Advice for a hopeless gardener

[Peter]

A long time ago I read somewhere “plant onions and carrots together”.

onions keep of carrot fly and carrots keep of onion fly.......win win

It might work..........?

[jennyjj01]

A long time ago I read somewhere “plant onions and carrots together”.

onions keep of carrot fly and carrots keep of onion fly.......win win

It might work..........?

I read that. This year NONE of my carrots survived
Next time I'm building net tents.

[Arzosah]

Loving your onion update, Jenny

[GillyBee]

I can't get either to grow - & I know it is a slug/snail problem which nothing seems to touch.

[jennyjj01]

I can't get either to grow - & I know it is a slug/snail problem which nothing seems to touch.

This year and last year, not a glimpse of a carrot. Swamped out by annual weeds.
Last year onions got that darned leaf miner and I suspect this year has them, too as the onions show bite scars. Oh hum.

[Peter]

I can't get either to grow - & I know it is a slug/snail problem which nothing seems to touch.

Some years ago we had a snail & slug problem, so just after dark we went out, wife with torch
me with rubber gloves and a plastic bag with some salt in.

First night over 70, second night over 40, third night high 20s, and so on for a week or so,
then it was just a handful each time.

It works in a garden but would not be convenient on an allotment.

Incidentally I was once told the time to spread slug pellets is evening St. Valentine’s day.

[Adjee]

A lot of today's packaged seeds are "Industrial Bred" also known as (F1) Hybrids. Most commercial seeds are these which are basically genetically engineered crosses designed for industrial farming. They thrive within the controlled commercial farm set up (using all the required chemicals) but are also sold commercially. They are not suited to your standard backyard/allotment soil (no matter what the seed companies state) hence the low germination rates.

Find/obtain Heirloom seeds from people who grow within the area you live you will know then that they will grow/thrive in your areas soil/climate.

We have done this (after having many failures) and we now harvest seeds for our own use in the following years.

As an example.. we experimented this year growing some carrot seeds that come attached to a ribbon that you just put in the ground and cover with soil vs several packs of commercial seeds vs our own last year collected seeds. We have had to re sow extra of our own seeds as both the commercial and ribbon seeds germination rate was dire (especially the ribbon ones).

There are also a lot of other factors that can affect germination rates ranging from when the seeds are harvested, condition when packaged, the region they are from (which probably is not the same as the region they are sold in due the global world markets that exists today), how old the seed actually is (not the date on the package!), cross pollination etc. etc.

Never give up and when you find any crop that thrives leave a few in the ground to mature for seed collecting.

[Frnc]

Post spotted on X.

"Farmers have figured out that the cheapest pesticide is a strip of flowers, and the scientists have verified it.

Swiss researchers sowed flower strips through 10 winter wheat fields and compared them to 15 fields without. Cereal leaf beetle larvae dropped 40%. Second-generation adults dropped 53%. Damage to the wheat fell 61%.

That pushed the pest below the threshold where spraying pesticides is even worth the money.

A follow-up study on perennial strips found beetle larvae down 66%, and yield in the wheat beside them up 10%.

The catch is that this only works when the strips are built for it. Those Swiss trials used specific plants chosen to feed specific predators: cornflower, coriander, buckwheat, poppy. A generic wildflower mix along the field edge doesn't reliably do this.

The same principle scales down to a garden. Plant a strip of yarrow, dill, fennel, or mountain mint through the middle of your vegetable beds, not just around the outside.

Then leave it alone and let the bugs go to work."

[jennyjj01]

Post spotted on X.

"Farmers have figured out that the cheapest pesticide is a strip of flowers, and the scientists have verified it.

Swiss researchers sowed flower strips through 10 winter wheat fields and compared them to 15 fields without. Cereal leaf beetle larvae dropped 40%. Second-generation adults dropped 53%. Damage to the wheat fell 61%.

That pushed the pest below the threshold where spraying pesticides is even worth the money.

A follow-up study on perennial strips found beetle larvae down 66%, and yield in the wheat beside them up 10%.

The catch is that this only works when the strips are built for it. Those Swiss trials used specific plants chosen to feed specific predators: cornflower, coriander, buckwheat, poppy. A generic wildflower mix along the field edge doesn't reliably do this.

The same principle scales down to a garden. Plant a strip of yarrow, dill, fennel, or mountain mint through the middle of your vegetable beds, not just around the outside.

Then leave it alone and let the bugs go to work."

Thanks FRNC.
That sounded useful and promising, until the bit about it having to be appropriate flowers, which made it too complex for me


Anyhow..... Up at 'tallotment, I've started seriously digging out weeds and prepping the ground for next year. digging in the current heatwave was particularly stupid. Separating the bindweed out of my raspberry plants was a particularly PITA slow chore.

I plan to spend a few months at the end of the season, bodging together nets and cloches to cover up next years early sowings. On the lookout for a greenhouse or decent propagating tent.

Picked up a packet of strawberry seeds in an ASDA sale. Have never seen those before anywhere. Meanwhile, I'm TRYING to propagate some strawb cuttings from runners. My existing strawberry plants are old and well past their best fruiting days.

[Adjee]

Plant a strip of yarrow, dill, fennel, or mountain mint through the middle of your vegetable beds, not just around the outside.

Then leave it alone and let the bugs go to work.

We "Strip garden/grow" all our annual vegetables, between each strip and within them we grow various herbs and flowers. Some deter/attract pests away from what is growing others encourage/feed useful insects that destroy pests or pollinate. Bear in mind that an insect that is a pest in one area can be useful in another (e.g. wasps).

Things we utilize: All you mention especially Dill and Yarrow (we also have a seperate Yarrow patch we planted and nurtured for a previous experiment, this is an extremely useful plant)

plus a few (but not all) others:

Sage - Helps against Cabbage moths and Carrot flies
Rosemary- As above and the Bean beetle
Chives - Deters Green fly and Aphids
Garlic - Works well against Snails and most Root maggots (also works a treat when used to drive moles away)
Thyme - (Not Citrus Thyme) cuts down the White flies and Cabbage worms
Savory - We grow it everywhere, the aroma is lovely to us but not (it would seem) to most garden critters
Coriander - Helps against the Colorado beetle, also attracts parasitic wasps and other insects that feed on bugs, caterpillars etc.

Do not forget the old but reliable flowers:

Chrysanthemums and Marigolds - the latter works well against Tomato Hornworm (always an issue here).

Big bonus is that every year you get to harvest, use, preserve and store a wide and large amount of useful herbs.