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Calling SMB veg growers

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Wilfy said:
Yorkshire trading co normally has them. Garden centre at ashington were selling them off half price a week or two ago.
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Cheers marra. I'm up Morpeth tomorrow so not too far from Ashington.
Would appreciate the name of the place in Ashy if you know it👍
 
Tomatoes are 6 inches high ready to pot on into containers in the next few days ,any tips ? Feed to add? Bonemeal ?
My normal way is pick the lowest 2 leaves off and bury them as they will root and get a stronger stem , I've also seen Americans on you tube lay the root / plant on its side then gently curved it up meaning stronger root growth .
For the past 2 years my tomatoes never get really big ,probably a golf ball size ,I use gardeners delight and moneymaker and got given some outdoor tomato plants.
Any tips gratefully accepted .
 
Guitar Man said:
Tomatoes are 6 inches high ready to pot on into containers in the next few days ,any tips ? Feed to add? Bonemeal ?
My normal way is pick the lowest 2 leaves off and bury them as they will root and get a stronger stem , I've also seen Americans on you tube lay the root / plant on its side then gently curved it up meaning stronger root growth .
For the past 2 years my tomatoes never get really big ,probably a golf ball size ,I use gardeners delight and moneymaker and got given some outdoor tomato plants.
Any tips gratefully accepted .
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Gardener's delight I'm pretty sure is officially a cherry so they're not ever going to be big. If you want larger tomatoes you need to try another variety.
 
Guitar Man said:
Tomatoes are 6 inches high ready to pot on into containers in the next few days ,any tips ? Feed to add? Bonemeal ?
My normal way is pick the lowest 2 leaves off and bury them as they will root and get a stronger stem , I've also seen Americans on you tube lay the root / plant on its side then gently curved it up meaning stronger root growth .
For the past 2 years my tomatoes never get really big ,probably a golf ball size ,I use gardeners delight and moneymaker and got given some outdoor tomato plants.
Any tips gratefully accepted .
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Popped up on my youtube feed the other day:
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DaveH said:
I'm trying an experiment.

Slugs are a huge problem for me. A couple of years, they had eaten almost anything I have put down. New seedlings as they sprout or even hardier plants like squashes or sunflowers, they just chew through the stalks soon after I plant them out.

This year, my peppers have done really well. I planted multiple seeds in each of a 12 module seed tray insert, and have 20 seedlings from it I have just potted up. I have put some of that blue organic nitrate based stuff on half of them, as that usually does a pretty good job. On the other half, I have sprinkled some old out of date instant coffee granules. Apparently slugs hate it and people use fresh coffee grounds to keep them away. We only buy coffee when my mam is visiting, so I have a big jar of it.

I will let you know how it does. Hopefully I have not moved them too soon from the warmth of the kitchen windowsill to the cold at night greenhouse.

Get plastic propagators.

I had that a few years ago, as if they had suddenly discovered the greenhouse. Anything that was a substantial sized seed (pea, sweetcorn, beans and even marigolds) were dug up and eaten. Now I start everything in propagators, the lids keep them out.

When I first had problems, it was lockdown and everyone was suddenly trying veg gardening. You could not get propagators anywhere and I only had a few for starting stuff off. I did have some success by making a 'wall' of a few sheets of newspaper, folded over and wrapped around each seed tray. I'm sure a determined mouse could get over that, but it seemed to work as a stop-gap.

Now if only the people who make seed trays, propagator lids and plastic inserts, made the inserts slightly smaller. When you use those module pots, you can not get the lids on properly. It is enough to keep out mice but does nowt to make life difficult for slugs.
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I sorted our slug problems with nematodes and copper tape round pots and planters. Does the job well. Hope your experiment goes well.
 
Well my garlic has been an absolute disaster this year, tried 6 different varieties and only the Caulk White are anywhere near viable, I’d held off watering too much so putting down to a lesson learned.
Bean, peas and courgettes seem to be getting on ok.
Lady Christyl pots seem to be doing really well, hopefully soon time will tell.
Got just shy of 50 tomato and chilli plants on the go, all starting to take off. Bought a few varieties from ‘Real Seeds’ and ‘Tomato Revolution’, sticking with a couple that we really enjoyed last year, ‘Chuppa Chups’ being the pick of them.
 
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gasman said:
‘Chuppa Chups’ being the pick of them.
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I bought them this year, 6 seeds from Hungary for a few quid !
I saw the tomato fella on Gardeners World who said he really liked them, so I was straight on eBay

They all germinated on a heat mat, I lost one pricking out but still got 5 I've potted on, probably ready for polytunnel in a couple of weeks. I gonna keep the seeds from one fruit for next year.

I've put some tomatoes outside this year, lay them down in a shallow trench with the tops sticking up and tied into a bamboo cane. Apparently the shallow soil is warmer than burying them deep, so you get more root growth from the stem than planting deep. We'll see if that works (Tigerella/Sungold/Bountiful)
 
Charlestonian said:
Today I have signed for my very own half plot, I’ve inherited:
A shed with no roof.
A shovel.
Some raised planters.
A cracking MLF on the other half plot.
A load of weeds to sort.

Plan for this year is a load of tidying, and get some wild flower seeds into a section for a bloke 3 plots down who’s got bees.

I am extremely excited to get cracking.
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2 months on. Things are happening at pace.

I’ve cleared a really large section, I’ve put potatoes, onions, and french beans in that, with carrots to go in this weekend.

I’ve cleared another area and put salad veg in that, I’ve had a bit of a slug issue but that seems to be sorted itself out now.

I’ve also gotten a greenhouse for nowt, will be sticking that up in the next week or so, I’ve got loads left to do but I had a council inspection yesterday and they are happy with the progress.
 
Charlestonian said:
2 months on. Things are happening at pace.

I’ve cleared a really large section, I’ve put potatoes, onions, and french beans in that, with carrots to go in this weekend.

I’ve cleared another area and put salad veg in that, I’ve had a bit of a slug issue but that seems to be sorted itself out now.

I’ve also gotten a greenhouse for nowt, will be sticking that up in the next week or so, I’ve got loads left to do but I had a council inspection yesterday and they are happy with the progress.
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I’ve started putting some lettuce leaves, slices of cucumber and ripe melon among the plants. The slugs are loving that and I can pick them off and dispose easily and the plants are left alone 👍
 
I’ve had my worst year this year, because of my health I can’t really do much when it’s to cold and the weather down here was pretty shit until about may’ish which I’ve found out now was a lil to late, I have about 50% growing compared to a normal year, soon as I’m done this year I’m gonna nuke everything and prep the beds so I don’t need to do much next year.
Becoming disabled has really fucked things up for me like, I’m just not capable of looking after a big allotment by myself xny ore….

My boy is 9 now and helping a lot more so I just need to hang in a few years and he will be capable of doing a fair bit more to help me…

Hope everyone else is having a good year anyway.

I’ll just live on potato’s and strawberries as those two I have lots of growing nicely.
 
Az* said:
I’ve had my worst year this year, because of my health I can’t really do much when it’s to cold and the weather down here was pretty shit until about may’ish which I’ve found out now was a lil to late, I have about 50% growing compared to a normal year, soon as I’m done this year I’m gonna nuke everything and prep the beds so I don’t need to do much next year.
Becoming disabled has really fucked things up for me like, I’m just not capable of looking after a big allotment by myself xny ore….

My boy is 9 now and helping a lot more so I just need to hang in a few years and he will be capable of doing a fair bit more to help me…

Hope everyone else is having a good year anyway.

I’ll just live on potato’s and strawberries as those two I have lots of growing nicely.
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Have you got anyone that can sign on as a co-worker mate? I definitely underestimated how hard it was gonna be and I’ve only got a half plot.
 
Charlestonian said:
Have you got anyone that can sign on as a co-worker mate? I definitely underestimated how hard it was gonna be and I’ve only got a half plot.
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Unfortunately not, my mate keeps saying he’ll help but he’s fking hopeless tbh. I’m just gonna have to prepare things a bit better tbh, hopefully get back on track next year,
 
Az* said:
Unfortunately not, my mate keeps saying he’ll help but he’s fking hopeless tbh. I’m just gonna have to prepare things a bit better tbh, hopefully get back on track next year,
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I'm sure by doing what you can it's great rehab for you. Don't beat yourself up about it and treat every little job done as an achievement on the road to better things.
Good luck.
 
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