Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.

A place to chat about anything you like, including non-gardening related subjects. Just keep it clean, please!

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retropants
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Pa Snip wrote:It's cats & dogs I can't cope with, make such a mess when they hit the ground.


:shock: :lol:
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oldherbaceous
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Another wet, miserable day here, too.....picked a couple of leaves of the outdoor GD toms yesterday, that had blight on them but, as PA Snip said, probably not humid enough for blight today...
Sitting at the table, looking through a plant catalogue... could spend a fortune..... :)
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

There's no fool like an old fool.
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Pa Snip
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OH when you miss the 'delivery' it could cost you a fortune

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08 ... l-letters/

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.

At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Pa Snip
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Disregard part of earlier post

Received blight alert email 3pm this afternoon, it was sent 11:17 this morning.

with timings like that its almost a case of don't bother shutting the stable door

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.

At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Geoff
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I've had three consecutive Hutton alerts. I don't grow outdoor tomatoes and the main crop potatoes still look fine. They are Cara which, looking at reviews, I should never have bought; they do have blight resistance but that seems to be their only good point. I wanted Picasso but they weren't in stock.
It makes a change for me to have better weather, it's actually stopped raining today and I have sunshine generating nearly 4 kW.
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Pa Snip
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Geoff wrote:I've had three consecutive Hutton alerts. I don't grow outdoor tomatoes and the main crop potatoes still look fine. They are Cara which, looking at reviews, I should never have bought; they do have blight resistance but that seems to be their only good point. I wanted Picasso but they weren't in stock.
It makes a change for me to have better weather, it's actually stopped raining today and I have sunshine generating nearly 4 kW.


Couple of guys on our site grow Cara regularly, they speak very highly of them.
We've not tasted them but they certainly look clean and are a nice medium size

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.

At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Pawty
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Hi,

Utterly fed up with this weather...... in between down poors theres been just about enough time to gather in courgettes, beans and lift some potatoes. Picking any tomato that's showing any sign of colour. Weeding just isn't happening.

But, when I was there last I noticed the dreaded blight on the tomatos. Quite depressing as the crop was looking amazing. Quick question - if a tomato shows sign of blight, can you cut the brown patch out and cook the half which wasn't affected? Can you use them at all?

Pawty
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Pa Snip
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Pawty,

I think you might find they have a bitter taste. Once affected they 'go off' very quickly.

removing any leaves as quickly as possible may help to slow the process down

Remove all leaves and stems from site, do not add to your own compost.

.

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.

At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
tigerburnie
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Wall to wall sunshine today, but I was in Perth with my daughters two wee boys making "fairy gardens " in pots, Semperviviums and a lot of glitter, hope they survive lol.
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
robo
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I had blight last year I've never had it before in all the years I've been growing tomatoes despite spraying every week with just about everything that was recommended on Google I lost most of them I pulled affected leaves of dailey but nothing seemed to work but I did get a few tomatoes so something must have worked
Westi
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Hi Primrose!

My spuds at back of the plot got hit, but saved, my tomatoes nearer to the front of the plot are fine - both sprayed at the same time, so your friend could miss out, but unless Blight watch is super clever, I can't explain why they don't get a warning. My alert is only based on the first part of my postcode, although they put the whole postcode on the alert - which is home, farming in the area & lottie!

I think the spores are so small they would get through fleece in the worst case scenario as when wet it sits on the plants, unless sturdy supports. My neighbour lost their spuds this year but their toms in their greenhouse are OK! Last year they lost both to early blight as door is open on the greenhouse!

It's a strange old thing is blight - so unpredictable!!

Hi Pawty! I would say try it! Blight isn't poisonous - well not to my knowledge anyway! Salvage what you can is my mantra on lottie! Get any toms viable off the plant & any those that are good maybe a bit of vinegar in the the water you wash them in might kill the spores & you can ripen them inside.
Westi
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Primrose
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I remember many years ago a young Russian business associate of my husband having to go to Texas in summer (his first trip out of what was then the Soviet Union ). I can still recall his absolutely shocked comment "i can,t believe it. All the old people in Texas walk around wearing shorts, even the old ladies!"

Ironically he has now emigrated to the USA and actually lives in Texas now. And I bet having experienced their hot summers he understands exactly why all the old people go around wearing shorts,".
chrisg
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"Growing Food in Your Polytunnel" (Gatter and McKee) suggests the use of bicarb. of soda as a useful fairly organic spray against blight on tomatoes under cover. Might be worth a try. Not much use outdoors, I`m afraid.
It`s actually been a nice day down here in darkest Devon. There`s been a funny yellow thing up in the sky, and it`s been unnaturally warm for a change.
tigerburnie
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Blistering heat(well 21 degrees is for us up here lol), so I went to a local beach to see if I could find the Humpback Whale that turned up yesterday. It must have been nearly two miles out sadly.
Humpback Whale.jpg
Humpback Whale.jpg (70.85 KiB) Viewed 3476 times
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
Monika
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No sign of blight here on either potatoes (Estima, Wilja and Desiree) or greenhouse tomatoes (Gardeners Delight), in fact, I think it's about the best year for tomatoes in our 40 years in the same greenhouse! I did spray them regularly when it was very hot and slightly 'wriggled' each plant every time I went into the greenhouse, so all the trusses were well pollinated and we have been harvesting tomatoes for the last two weeks now.

Had a grand day on the allotment yesterday: cleared the last broad bean plants, harvested the last calabrese and composted the plants, pulled out all the pea sticks and burnt them (the lively northerly wind made the smoke blow away from other people's polytunnels!), gave the leeks and celeriac a good feed and weeded all round.
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