I have a similar problem with French beans at the moment, Westie - two weeks after the appearance of the first seedling, I had the sum total of just two out of the twelve i had sown. I decided to stick all my left-over seeds in between the original planting stations, and within a week, several of th...

Thanks, Westi.

I have been away for a week, and when I left the tree looked perfect - it's incredible how quickly the little critters have established themselves!

I guess tomorrow will be spent trying to uncurl those leaves!

Having Googled this, I have now identified aphids - green fly to be precise - as the culprits. There are also ants present, which I presume are 'farming' them. Any suggestions on the best way to deal with this? I have a systemic pest spray to hand, which I am tempted to use, but if any of you have m...

Hi Plumpudding. We've had to have pest control out recently to try to track down 'the loft monster'. That one remains a mystery, but we thought we would get our money's worth by getting him to deal with the rats in the back yard while he was here. He is a very friendly, chatty, and down-to-earth guy...

Thanks OH. I hadn't come across Liberty, but have just Googled them and they sound like they are worth a try.

I forget - how big was your marrow in the end

Now we are into the New Year, I'm thinking ahead to the village produce show in September, and wondering what variety of runner bean to grow for the 'longest runner bean' class. Just from its name, Enorma Elite sounds good, but its description of 'extra long podded type' is not specific enough. Have...

I was told one of the girls down our allotments has passed away just before christmas she had been suffering with cancer the last few months we have seen very little of her, she had only just been given the plot when she was first diagnosed such a nice girl i will miss her How sad, Robo. I lost a f...

I once tried sticking glass bottles in the ground because some people claimed that the noise of the breeze over the open neck would deter moles, but they just pushed those out of the ground too, tigerburnie. As for planting garlic - actually, I never finished that experiment because rabbits found th...

Thanks tigerburnie. I've just had a look at your link and the reviews seem really good, and the price too. I think we will definitely get some of that for the outdoor problem, and maybe try it in the loft too, though unfortunately, a quick Google search suggests that "There are no poison baits ...

Mr Mouse is afraid of rats and refuses to go into an enclosed space like the loft in case they attack him! Some ten years ago, when we had heard something, he did at least hold the step ladder steady so i could go up (though i couldn't see signs of anything), but i'm not sure i could pull myself up ...

A very happy New year from me too.

Johnboy, if you are reading this, that includes you. Please change your mind and continue to share your advice and experience with us all. We need you!

Don't give up on trying to catch them yourself, Richard. I caught none at all for the first year or two that I tried, then somehow got the knack and caught 18 in one summer in my not very large garden . Since then, I have managed to control them quite well, setting traps (mainly scissor traps now) a...

I don't find time to come on the forum very regularly these days, and today was the first time for several weeks. Johnboy, I was shocked and saddened to see your post. Yes, a lot of our posts are very trivial, not too different from the banter that we sometimes share when working on our allotments -...

I like it )))

Only three things haven't done well for me this year: radishes, blackcurrants and melons (though the melons were only an experiment, and outdoors anyway, so expectations were not great). Just about everything else seems to have done quite well, though the beetroot have done too well - not sure what ...