Search found 1608 matches

by John
Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:35 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Pricking Out Tomato Seedlings - Leaf or stem?
Replies: 10
Views: 4070

Re: Pricking Out Tomato Seedlings - Leaf or stem?

Surely it must be the leaves ("Don't call me Surely!").
If these are accidentally damaged during pricking out then the seedling will quickly recover. If you use the stem and it gets damaged - that's the end of the seedling.
John
by John
Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:57 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Lettuce crisis
Replies: 14
Views: 3905

Re: Lettuce crisis

Why do these people need to eat iceberg lettuce in the middle of winter?
John
by John
Fri Jan 27, 2017 9:19 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Sharpening secateurs
Replies: 4
Views: 2510

Re: Sharpening secateurs

Hello Barry
I use a flat boat shaped sharpening stone. It works well and gives an excellent edge. They are widely available for a few quid - get the finest grade you can though. Only sharpen the beveled edge of the cutting blade on bypass secateurs.
Regards
John
by John
Sun Jan 22, 2017 11:11 am
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Mid-winter Bits and Bobs - 2016/17
Replies: 95
Views: 23314

Re: Mid-winter Bits and Bobs - 2016/17

Hello PS
Brexit chocolate wish - can we add Black Magic? Years ago it was DW's favourite dark choccy but not any more.

John
by John
Sat Dec 31, 2016 4:38 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: New year's eve
Replies: 9
Views: 2921

Re: New year's eve

Best wishes to you all for 2017.
Here's hoping for kind weather and some good crops.

I hope OH is on standby at the church clock this evening. 2016 has had one second added so that we all remain synchronised with Milton Bryan Coordinated Universal Time.

John
by John
Wed Dec 14, 2016 10:06 am
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Best First Early Potatoes?
Replies: 10
Views: 4141

Re: Best First Early Potatoes?

I always grow Maris Bard for a really early potato. I try to get them as soon as I can from the garden centre - usually around mid Jan. They get chitted for about a month by sitting on top of our oil central heating boiler and then they are planted out in a large cold frame. They can't be earthed up...
by John
Tue Dec 06, 2016 11:10 am
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Very early Winter Bits and Bobs.2016
Replies: 95
Views: 24439

Re: Very early Winter Bits and Bobs.2016

Hello Geoff If you are using Firefox as your browser then I would say that the message is genuine. I had a similar problem with my previous computer when the motherboard (CMOS) battery failed. If this battery is weak then the first sign is date/time problems. This is a small battery that maintains d...
by John
Sat Dec 03, 2016 12:53 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Weekend Plans?
Replies: 14
Views: 4003

Re: Weekend Plans?

I will mainly be logging with my trusty Stihl this weekend after taking DW to the local Produce Market this morning.
I'm trying to wean her off all this homemade cake and pie stuff - without much success though.
John
by John
Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:17 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Moles! Moles! Moles!
Replies: 9
Views: 4941

Re: Moles! Moles! Moles!

Hi Peter I back onto fields and sometimes get mole trouble. If its somewhere that's a real nuisance such as the lawn I push a stick down the centre of the molehills and then put a few drops of Jeyes Fluid down the hole. They almost always move on and don't come back. With luck they move to an area o...
by John
Tue Nov 15, 2016 9:22 pm
Forum: Harvesting Q&A
Topic: Blown sprouts
Replies: 8
Views: 8073

Re: Blown sprouts

Hello JN I grew sprouts regularly until a few years ago. For several years I had the problem of blown sprouts and finally managed to solve the problem after following advice from earlier versions of this forum. You need to make sure that the plants are set quite deep and growing in hard compacted so...
by John
Fri Nov 11, 2016 11:54 am
Forum: General chatter
Topic: We Shall........................
Replies: 19
Views: 7887

Re: We Shall........................

"Remember!"

"Let those who come after see to it
that their sacrifice is not forgotten"
by John
Mon Nov 07, 2016 5:10 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: waltham butternut squash: Space?
Replies: 14
Views: 6345

Re: waltham butternut squash: Space?

Hello A9I Don't like to see a post go unanswered on forum for too long so here's my pitch on this one. The 1m x 1m seems a bit on the small side. I grow about 5 or 6 different winter squash most years. They are in a row with the plants at approx 1m spacing but I allow 1m either side of the row and t...
by John
Sun Nov 06, 2016 9:30 pm
Forum: Growing places
Topic: LED Growing Lights
Replies: 22
Views: 20322

Re: LED Growing Lights

I think fluorescent tubes for growth chambers are special ones with their spectrum designed to obtain the best results. They are not ordinary f tubes. Can you get white LED lights with the particular spectrum that's needed. Also I doubt that LEDs would have the even spread of light that you get from...
by John
Sun Nov 06, 2016 6:28 pm
Forum: Growing places
Topic: Greenhouse Fumigation
Replies: 19
Views: 24608

Re: Greenhouse Fumigation

Sulphur dioxide from burning sulphur should be treated with great care. It dissolves rapidly in water to form sulphuric(IV) acid (formerly sulpurous acid). This water could be moisture in the air, in your nose and lungs, surface of your eyes or on the surface of slugs, amphibians, worms and so on. S...
by John
Fri Oct 28, 2016 4:22 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Crazy Critters
Replies: 3
Views: 2186

Re: Crazy Critters

My clothes have been slowly shrinking for many years.
I blame DW and her washing machine. DW's reply is unprintable.
John