Bathtime?

[Gadge]

I have had precious little success with carrots sown directly in the ground on my allotment in previous years. Most get eaten by slugs.

Earlier this year though I converted a waist high plastic bucket into a giant plant pot, by drilling some drainage holes at the bottom and filling it with compost. Carrots grown there have, so far, been a 100% germination and slug proof success, although my first crop are still too small to eat (sown in Aug - Nantes).

One of my fellow plot holders uses hanging baskets to grow his lettuces, also to avoid slug damage.

I am now thinking about trying to get hold of an old bath to do a similar thing for my lettuces. The plug hole would mean drainage comes built (yay). It would save all that growing in pots and transplanting. Plus the shallow bath shape/size should be just the ticket for a decent qty of lettuce without costing the earth in compost to be changed annually.

Is anyone else already doing this on an allotment out in forumland? Did you get any objections re possible eyesore factor from council guy or fellow plotholders??

It could of course be painted green/brown to blend it in.

[kranser]

I'm considering using an old bath as a growing place.

But mine will be in the back garden and not an allotment - I'm still waiting to see what the other members of my family will think of the 'eye sore'.

My question is: Does the plug hole only being at one end cause a problem - i.e. do you need to have the bath resting on a slight slope so water drains towards the plug hole?

My aim is that this will protect against rabbits - and hopefully slugs too.

I haven't decided what to grow in it yet, but I'll be growing carrots, pumpkins and gherkins (amongst other things). Not too sure what is most at risk from rabbits.

Kranser.

[kranser]

Also, I guess you can half bury the bath into the ground to help the 'eye sore' factor - and to save you half the compost needed for the first year by using the soil you dug up! I guess this should still provide protection from most pests - rabbits and slugs.

Kranser.

[mrs l]

i have 2 baths in my allotment in which i have grown garlic, fennel, potatoes and lettuce, not all at the same time .I only have the plug hole for drainage and its been okay. my allotment is straight opposite the street where i live and nobody has complained. I have also grown carrots in a black bin raised higher on bricks to try and outwit the carrot fly, which worked, but i still got slugs, or snails, big things with shells on, in the bin.

[John]

Hello Gadge
I've grown carrots for several years in blue barrels with great success. The barrels have been cut and are about 2 ft high and 2 ft across. I fill them with last years old peat based compost with a little extra fertilizer and feed regularly with soluble feeds as the carrots develop. Last year I tried parsnips, another crop I've had a lot of trouble getting started, and this has also worked well. Barrels are very cheap round here as I live quite near a 'fruit juice' works.

As far as your present carrot crop is concerned I think you should enjoy them now, small as they are, because now they're in their second year they won't make any more root but they'll simply grow on into their flowering stage. Within a few weeks depending how mild it is in your area you could take a chance and make a fresh sowing of some of the early varieties like 'Frubund' or 'Primo' that will germinate in lower temps.

John