Gardening Thread

[mishtergrolsch]

9 hours ago, MixuFruit said:

 

 

 

It's a decent mix of kitchen peelings, wood shavings, grass cuttings, some clay soil I dug up and broke into bits, shredded tree branches, pulled weeds. Trying to turn it once a fortnight.

I've only got one bay but it's a good sized square made of pallets with a bituminous roof felt lid on it. I just find it hard to get the bottom layer out without spilling the top everywhere. It's moist but not soaking.

It's getting to about 50 degrees in the middle but I'm told I should aim for nearer 70? Will it still get there at that temp eventually? I don't want to spread it on the ground only to find it's full of live weed seeds.

 

 

 

Youd maybe need to stick a tarp down and dig the contents out of the bay completely then shovel it back in with the top half going back in first to truly turn it. 

To make it cleaner, try only putting in annual weeds that haven't gone to seed yet to keep the weeds down in the compost. Just bin the perennials and seeded weeds.

Other than that, sounds like you're doing it properly. Two weekly cycle is a good one, should help break it down quickly.

 

ETA 70° is a very good temperature but may be difficult to get to with a smaller heap depending on where its located, shaded or sunny spots etc.

Edited June 12, 2020 by mishtergrolsch

[mishtergrolsch]

5 hours ago, MixuFruit said:

Good tips. For a dumbo like me what are the perennial weeds, dandelions I guess?

The pile is about 1.2m square and in sun for most of the day except the early morning but for access reasons I built it so the removable planks are facing west instead of south, so it does get shaded a bit by its own side wall until the sun is high in the sky. That said I've consolidated what was in it with one of those rubbish plastic tower compost bins so it's full to the brim now and should get a bit more heat. The onduline stuff I put on top gets boiling hot to touch on a sunny day.

A perennial is a weed which lives year after year, so yep, dandelions, docks or dokens, nettle roots, thistles, anything that dosent finish its life cycle in a growing season but lives on to f**k with you forever. The b*****ds to get rid of.

Putting a perennial weed in a compost heap is like putting a fat kid into a McDonalds. You'll never get rid of them and they just get bigger!

It will take a wee while for the heat to build and the more turning and fresh stuff the better. Also, the more worms in it the better too so when you dig it out have a wee look about and see what's living in there. Most critters help out a fair bit too.

Just keep doing what you're doing and let nature do its thing. It's a process that can take years to perfect and your way can be light years away from what works for someone else but the key is (as the Travis song goes) turn, turn, turn.

[mishtergrolsch]

2 hours ago, MixuFruit said:

See with worms - my garden doesn't have that many as there's a lot of clay soil and up the top end (opposite end from the compost heap) those new zealand flatworms are under every rock. Very few 'make it' to the veg patch if that makes sense. If I bought in some worms and stuck them at the bottom of the compost pile would that be worth doing?

Could give it a try. Cant hurt. 

Kill as many flat worms as you can - they're an invasive species and prey on our native earthworms so they can f**k right off.

Earthworms don't like clay soil so much as it tends to be thick, wet and sticky (insert Kenneth Williams gif) so they cant breathe so well. Breaking it up and working in your compost would help up their numbers in the future.

I think I see where you're going with this!

[Billy Jean King]

First shaw of my earlies lifted today (Rocket), quite pleased.

[Hedgecutter]

Might as well ask here rather than Quick Questions:  Today I stumbled across a load of 'lactuca' plants in lowland Moray, pictures of which (flower and leaves) are below.  Is this a somewhat rare species for Scotland?

 

   

 

Eta:  turns out to be a common blue-sowthistle.  Relatively rare (for Scotland ) it would seem, despite the name.  Strange flower boinging about on a really long stem.

Edited July 16, 2020 by Hedgecutter

[Billy Jean King]

Despite the shit weather I'm getting a monster crop of Strawberries. I expanded the strawberry patch from runners from a couple of troughs I had them in previously. Now got a patch about 10x6 ft and we have been getting pounds and pounds. Jam being made this week.

[Billy Jean King]

Tonight's pickings

[Bigmouth Strikes Again]

[Sergeant Wilson]

1 minute ago, Bigmouth Strikes Again said:

Is Mullarkey in there, have we to find him?

[Bigmouth Strikes Again]

24 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Is Mullarkey in there, have we to find him?

No chance. There's cats patrolling the border.

Thank you.

[Nkomo-A-Gogo]

Straggly carrots and whopper courgettes !  More misses than hits though. It's been so dull and cloudy for weeks now. Need some sun.

[Billy Jean King]

Cucumbers finally getting there now. Been slow as grown from seed this season.

[mishtergrolsch]

5 hours ago, MixuFruit said:

Crappy weather hasn't helped but I'm starting to harvest some veg!

The tomatoes in the greenhouse still look quite small and green, I had a better and riper crop last year. Any tips on helping them on? I water them twice a day and feed them once a week.

 

I planted a variety of different squash/courgette plants but only these ones came to anything. Tasty enough, I'm getting 2 or 3 every few days.

Tips for Toms - have you pinched the leader out? There's not much point in the main shoot growing and putting on leaves and flowers now as any fruit will not ripen so cut it down to the last truss and the energy will go into the ripening crop. Pinch any flowers and small crop out.

What size of container are they in? I find the bigger the better as it helps retain water and reduces nutrient leeching - especially if your finding you need to water them twice a day! Maybe feed them twice a week if you need that much water - even put a very little amount of feed in with every water. Little and often is better than feast then famine, especially at this time of year. Is it Tomorite with seaweed you use? I find this pretty good. When I pot them into the final containers I put some slow release fertiliser (osmocote) in which usually helps with my shite memory of when I fed them last! Which is usually feeding Friday...

Make sure the ripening fruit gets tons of light. Even take off some leaves to let light in. When the fruit begins to turn red i strip most of the leaves off so the energy goes to the fruit.

What variety of tomato are they? Sometimes some fancy Spanish or Italian ones don't like the shorter, cooler day lengths in the spring and suffer later with poor fruit.

If all else fails just blame the weather!

Edited July 26, 2020 by mishtergrolsch

[mishtergrolsch]

3 hours ago, MixuFruit said:

Great tips as ever.

Will be pinching leader, flowers, small toms out tomorrow and thinning the leaves to get sun at the ones at a decent size. 

Containers are a right mixture, some in 3L plant pots, some in 5L tubs, some in a big growbag tray. I'll try feeding them a little fertiliser each time rather than doing it once a week. I'm just using miracle gro general purpose as it's what I had, bad idea? Seemed to work OK last year.

I have moneymakers and tumblers in.

I'd try the Moneymakers in 7.5 litre pots next year. Bigger if you can. Takes up more space but you'll need less plants and get a better crop. They are big, thirsty and hungry so the bigger the pot the better. Restricted roots often stress Tomato plants out and they end up thin, gangly and stretched with poor fruit. I usually have them in big old 10ltr pots and they do very well. I'm trying a variety called Rio Grande and the other is a beef variety ive forgotten the name of and the ones in bigger containers have done well. I ended up dumping the smaller ones several weeks ago as they were becoming straggly.

A technique I've seen my boss use was to get two grow bags, one on top of the other and cut a hole through the top one and into the bottom one then set a large pot (which you cut the arse out of) filled with more compost half into the top grow bag. Gives them quite a bit of room to spread out and down into.

Like this but with a second grow bag underneath basically. Amd only two plants per bag, not 3 like shown.

Also, when planting the tomato into its final big pot / grow bag, plant it deeper, as deep as the first leaves. It'll throw more roots out from the newly covered stem. Sturdier plant and more feeding roots. Also, mulch with bark as itll keep moisture in.

Tumblers are generally smaller and can even go into hanging baskets if you're struggling for room on the ground or bench. I've done that before and its worked well. 3 - 5 litre pots are fine for them as they're wee and bushy and as long as you feed them like a regular tomato they're fine.

Fertiliser - wise, I prefer tomatorite / tomorite as it mainly feeds the fruit and flowers rather than feeding the leaves too. You don't necessarily want to promote leaves and shoots - you want the plant to produce healthy flowers and fruit, hence why you begin feeding after the first truss has set, nip out side shoots, tips etc and grow them as a cordon ie straight up a cane. General purpose plant food tends to help produce leaves, flowers and fruit equally. Its a balanced fertiliser so that may well be why your fruits are a bit smaller too. Your plants may be focusing on making an abundance of leaves instead of the fruit.

Its basically exploitation and manipulation of a plant to get tasty tomatoes!

[mishtergrolsch]

2 hours ago, MixuFruit said:

Finally got some red tomatoes! Feeding little and often and judicious pruning seems to have helped them along. Plenty more are on the cusp of ripening.

 

Good stuff. Nothing better than a fresh tomato thats not seen the inside of a fridge. I've just picked most of my crop, mostly beef tomatoes. Will shove a pic up when I've gone back out to the greenhouse to bring them in. Decent for 3 plants.

If you have many green tomatoes id now take off all the leaves on the plants to make sure everything goes into the fruit. Remove all flowers and any small peaky looking tomatoes. You'll find the plants won't dry out as quickly but keep the feeding program in place!

[HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows]

Carboard/paper are a composters friend. Ill put in receipts, takeaway cartons/wrappers/pizza boxes, letters, envolopes, tissues, toilet roll tubes. Hair too, beard shavings etc.

The piss thing is a total goer too. If you can, get pissing in it as much as you can, you will reap the rewards . Wee fun fact,,they used to collect the urine from public buildings schools etc. Pre pubescent ginger boys piss was the most desirable, they had to piss into separate buckets as this fetched a higher price.

Moved to a smaller garden so only have one compost bin,  plus a grass/weed one out front and back.

If you drink a lot of tea, rip the bags open and bin/burn the bags, they changed from some sort of natural silk to man made shit about 15 yrs ago, it does break down but not nearly as quick as it did. Some gardeners dont mind "rougher" compo, but its just your personal preference tbh.

 

[HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows]

Carboard/paper are a composters friend. Ill put in receipts, takeaway cartons/wrappers/pizza boxes, letters, envolopes, tissues, toilet roll tubes. Hair too, beard shavings etc.

The piss thing is a total goer too. If you can, get pissing in it as much as you can, you will reap the rewards . Wee fun fact,,they used to collect the urine from public buildings schools etc. Pre pubescent ginger boys piss was the most desirable, they had to piss into separate buckets as this fetched a higher price.

Moved to a smaller garden so only have one compost bin,  plus a grass/weed one out front and back.

If you drink a lot of tea, rip the bags open and bin/burn the bags, they changed from some sort of natural silk to man made shit about 15 yrs ago, it does break down but not nearly as quick as it did. Some gardeners dont mind "rougher" compo, but its just your personal preference tbh.

 

[Mark Connolly]

5 hours ago, MixuFruit said:

Finally got some red tomatoes! Feeding little and often and judicious pruning seems to have helped them along. Plenty more are on the cusp of ripening.

 

[HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows]

All the turning crack,,wouldnt stress to much about it tbh, a lot of the books point out that the natural composting in the wikd happens naturally with out mans intervention.

I personally turn mine twice a year, once in October when I put down a top coat on the borders/ pots etc to see it thru winter, then again in spring to refresh them and create space for the summers plunder

[Melanius Mullarkey]

On 16/07/2020 at 22:12, Sergeant Wilson said:

Is Mullarkey in there, have we to find him?

I’m behind the shed dressed as Bigfoot.