Search found 12 matches

by tony s
Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:13 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Should i get them off.
Replies: 6
Views: 3283

The weather forecast for most parts is neither frosty or very hot for the next week or so. I would leave the cloches on until the haulms are filling it or we get a hot day - cloches can get very warm indeed in strong sun. But leaving them on in this average weather will bring on your spuds that bit ...
by tony s
Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:01 pm
Forum: Seasonal tips
Topic: Another way of planting leeks
Replies: 10
Views: 5155

I sowed mine outdoors this weekend. I wont transplant them until July, either after the first early potatoes or the overwintered broad beans. They are quite big by this stage. I rotovate the ground first and then use my rake handle to dib a hole as deep as it will go - usually about a foot. The leek...
by tony s
Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:00 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Growing new potatoes in the same ground
Replies: 4
Views: 4398

Before I took my original allotment on, it had been used to grow only potatoes for four years by the previous tennant who had another plot. He only stopped growing them there because he moved away from the area. Luckily this does not seem to have caused any problems, as I grew good spuds there the f...
by tony s
Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:19 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: another useful seed supplier
Replies: 0
Views: 1549

another useful seed supplier

I ordered some seeds (Tabasco, Jalapeno and sweetcorn) from a company called Orkney Seed and Garden Supplies. They have an E-Bay shop. There is a decent list and some of the less usual varieties, but the best thing is that they are all 49p per packet. Postage is also 49p, no matter how many you orde...
by tony s
Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:11 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Making Compost - or not
Replies: 14
Views: 5773

I know this will be heresy to some, but I really dont think it is worth spending any time worrying about making compost. I have tried the "dalek bin" at home and one year it was not too bad, but a whole years worth of kitchen peelings and dead bedding plants only gave the eqivalent of a ve...
by tony s
Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:26 pm
Forum: Seasonal tips
Topic: tomato seeds
Replies: 20
Views: 10885

The best time to sow really does depend on the conditions you have for the little plants once they have germinated. I would be nervous about having tomatoes in a cold greenhouse before May, as there are usually frosts in April. Even if it does not freeze inside it is going to be close and do them no...
by tony s
Thu Dec 15, 2005 7:16 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: To dig or not
Replies: 9
Views: 6577

Hi Allan

Can you give us some more details about your plans? I wondered if you were going to use a flame gun or fill drills with potting compost?

tony
by tony s
Thu Dec 15, 2005 7:00 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Manure!
Replies: 6
Views: 4385

Hi Mazmezroz. If you already know what you are going to plant in your beds and enjoy being out in the cold and wet shifting muck, you can certainly move it now. As long as you dont put it on your carrot and parsnip bed it should be fine. But if it were me I would leave it where it is and cover it up...
by tony s
Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:14 am
Forum: Best practices
Topic: To dig or not
Replies: 9
Views: 6577

Hi Allan. I think this is a very good example of there being more than one example to get good results. I have my doubts about no-dig on heavy soil. Although all the articles I have read advise that it works a treat on clay, I have not yet seen a working example for myself. I grow on a fairly large ...
by tony s
Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:09 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Early Tomatoes
Replies: 4
Views: 3791

I have just worked out how to enter pictures. Following my message above, here are my tomatoes on 7th July.

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by tony s
Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:37 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Early Tomatoes
Replies: 4
Views: 3791

Hi Geoff. The earliest I have picked ripe tomatoes was this year on 3rd July. Sown 2nd April in propagator. Germinated 6th April and grown under a light (see my posting under Starting a Propogating Area). Planted in cold greenhouse 10th May - the first truss flowers were just opening then and they w...
by tony s
Tue Dec 06, 2005 8:15 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Starting a Propogating area.
Replies: 14
Views: 7092

Hi Andrew. Cost of lights can be quite high, but to me it is worth paying, because growing to me is more of a hobby, which I love, rather than about saving money. I have a system, which I set up in my spare bedroom from mid March to mid May. It consists of a 600W sodium growlamp and a pedestal fan s...