Summer bits and bobs.

[Westi]

Nice & quiet down on the plot again, everyone must be on the beach or on holidays! Took my 2nd spuds out today as all died down, OK in number but some quite small. I've had to cover the main spuds a couple of times so hoping they will be big enough for a few jacket spuds. Once again I did sow of lettuce this time in where the spuds were so will see how that goes, you never know 30th time lucky maybe! Then cleared & prepped that bed which I will use for the Chinese so got it all fed & will cover while waiting.

Plan today was to move the leeks but thought it would look better if I did the beds in front of them so were nice & tidy as well & do those these next. Found more onions of various sizes as well & they seem to have enjoyed this year. That will only leave the water cress area to be sorted & drip bags set up for them. Then a weed of the beds in front of the tunnel & it will be back over to plot 2. Runners starting to climb, squash & pumpkin up, lost 2 courgettes but did a re-sow & all looking OK. Nice harvest of Plum Beauty, not quite as juicy but as usual tasty. Even though I did not enjoy the heat it certainly slowed down the weeds.

[retropants]

......it also helped the corn and the beans to put on some impressive growth! I'm so happy with the worm compost, everything looks really strong & healthy. Last few years, growth has been a bit ragged and feeble. The companion zinnias and calendulas are also now flowering.

[Geoff]

Caveat emptor!
Last year I wanted to try Igloo cauliflower but my regular seed suppliers didn't list it so I purchased from eBay (Sold by : bangla-seeds), turned out to be cabbages, and poor ones at that.
This year when I filed my seeds I realised I had forgotten to order Sungold tomatoes so to avoid a large p&p I foolishly again went to eBay (Sold by : grandseedsuk). Having watched them grow without the typical zigzag I had my suspicions, they have developed into full size fruit, one plant orange (tasteless) and one plant red (not tried yet). That's despite being a pretty clearly labelled packet.
So the moral is, avoid eBay for your seed purchases unless it is one of the bigger companies listing.

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[Colin2016]

Hi Westi I believe you have grown sweet potato before so a bit of advice please can the long branches/runners be trained upwards or do they need to be on the ground to produce spuds?

[retropants]

Colin, I've also grown them before, and I let up grow up string. Westi may know better though!

[Geoff]

Time of year to keep the back door closed, amateur fliers in the garage, look a good brood.

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[Westi]

Hi Colin,

Once they have set enough new roots which you will id from a little root tangle along the vine anchored it is fine to start to train the rest if you have enough growing to meet your needs; then you can start directing the rest of the vine up out of the way, nipping off any new fruit that decide to grow. I usually let about 3 per vine grow in the soil, as when you do dig end of season you will find several tubers not just the one & some good sized which keep over a year & the rest are soup material. The secret of success is DO NOT water these very often, they don't need it & it will encourage more little tubers rather than ripening & filling out the rest. Harvest is end of year near Xmas for these but no rules about having a little shift of soil to check.
This pic is last years crop of 5 vines which took all of one side of the tunnel.

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[Colin2016]

Thank you retropants and westi for your advice.

I will cut down on the watering as think I have been overdoing it.

Another question I am growing in buckets as well as bed in greenhouse and noticed black ants in one of the buckets, any idea on how to get rid of them?

[oldherbaceous]

Poor Clive, is still waiting to get on to the forum but, Peter, hasn’t been on the forum since the 25th of June.…..I have sent a PM, but he hasn’t opened it yet!