![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Gardening advice
Having just planted out the lettuce seedlings which are growing amazingly well and are so far untroubled by slugs, and managed (so far at least) to greatly reduce the aphid problems on the gooseberry (last year we had mega-problems with aphids), and the garden and allotment generally looking pretty good (we'll certainly have some disasters, just don't know what they'll be yet...), I wondered if anyone would like any gardening tips?
Is there some kind of fruit or veg that you'd like to grow and don't have a clue where to start?
Is there something you're already growing that simply goes wrong? (fails to thrive, gets eaten by nasties, etc)
Have you got a lawn that you're contemplating turning into a veg patch, but don't know where to begin?
Ask me, and I'll see what I can do to help.
Is there some kind of fruit or veg that you'd like to grow and don't have a clue where to start?
Is there something you're already growing that simply goes wrong? (fails to thrive, gets eaten by nasties, etc)
Have you got a lawn that you're contemplating turning into a veg patch, but don't know where to begin?
Ask me, and I'll see what I can do to help.
no subject
I had 2 from my sister. Made the mistake of wearing gardening gloves while planting them out, so have snapped one off just above the root. (I planted the roots anyway just in case).
The other one settled in ok but we had a frost the other night and now the leaves are looking a little translucent.
Is it doomed?
no subject
They're about the last thing to plant outside - after all risk of frost has gone.
I'm afraid they're doomed.
If desperate and the seedling is still small enough, try making a mini-greenhouse out of an empty plastic 2 litre drinks bottle. Cut off the bottom and push it down into the soil to make a small greenhouse with the neck at the top to let air circulate. I think it's probably too late, though.
no subject
Thanks for the suggestion - we're trying the mini-greenhouse approach and keeping everything crossed.
That'll (probably) teach me to be impatient!
no subject
Advise on!
no subject
no subject
If you really want results this year, then do potatoes, leeks and radishes on part of it and work like mad to improve the soil on the rest.
You're too late for early potatoes, but could still do maincrop. Get some egg boxes. Put your seed potatoes (with the eyes upwards) in sections of the egg box on a windowsill. As soon as the shoots are more than a centimetre long, plant them out. You'll need to do that NOW.
AS the lawn will take time to get weed free, I'd start the leeks in a seed tray with commercial seed compost. You'll lose them in the weeds otherwise. (I can tell a leek seedling from a grass seedling, but you won't be able to at first) They'll need planting out when they're bigger.
RAdishes. As soon as you've dug up a patch of lawn (you only need a couple of square feet), sprinkle radish seed. Two weeks later, you'll be able to see the seedlings. Weed around them regularly once you've recognised what they look like. Eat them as soon as they're big enough. Keep sowing more radish seed in a new patch at intervals of a few weeks. They're very easy to grow and a good plant to start with.
no subject
no subject
no subject
Can I grow carrots and caulies in pots or troughs or am I heading for a failure? Nothing's sowed yet but I was planning to sow this weekend.
no subject
Carrots need very fine soil. Caulies need a firm, compact soil.
I'd start with something simpler. Radishes, lettuces.
You can get some very pretty varieties of lettuce.
Rocket is also extremely easy to grow.
no subject
This soil is okay as we add general compost to it each year after sifting out any old roots and twigs using the "griddle" my dad gave me. This gives a very fine soil as it's capable of sifting out gravel. Do you have any advice for killing slug eggs because, no matter how hard we try, the slugs get a good 70% of our plantings each year. Should I begin each year with virgin soil/compost?
The seed packs I've bought have about 3.2 millions of seeds in them. For someone who only wants about three or four feet of crop, what would you recommend?
no subject
Too fine isn't good as it may compact. don't be afraid to leave a little rough stuff in - except for carrots which love fine soil.
I found, quite by accident, that the watering with dilute urine seems to discourage the slugs - last year, my slug-eaten celery plants recovered spectacularly. My guess is that the trace elements in it give the plants key nutrients to improve their natural slug defences.
My lettuces - only feet away from the pond - haven't been touched yet. (fingers crossed)
slugs like beer ( or anythng with yeast in it). Put some in a jar and sink the jar so its neck is about a cm above the soil. Add beer. when there are too many dead slugs in it, empty and replace.
REad the packet carefully. also look up on web as packets rarely tell you everything. Make your seed bed LEVEL and SMOOTH. It really does make a difference. Use string to mark a straight line when planting - makes it easier to spot the seedlings when they come up in a straight line!
Water well the day before you sow - don't water after sowing (especially if it's small, fine seed)