugar or nit eggs. There are a few on the stalks of the plants too. They crush with a click.

I suspect they are eggs of some sort :( Any ideas?

Do I remove and crush them? They don't seem to be part of the leaf. Do I isolate the okra away from my tomatoes?

[EDIT. Solution found Not worthy of a fresh post.]

I googled and found the solution. These clear/white egg like structures are 'sap balls' and are a sign of a healthy plant. Not Eggs and nothing to worry about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUAP1Dv5gE
https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grape ... nfestation
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

jennyjj01 wrote: Thu Mar 03, 2022 6:25 pm ...
I'll be doing a first sowing of chard and beetroot soon, in pots.
...
I have also sown another batch of tomatoes, also in card pods, but I'm starting to worry about them not breaking out yet. the poor seeds look so very tiny as I buried them alive.

Last but not least, I've just popped a dozen cloves of garlic in some 2 foot long planters. I bought them at the wrong time and they arrived in the post already sprouting. I plan to neglect them, because that worked well with the last lot :)
Update... That was back in March....

But I'm proud to announce...... My first harvest to the plate :D :D :D :D . A great big plate of chard and beetroot leaves to be wilted with garlic, butter and a scrambled egg. A few critters have already had a nibble, but there's enough to go round. I don't know what critters. What I harvested barely made a dent in my crop. Planning to harvest at least one meal of chard per week

The tomatoes... A very mixed result. The tomatoes in card pods were a dead loss. But I do have four vigorous plants, safely in cloches, and a few in pots in reserve..

The garlic rotted and none of that batch survived. Neglecting them might have been better than drowning them.

So much satisfaction browsing my planters and buckets, so full of life... eventually.... Thanks to all who advised me.
I wonder what will be next to the plate? Peas and courgettes are growing like teenagers.

Latest newcomers to the windowsill, a dozen or so each of lettuce and cauliflower. These sprouted in no time at all. I don't think I'm supposed to transplant them, but that's the plan, whether or not.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
GillyBee
Posts: 1047
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:46 am

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by GillyBee »

Lettuce will transplant but I do get better results sowing in place. We are currently getting a couple of picks od lettuce leaf for salads a week from a patch less than 18" square sown fairly thickly with mixed lettuce back in March.
Mange Tout peas are showing their first flowers so not long now for those too.