Search found 72 matches

by WigBag
Sat Oct 18, 2008 10:40 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Celery
Replies: 18
Views: 5848

Snooky hi, Having a lottie gives one the opportunity to try things, especially things like trench celery. I'm just glad I don't have to justify the time I spent on cosseting the little seedlings, then the trench itself. I am down to two plants in their cardboard collars following a rash of bolting s...
by WigBag
Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:38 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Hollow Heart
Replies: 4
Views: 2196

thanks for the replies guys, I bought Maris Bard after I had lost a load of Charlotte I was chitting to a bad frost in my lottie shed. I was limited in replacing them as it was quite late, so remembering the commendations here bought them and just chucked them in. I hadn't realised that they were an...
by WigBag
Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:42 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Hollow Heart
Replies: 4
Views: 2196

Hollow Heart

I have grown Maris Bard for the first time, I was quite pleased with the yield and its resilience to the summer conditions. However quite a number of them have what appears to be hollow heart. Hessayon states that it is due to prolonged wet after a period of drought, did I miss the dry period? Serio...
by WigBag
Sat Sep 20, 2008 10:25 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Rotating strawberries
Replies: 11
Views: 6366

Interesting ideas. I too have not managed to incorporate stawbs into my rotation, but a germ of an idea has taken root. I have 10' by 4' beds which give quite a wide central path, in fact I recently measured the width of the lottie and found it to be wider at one end which means I could have longer ...
by WigBag
Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:46 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Tomatoe Blight
Replies: 50
Views: 15137

Popped down to the lottie on the way home from work and was pleasantly suprised at the haul of toms. I lost the lot last year so this year sprayed with Dipthane(?) in the first week in July. I saw signs of blight type marks in August so cut off anything affected and sprayed for the second time at th...
by WigBag
Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:48 am
Forum: Seasonal tips
Topic: overwintering onions from seed
Replies: 8
Views: 4079

I let the conditions dictate. This seasons were planted out in December, last season in January. I sow Golden bear and Bedford Champion.
by WigBag
Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:32 pm
Forum: Seasonal tips
Topic: overwintering onions from seed
Replies: 8
Views: 4079

I sow into modules and 'protect' in an open cold frame until the new year. This year saw me lose a few more than normal but those that made it through the trials that were June July are good.
In comparison, the sets I put in in the spring had a large percentage loss to bolting.
by WigBag
Fri Jul 04, 2008 11:35 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: More cucumbers
Replies: 8
Views: 3778

This is my second year with Marketmore, I have a section of fencing along the centre of my bed and tie the plants on to it. It is 4" guage and about 4' high. This year has been quite windy, not excessive speeds but rather constantly blowing and I think that he wind plus the cooler temps have in...
by WigBag
Fri Jul 04, 2008 11:07 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Water Saving Tips
Replies: 5
Views: 2486

My first use of grass clippings was much appreciated by the blackbirds, they kept chucking it all over me paths !!
by WigBag
Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:59 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Rotation & Multiple crops in one year
Replies: 11
Views: 3759

JB, I am in my 8th season with my lottie. When I took it over I threw in some cabbages as I pondered how to make a start on an overgrown 'fallow' plot and they developed club root. Since then I have created 30 beds, 6 perennial and 24 for rotation and practise an hygenic approach as possible to not ...
by WigBag
Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:48 am
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Rotation & Multiple crops in one year
Replies: 11
Views: 3759

Colin I face the same problem. I have 4 beds for brassicas but for an extended crop have to plant my winter cauliflowers into a bed previously used for spring greens. I sow in root trainers and plant out when a good size, I plant out in a hole but back fill with potting compost (saved from last year...
by WigBag
Fri Jun 27, 2008 1:09 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Big insects on rhubarb
Replies: 11
Views: 6018

Restarted this post as it may be linked to a discovery on my rhubarb. On the lottie this morning I was harvesting some rhubarb and I discovered some gel near the base. It was crystal clear and did not look like seperate eggs all together, but very much like the hair gel that my offspring have used. ...
by WigBag
Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:53 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Bird scarers - problem pigeons
Replies: 7
Views: 4638

My neighbour's crops have been attacked, mine haven't, I put it down to my defenses. I have thin 4' whippy canes at each corner of my 10' by 4' beds plus one in the middle of the outside edge. I tie video tape at ground level and again at about 6". At the top I tie the thin plastic twine and da...
by WigBag
Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:10 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Contaminated Manure
Replies: 325
Views: 119654

How about Garden phone-ins? Most local Radio stations have a weekend slot, and a question on manure could be the vehicle to get the information out in the form of seeking advise on residual herbicides.
by WigBag
Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:18 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Bit of a breeze
Replies: 19
Views: 5697

Got away relatively well here in the Vale of York, I had a redcurrant bush lose a couple of lower branches, a wobbly frame for the french beans needed re-anchoring and my CDs hanging amongst the brassicas were all twisted up.
Heres hoping it blew the bugs away!!