-
The first stage of the forum upgrades has now been completed but they remain in a degraded state and are still being worked on. Normal posting/reading should now be possible.
Please read this thread for more details.
New user registrations are currently disabled.
Hansel
Striker
Personally I'd use out of date instant coffee in my coffee mug.
As for the slugs the best cure for those are get a pond if you can. The frogs will thank you for their meal.
High Entropy
Midfield
Used coffee grounds from my coffee pot go on the garden as a kinda mulch/feed, don't know about instant coffee though.
Anything in particular they work with?
Edit.
You must be logged on to see external links
Last edited:
High Entropy
Midfield
Not really for me, just an organic mulch, moisture retention, weed suppressing under the hedge.
I don't really attach any special benefits to it other than I hope the strong smell deters cats !
DaveH
Striker
I don’t drink coffee, it is why it went out of date in the first place.
I’ve struggled to attract frogs to my pond, I think there are too many fish. They eat any spawn so we are not getting them sticking around. Which is a shame, because I’d prefer the frogs to fish. We inherited the pond and they used to keep a net over it. Then we had a heron visit a lot and that reduced the numbers, except all the black ones that you can’t see survived and multiplied. Next time I replace the liner I wonder if I should put the fish back in, but don’t know what I would do with them.
Hansel
Striker
I can see why you might feel awkward about a mass fish cull. You need somewhere to donate them to.
DaveH
Striker
I've been looking for a pet otter, but they are hard to come by
I got into growing stuff around 4 years ago and it has taken over as my main hobby. In the last year I started planting seeds from things the wife buys from the shops. So when we have lemons and oranges etc I keep the seeds and plant them in compost and see what grows. So far I have got little lemon and orange trees just growing in little pots in the house and also melon plants. I saw a TV programme which suggested that when you buy a pack of dates then put the stones in some perlite in a moist plastic bag in the airing cupboard or a warm place. These then develop roots after about 6 weeks and then you can plant them. Now 18 months later I have a collection of little palm trees growing. Currently they are about 18 inches tall and looking really healthy.
More recently I got some little pomegranate plants growing just from putting some into compost. Apparently these could grow into small trees about 5m tall and are hardy enough to be planted out in UK with a bit of care.
I find it far more satisfying than just buying seeds or buying plants from a garden centre. Anyone else do anything like this? Any suggestions for future projects?
and a question......last year I planted tomatoes, chillis and peppers and put 3 or 4 plants into a large plant pot. The pots are a good size each taking a full bag of compost. The wife argues that if I put only one plant in each pot then you would get as much fruit off the single plant as you would from 3 or 4 plants in the same pot. I'm not convinced but she has gardened for longer then me and so i would be interested to hear views and experiences from others?
and a question......last year I planted tomatoes, chillis and peppers and put 3 or 4 plants into a large plant pot. The pots are a good size each taking a full bag of compost. The wife argues that if I put only one plant in each pot then you would get as much fruit off the single plant as you would from 3 or 4 plants in the same pot. I'm not convinced but she has gardened for longer then me and so i would be interested to hear views and experiences from others?
More recently I got some little pomegranate plants growing just from putting some into compost. Apparently these could grow into small trees about 5m tall and are hardy enough to be planted out in UK with a bit of care.
I find it far more satisfying than just buying seeds or buying plants from a garden centre. Anyone else do anything like this? Any suggestions for future projects?
and a question......last year I planted tomatoes, chillis and peppers and put 3 or 4 plants into a large plant pot. The pots are a good size each taking a full bag of compost. The wife argues that if I put only one plant in each pot then you would get as much fruit off the single plant as you would from 3 or 4 plants in the same pot. I'm not convinced but she has gardened for longer then me and so i would be interested to hear views and experiences from others?
and a question......last year I planted tomatoes, chillis and peppers and put 3 or 4 plants into a large plant pot. The pots are a good size each taking a full bag of compost. The wife argues that if I put only one plant in each pot then you would get as much fruit off the single plant as you would from 3 or 4 plants in the same pot. I'm not convinced but she has gardened for longer then me and so i would be interested to hear views and experiences from others?
Last edited:
AmblerThorn
Midfield
Posting this from lunch in a garden centre
Miss big garden with went with the marriage. Now how have nothing better than a patch
But am going to go for it this year. Got raspberry plants, broccoli, onions to go in and see what else I can grab today before setting to work on the patch
Miss big garden with went with the marriage. Now how have nothing better than a patch
But am going to go for it this year. Got raspberry plants, broccoli, onions to go in and see what else I can grab today before setting to work on the patch
I read your post with interest there. Might try and find some dates. Female and fruit varieties
High Entropy
Midfield
I've got an avocado tree (about 1mt) and a couple of smaller ones from supermarket avocados, too cold to go outside year round, so it's a houseplant.
If I was to give you any tips from my vast experience
is get the biggest avocado you can and bury the delicately removed seed in compost on a window sill rather than hold it in water with toothpicks (like youtube videos) it takes months to germinate and send out shoots though. I might give pomegranate a go, didn't know they were hardy.I split a bag of compost in half and made it into two mini bag/pots put holes in both bottoms and put one plant in each and topped up the bags with garden compost as an experiment for outdoor tomatoes, they grew ok but not much of a harvest BUT I think that might have been because of the variety "red cherry" I don't think they were best suited to the outdoors.
Garden centres have the best cafes, loved the Lanchester one before covid, only been once since and waited 45mins for food.
Last edited:
I might just try that with Avocado. I did try with a Mango nut just out of curiosity and, after some 5 months, the nut remains green (like it is still alive) but it isn't really doing anything.I've got an avocado tree (about 1mt) and a couple of smaller ones from supermarket avocados, too cold to go outside year round, so it's a houseplant.
If I was to give you any tips from my vast experience
I split a bag of compost in half and made it into two mini bag/pots put holes in both bottoms and put one plant in each and topped up the bags with garden compost as an experiment for outdoor tomatoes, they grew ok but not much of a harvest BUT I think that might have been because of the variety "red cherry" I don't think they were best suited to the outdoors.
Garden centres have the best cafes, loved the Lanchester one before covid, only been once since and waited 45mins for food.
I’ve had peas in a few weeks now, coming on nicely, I have some more in my grow room like just in case.
I need to plant onions this weekend then that’s me done planting, will carry on growing flowers to sell out front like but I’ll do that all summer now.
I’ve nowhere near the same variety of veggies as I did last year, trying for more quality this year.
AmblerThorn
Midfield
.
Last edited:
DaveH
Striker
Years ago me and the wife went to South Africa and one common food there were gem squashes. Small, green and a bit bigger than a tennis ball. Boil, scoop out the seeds then put mushrooms, bacon and melted cheese in, they were lovely.
One day I saw them in Sainsburys when they were doing a little food of the world thing. I bought 4, kept the seeds and grew some the next year. I think I got 4 more years of seeds before I had a batch that did not germinate and that was the end of that.
AmblerThorn
Midfield
Made myself a big planter from old bed wood today. Rather satisfying
FatCat2402
Winger
We've had about 7 hours over the weekend. Absolutely brilliant. Albeit quite hard work.
Need to get the shed creosoted next week. But all of our raised beds are either planted or ready to go.
Our biggest issue is lack of clean water. There's no water on site, hence we rely on water butts. However, they go stagnant when there's so little rain. Bought some treatment from Amazon that'll hopefully sort it.
PTR
Striker
So finally back from holidays etc. Nothing is started off.
Have an ourdoor mini greenhouse (the cheapo type)
Am I too late to even bother with tomatoes?
I'll start lettuce off next weekend as I know that'll be fine. Peas should be ok too?
Strawberry plants already growing nicely in the front garden.
Have an ourdoor mini greenhouse (the cheapo type)
Am I too late to even bother with tomatoes?
I'll start lettuce off next weekend as I know that'll be fine. Peas should be ok too?
Strawberry plants already growing nicely in the front garden.
Hansel
Striker
Never had a problem but my wife's uncle who was a seasoned gardener once told me many years ago that the cure for this was a touch of lime in the butt
