Hello Primrose
I grow my bush toms in the same way as strawberries - on a bed of straw - this keeps them clean and well away from the soil. I think it also helps the ripening process.
Tumbling toms do well in large pots where most of the fruits just hang over the side of the pot.
John

Until a few years ago tomatoes were described simply as cordon or bush which is very simple for us lesser mortals to understand. I don't know why this now widely used determinate/indeterminate nonsense is used to describe their growth. Regards John PS I'm a big fan of bush tomatoes - Red Alert is gr...

Hello VDP I use a good sprinkling of Fish, Blood and Bone on my rasps each year. I put in on in the Spring when the buds are beginning to break. Works wonders as it is a slow release fertilizer and will serve the plants till the fruiting stage. FBB is best bought in the larger quantities say 10kg tu...

Hello Fred
If you get bitten by the MT bug (as you surely will) then you will find this site very interesting

http://merrytiller.co.uk/index.html

Lots on the history, maintenance, how to use these machines and good range of spares available.

John

Hello XFred I don't think you have a problem here. The inner and outer pairs of rotors are held in place by pins each of which has a semi-circular clip. The whole arrangement is not rigid but quite loose as your video shows. It could be that your pins have become worn and are allowing more movement ...

Hello DCB There is no quick fix for this unless you want to weed kill the lawn and turf or seed it - no very practical if you have a dog though. The simplest thing to do would be to keep the grass well mown and let nature take it course. The coarser grasses and weeds will die out over time with freq...

I think only peahens lay eggs!

John

SM - Totally agree, Arthur Billet and Peter Seabrook were a great team.

John

Hello SB This could be a nutrient deficiency problem. In swede and turnip it is sometimes a problem and known as brown heart. Its caused by a deficiency of boron in the soil. I have never had this problem with celeriac and it is in a different plant family to swede and turnip. Celeriac needs a rich ...

Hello Pawty In a posting on another topic Johnboy recommended Wisley Magic. I already had a couple of other varieties so I didn't try this one. It will certainly be on my shopping list for next year though. This year my main runner has been Celebration. It grew well and has given us loads of near st...

Well done Westi
Your exhibits are excellent. The onions are truly splendid - perfect match for size and shape and well coloured. You deserved a 'Best in Show'. Onions are a difficult class to win because there is always such a lot of serious competition but the judges were obviously impressed.

John

Hello Westi Best to try and find what the problems is. One possibility is a Silver Leaf infection. As its name suggests the first sign of this is a silvery appearance to the normally bright green leaves. As the infection progresses the branches particularly on younger trees will die. I have an old h...

Hello Westi Excellent set of three there - you could be in with a good chance of a red card for a 1st. Difficult to see but I would trim any dried roots to a minimum but be careful not to damage the bottom of the bulb - carefully remove any trapped soil. Some rings - even made from a loo roll tube -...

Hello again Westi Read the show schedule carefully. There are usually separate classes for onions grown from sets and those grown from seed. You mention that yours are dumper with fatter hips - I guess that they have been grown from sets. Those in Pa snip's photo have the traditional onion shape tha...

Hello Westi Don't worry too much about a beautiful papery skin on your onions. Other exhibitors will be facing the same problems as you in maybe not getting them dried off in time for the show. Concentrate on getting matching sizes and shape for your onions - usually three. When staging them on show...