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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Heaven: The green blade re-riseth (gardening thread anew)
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daisymay
St Elmo's Fire
# 1480
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Posted
My runner beans are in an even worse state - the flowers have been frizzled by the sun before they turned into beans, and insects are thriving and attacking the leaves.. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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Posts: 11224 | From: London - originally Dundee, Blairgowrie etc... | Registered: Oct 2001
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Goodric
Shipmate
# 8001
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Posted
Sorry I don't know the answer for the broad bean problem - but daisymay have you tried spraying your runner bean flowers in the evening? This, I am told, helps to "set" the flower and assists in the production of the bean. I think you may need to spray your plants with a friendly pesticide.
I have just had the first of my runners, radishes and Spring Onions tonight. Yum.
[ 21. July 2006, 23:31: Message edited by: Goodric ]
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Happy Christmas Everyone You can find me here
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Posts: 7160 | From: You all know anyway | Registered: Jul 2004
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Auntie Doris
Screen Goddess
# 9433
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Posted
OK... advice needed.
I want to plant something in a pot outside my front door. I would like it to smell nice (especially in the evening) as I sometimes sit out there before I go to bed when I am reading my book.
What do all you budding Alan Titchmarshes think?
Auntie Doris x
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"And you don't get to pronounce that I am not a Christian. Nope. Not in your remit nor power." - iGeek in response to a gay-hater :)
The life and times of a Guernsey cow
Posts: 6019 | From: The Rock at the Centre of the Universe | Registered: May 2005
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Auntie Doris
Screen Goddess
# 9433
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Posted
I am in the UK.
Auntie Doris x
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"And you don't get to pronounce that I am not a Christian. Nope. Not in your remit nor power." - iGeek in response to a gay-hater :)
The life and times of a Guernsey cow
Posts: 6019 | From: The Rock at the Centre of the Universe | Registered: May 2005
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Goodric
Shipmate
# 8001
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Posted
Ah some of these things are seasonal and you may need to chop and change through the year.
But generally a nice pot of lavender. It wil also have the advantages of being "harvestable" and will withstand drought or you going away on holidays if that is an issue.
But if it is for the evening - Night Scented Stock should do the business.
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Happy Christmas Everyone You can find me here
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Posts: 7160 | From: You all know anyway | Registered: Jul 2004
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auntie di
Ship's Magic Pudding
# 11521
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Posted
I'm with Goodric, but if you have room for two pots you could put a daphne in one, which will give year round interest and sweet scent very early in the year. A dear friend reckons it's a crime to plant them elsewhere in the garden, because you miss the joy of running your hands through them as you pass and waking the scent. One tip- get the biggest pots you have room for- makes watering much less of a chore.
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auntie di
Posts: 586 | From: Staffordshire | Registered: Jun 2006
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Fool of a Took
chock full o' nuts
# 7412
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Posted
I haven't done a thing in the gardens since we moved here over a year ago. The previous owners were avid gardners, and it all just looked so sad, overgrown, and neglected. I tried to tell myself that thistles had a pretty flower, and weren't really weeds- even when they were towering over me.
I finally got sick of my house looking so unloved, when I really do love it.
So I got to this point and felt really good about it. Then got my avid gardner parents to walk me 'round the garden centre and advise. Then they let me walk 'round their own perennial beds.
This will never get me into 'better homes and gardens'. But it sure makes me happy.
I've enjoyed reading through this thread- and now my most abundant weed has a name! It's oxalis! So when I talk to my folks about how things are going, I don't have to call it 'that little leafy thing with the yellow flowers that just keeps coming and coming and coming and coming'. Thanks!
Posts: 1205 | From: Toronto-ish | Registered: Jun 2004
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Carex
Shipmate
# 9643
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by auntie di:
I'm with Goodric, but if you have room for two pots you could put a daphne in one, which will give year round interest and sweet scent very early in the year...
There are a number of daphne varieties that rebloom so you have scent over a longer period. For example, daphne x rollsdorfii 'Wilhelm Schacht' is a small daphne (perhaps 40cm) with a very fragrant bloom in both Spring and Summer. Daphne x napolitana is a somewhat larger shrub (50 - 60cm) that reblooms in summer and fall. Something like this probably would be a better choice for a pot than the more common daphne odora. Not only are they a more appropriate size, but they can take more sun and require less water.
(Make sure your pot has good drainage - daphnes don't like to have their roots in standing water. And try to keep the pot itself from getting too hot: a white cache pot around it will help to keep the roots cool.)
Posts: 1425 | Registered: Jun 2005
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by auntie di:
ace move st bertolin- however, keep posting, so that we can be sure one of them hasn't pole axed you!
Just to reassure everyone, there have been no unpleasant incidents thus far. You can see the Hilda here and here. She'll need to be repotted fairly soon, by the looks of things. I'll try to remember to pick a larger pot up next time I'm at the shops.
Thanks to all for your help. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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auntie di
Ship's Magic Pudding
# 11521
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Posted
she's very beautiful, St Bertolin- and safely grounded!
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auntie di
Posts: 586 | From: Staffordshire | Registered: Jun 2006
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
Good news!
quote:
Originally posted by me back in May:
My question though is about my pride and joy. I have two oleanders in pots - one is about 6ft tall, a bit of a monster, which has always thrived on neglect and the last couple of years has rewarded me with masses of beautiful white flowers. It seemed to cope with the cold winter here remarkably well, but now the leaves are looking really dry and starting to brown, particularly the ones furthest away from the main stem (or trunk more accurately, as it's really filled out the last couple of years). The other oleander, which has been outdoors in identical conditions next to its bigger cousin, is fine and healthy looking. Is there anything I can do - feeding (if so what?), that kind of thing - that will stop the big oleander looking quite so sorry for itself? I'm pretty sure it's not dead (which is a good start ).
Following a further period of neglect (in my defence, I was out of the country and have only just come back!), I was a bit worried that I'd come back and find it shrivelled and sad and on its way out. In fact, it is full of new shoots lower down (which I'm really pleased about as it was always a bit bare for the first foot and a half) and has a fair few flowers already. Not as many as last year, but considering the snow and frost it endured earlier in the year I'm delighted (not to mention relieved!). And some of my other pot plants have flowered while I was away too, so that was great to come back to.
I've enjoyed catching up with this thread, and the compost discussion in particular. Now I don't have my own garden I don't have a compost bin, but I've found a little community garden a few minutes away which has a couple of active compost heaps, and the community association are really happy to take my veg waste and tea bags and whatnot. It takes a couple of weeks for me to build up a bag of stuff to take, so when I take it to the garden there's a bit of a pongy rotten veg smell following me there, but I have been practising my "what's that smell?" expression in the hope that passers-by won't realise it's me and the contents of my carrier bag.
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
Ok. I'm going to the shop today to get the necessaries to re-pot Hilda, and I need some more advice (I love you people).
Are Swiss Cheese plants the sort that need to have the pot gradually enlarged as they grow or is it ok to just anticipate growth and get a large pot? Also, is your basic compost ok?
Regarding care, the website of the company I got it from ays that it should be watered frequently during the growing season (not a problem) and given a "liquid feed" about once per month. What on earth is a liquid feed? My nana had a rubber plant and just poured the contents of her teapot into the pot every now and then but I don't think this is what is meant by "liquid feed". Would anybody elucidate for me? Ta!
Michael
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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Aggie
Ship's cat
# 4385
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Posted
St Bertolin,
A liquid feed is liquid fertiliser, such as "Baby Bio" (TM) or "Phostrogen" (TM).
If you are a novice gardener, and want to learn more, the "Expert" series of books by D.G Hessayon are excellent. Very easy to follow, as he goes through everything step by step with plenty of pics and diagrams.
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“I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.”
(Joseph Mary Plunkett 1887-1917)
Posts: 581 | From: A crazy, crazy world | Registered: Apr 2003
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Goodric
Shipmate
# 8001
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Posted
Has anyone more experienced in growing veg had this experience or does anyone know the answer to this one? Why are my wonderfully fruitful runner beans are developing a different type of flower in addition to the normal red/orange ones that normally bear fruit? The flowers are shaped a bit like those you get on convulvulus. They appear to be photosensitive, single, purple and white in colour, located at leaf nodes. The bean plants have reached about 14' in length.
Should I keep the flowers as they are or remove them?
[ 31. July 2006, 16:38: Message edited by: Goodric ]
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Happy Christmas Everyone You can find me here
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Posts: 7160 | From: You all know anyway | Registered: Jul 2004
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Dang. ARe you sure these are the same plant, or did you get some morning glory seeds mixed in with the runner beans?
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Goodric
Shipmate
# 8001
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Posted
Absolutely the same - I have traced them up the same stem and on more than one plant too! Weird but pretty. I have had a bit of a trawl on the net and looked through my books but not found anything. Could it be a throwback if these are hybrids?
[ 31. July 2006, 17:42: Message edited by: Goodric ]
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Happy Christmas Everyone You can find me here
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Posts: 7160 | From: You all know anyway | Registered: Jul 2004
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
I'd love to see a photo, if you've got one.
Consider calling your nearest college / university that offers a horticulture program, and ask them. Then tell us, would you?
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Aggie:
St Bertolin,
A liquid feed is liquid fertiliser, such as "Baby Bio" (TM) or "Phostrogen" (TM).
If you are a novice gardener, and want to learn more, the "Expert" series of books by D.G Hessayon are excellent. Very easy to follow, as he goes through everything step by step with plenty of pics and diagrams.
Thanks, Aggie!
I'll pick some up at some point soon. Thanks, as well, for the reference. I doubt I'll be doing very much gardening although the new house comes with much back garden space, so who knows what I may set my hand to. That book may well come in handy. Also, I like pictures.
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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Aggie
Ship's cat
# 4385
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Saint Bertolin:
[Thanks, Aggie!
I'll pick some up at some point soon. Thanks, as well, for the reference. I doubt I'll be doing very much gardening although the new house comes with much back garden space, so who knows what I may set my hand to. That book may well come in handy. Also, I like pictures. [/QB]
Oh and another thing - best to gradually enlarge the pot for the cheese plant.
Basic houseplant compost is fine. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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“I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.”
(Joseph Mary Plunkett 1887-1917)
Posts: 581 | From: A crazy, crazy world | Registered: Apr 2003
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
My neighbor's pumpkin vine is invading my yard, more specifically the area where I planted tomatoes and cucumbers. Every morning I go out and find new growing tips on my side of the fence. I shove the tips back through, but the vine is too big to shove the whole thing through.
There are at least two small pumpkins on my side of the fence. I presume they're mine.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Aggie:
quote:
Originally posted by Saint Bertolin:
[Thanks, Aggie!
I'll pick some up at some point soon. Thanks, as well, for the reference. I doubt I'll be doing very much gardening although the new house comes with much back garden space, so who knows what I may set my hand to. That book may well come in handy. Also, I like pictures.
Oh and another thing - best to gradually enlarge the pot for the cheese plant.
Basic houseplant compost is fine. [/QB]
Ta!
What I've done is to get a large, ornate, pot and a medium plain one. I have re-potted Hilda in the medium one and placed that in the larger one. This allows for drainage at the bottom as the one fits into the other with a bit of space underneath. In time, I shall place her in the large one, perhaps making some holes in the bottom of it and sitting it in a drainage tray.
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
There are at least two small pumpkins on my side of the fence. I presume they're mine.
Moo
They may be yours in SW Virginia, but if you were in the UK they'd still belong to your neighbour. You would be perfectly entitled to cut off any growth that crossed your boundary, but are supposed to return the trimmings to the neighbour.
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Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
I wonder if they are forms of bindweed, either purple(Spanish?) or blue rock (American?). The flower shape screams 'bindweed' at me. All the British forms are white or pink but searching on the web I regularly came across these forms which look so like your flowers.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Goodric
Shipmate
# 8001
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Posted
Yeah I would have said that too - but they are on the same plant as the runner beans!
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Posts: 7160 | From: You all know anyway | Registered: Jul 2004
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
Have any of the leaves a different shape or texture? Runner bean leaves are rough, and lobed. Bindweed/morning glory has softer, more heart shaped leaves.
Have you tried unwinding the stems of the blue flowers to see if they emerge from the soil in a different place to the bean stems?
Are you quite sure you are not extracting urine from us, Goodric ?
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Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Those are most certainly morning glories. I should know, I see enough of them in my own garden! And once planted, you have them for the next 100 years, as they self-seed like crazy, and lie dormant in the soil for eons.
If you're absolutely sure they're coming out of the same stem (easy to be mistaken, I know) then my only suggestion would be that your runner beans somehow got crossbred with the morning glories. Apparently something similar happened between somebody's cucumbers and cantaloupes about a month ago in a news article--wish I had the URL for you. Apparently some weird plants are similar enough to cross that way. But if so, your local university would definitely be interested.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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babybear
Bear faced and cheeky with it
# 34
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Posted
The purple flowers are definitely Morning Glory. They are part of the Convolvulus family, of which bindweed is also a part.
Bindweek is a horrible plant to try to eradicate as it can re-grow from a tiny section of root, and it sends out meters of roots! Bindweed will use anything to help t grow up into the light. The stems of beans, hedges, slow-moving dogs... I don't know if Morning Glory is so bad with the root thing, nor the climbing.
Posts: 13287 | From: Cottage of the 3 Bears (and The Gremlin) | Registered: May 2001
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Carex
Shipmate
# 9643
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Posted
Looking carefully at the leaves in the photo, it appears there are two types: some heart-shaped on longer stems, and others that tend to come in groups of three without as much indentation at the top of the heart. Look closely at the leaves and see if you can tell the difference.
But certainly two different plants growing up the same support.
Note that it is possible to have a mutation in the middle of a plant such that the part beyond that point is different than the parent. This is called a "sport", and is a valuable source of new varieties in the horticulture trade. (That is the origin of Bing cherries, for example.) But while a sport may have mottled beans or different coloured flowers, it won't change a legume to a Convolvulus.
Posts: 1425 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Goodric
Shipmate
# 8001
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Posted
Ok I know I have more than one runner bean growing up each support. I thought I had traced the plants correctly, I shall have to resort to untwisting it (which i am currently reluctant to do as they are fruiting well) in order to ascertain whether or not they are entirely seperate species.
I hope I have not wasted your time here. I certainly did not plant convolvulous, morning glory etc - but this is a new plot.
[ 03. August 2006, 16:17: Message edited by: Goodric ]
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Happy Christmas Everyone You can find me here
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Posts: 7160 | From: You all know anyway | Registered: Jul 2004
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Actually, this particular kind of morning glory is most likely Ipomoea, a genus in the larger family of the Convolvulaceae (which includes bindweed, shudder shudder). It even looks to me like one of the named varieties, but can't put my finger on which one right now--something they sell at garden centers, no doubt.
This particular morning glory is really not much of a pain, except for the way it self-seeds so freely--which I consider a blessing, since it's beautiful. This flower will come up everywhere as soon as the weather gets warm enough, it's true, because the seeds linger in the soil forever. It will climb--I've seen it two stories high--but it won't strangle anything.
And if you don't want it, all you have to do is yank it or hoe it, and it won't come back from the roots like bindweed. If you get more later, they're from other seeds. The plant is an annual unless you live somewhere tropical, since it can't cope with freezes.
I'd suggest you just enjoy it. And expect to have it around for centuries to come. ![[Snigger]](graemlins/snigger.gif) Our neighbors planted it five years ago (and never again), and we have a bumper crop on our side of the lot every year since.
Keep the kids (if any) away from the seeds, though. They're poisonous. But they look nothing like runner beans--little round seed capsules that explode to shower down hard black pebbly things the size of half a pea.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
And expect to have it around for centuries to come.
Fortunately that's not likely in Goodric's part of the world...unless future winters/springs are consistently milder than most of the UK is used to.
Goodric, try only to unwind the stem down from a blue flower, you'll probably find that you won't damage the beans at all!
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Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Amos
Shipmate
# 44
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Posted
Just enjoy it, Goodric. It is a very nice blue (possibly even Heavenly Blue) morning glory growing up your beanpole with the beans. It is unlikely to become invasive. It's an annual, it's killed by the first frost, and if it does self-seed, you can pot up the volunteers and sell them at your Church Fete.
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At the end of the day we face our Maker alongside Jesus--ken
Posts: 7667 | From: Summerisle | Registered: May 2001
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Goodric
Shipmate
# 8001
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Posted
Ok, thanks for the advice. As we are 1000' above sea level here and it has been known to snow in June, even in recent memory, first frost should not be that far away. I shall let them be.
However as to their appearance the story then is that this stuff had just been lying in the ground for years waiting for me to dig up the ground, plant beans & erect wigwams before they would show themselves? I certainly have not seen anything of them during the previous three years when the ground was, well, grass. How amazing is that?
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Happy Christmas Everyone You can find me here
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Posts: 7160 | From: You all know anyway | Registered: Jul 2004
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Carex
Shipmate
# 9643
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Posted
Some seeds have unusual characteristics for survival. Some will only sprout after a fire when the competing plants have been cleared off. Some are more likely to sprout after a very brief exposure to light - enough so that some farmers plow their fields at night because measurably fewer weed seeds sprout than when they do it in daylight. Or perhaps your beans get more water than the grass got and this has triggered the sprouting.
Of course, it could also have been that the offending seed(s) were in the seed packet by accident along with the beans - such things happen.
Posts: 1425 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Possible, but as their appearance is very different, not likely. But the light and water thing is very likely correct. (That's what I meant by "centuries to come." If you've got one morning glory, you've got a billion, lurking as innocent little seeds underground.)
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Goodric
Shipmate
# 8001
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Posted
Oh well....spuds in that patch next year - we'll see how those interloping creepers compete with them. Its almost like they knew I was putting in bamboo supports for them to climb up and that they waited three years until i did it.
As for the amount of water available to germinate Morning Glory...this garden drains down to a small river and is usualy wet all the time. I live in one of the areas of highest rainful in England. Even during the so called "drought" period we have just experienced, parts of my garden were still very soggy.
Well this has been an education - that is why I posted - and I thank you. The runner beans are very tasty.
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Happy Christmas Everyone You can find me here
Gone to a better place.
Posts: 7160 | From: You all know anyway | Registered: Jul 2004
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Flausa
Mad Woman
# 3466
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Posted
Whoo hoo! We have an almost ripe tomato! And a glut of others coming on the plants.
Now, a question ... can we train a tomato plant to grow sideways? The plants have reached the ceiling, so they are out of up room to grow, unless we put them on the floor. If I put them on the floor will they get enough sunlight? Okay, that was two questions, but they were connected to the same idea.
Posts: 4610 | From: bonny Scotland | Registered: Oct 2002
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Yes, tomatoes of that height (!) are happy either as skyscrapers or as ground trailers.
Are you growing them inside, with artificial lights? In that case, you may need to lower the lights so they're still getting enough on the floor. But if it's outside or in a greenhouse, your only worry will be making sure the tomato-lets don't rot from contact with the floor. Try a layer of dry grass clippings or such.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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babybear
Bear faced and cheeky with it
# 34
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Posted
I am trying to remember all the little tips that my Dad mentioned about tomato plants, and it is proving rather difficult.
'Pinching out' was one of his obsessions. He would let various trusses start off then after about 4 - 6 trusses he would pinch out any new growing tips. The idea was to allow the plant to put its enegry into growing and maturing these tomatoes. The other reason was to avoid spindly stems and tiny green tomatoes.
Another one of his tips was to ensure an even watering of the plants. He found that if you changed the amount of watering from day to day the tomatoes would swell up and crack their skins. This lets in disease and mould.
I grew tomatoes indoors one year, and a very fine, sticky green/black powder came from the tomatoes and started to discolour the things around the plants. If I were to grow them inside again I would put down newspaper to protect the surroundings.
Posts: 13287 | From: Cottage of the 3 Bears (and The Gremlin) | Registered: May 2001
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Corpus cani
Ship's Anachronism
# 1663
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Posted
I've had some beans from my French stalks, but not many. I've had some peas (mange tout) from my stalks, but the stalks have died off pretty quickly despite regular watering and feeding with seaweed extract ( how desperate can one be ![[Confused]](confused.gif) ) My marrows are growing well and the lettuce seem to be OK.
However...
Pictures of my brassicas will follow (when the battery on the camera has charged.) They are worth seeing. Suffice to say, cabbage and cauliflower will not feature largely on my menu this autumn, despite my hours picking the bloody caterpillars off the plants. ![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
Corpus
(Interestingly the caterpillars have also had a good go at the... not geraniums but flowering things things that look like geraniums... I forget. At least they're still flowering though!)
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Bishop Lord Corpus Cani the Tremulous of Buzzing St Helens.
Posts: 4435 | From: Trumpton | Registered: Nov 2001
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
A couple of days of good rain has done wonders in my garden.
To start with my six linked water butts are now full. The purple climbing french beans (three plants) are providing enough beans for the two of us every other day, I am supplying my neighbour with swiss chard (the rainbow variety), as we can't eat it fast enough, and the courgettes have started producing female flowers again, so it's back to rat-production.
('Rat' is the name we call the not-quite-ratatouille, courgette/onion/tomato/herb stew I make in bucketloads each year, and freeze for winter consumption )
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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?
Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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daisymay
St Elmo's Fire
# 1480
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Posted
Most of my bean flowers got frizzled by the hot sun and so I have no beans. But there may be a few later on, now the weather is wetter and cooler.
I had two tomatoes that survived and ripened. That's all.
I don't think I'll bother trying to grow veggies next year...
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London
Flickr fotos
Posts: 11224 | From: London - originally Dundee, Blairgowrie etc... | Registered: Oct 2001
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babybear
Bear faced and cheeky with it
# 34
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Posted
My garden is looking a right state. Out of 5 cosmos planted only one has actually survived being slugged. My sweet peas are dry as very dry things and nothing bar my fuschias have any flowers. Even my fuschias are looking rather ropey and nowhere near as good as last year.
In fact, the only things that are looking good are the brambles arching their way up into the garden. I have decided to leave them for a few more week until I can get the berries. Once they have delivered tehir red juicy goodness the brambles are going to be cut right back, decimated even.
I am going to plant masses and masses of stuff next year in the hope that at least some of it will survive. I shall probably be seen in the hours of darkness outside on slug patrol.
Posts: 13287 | From: Cottage of the 3 Bears (and The Gremlin) | Registered: May 2001
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Yangtze
Shipmate
# 4965
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Flausa:
....
Now, a question ... can we train a tomato plant to grow sideways? The plants have reached the ceiling, so they are out of up room to grow, ....
For most varieties once they have four trusses of flowers/fruit you can pinch the growing shoot off so they stop going up. Do yours not have four trusses yet (I was surprised how high mine got before the fourth truss came when I first grew them myself) or did your packet say not to do this?
Otherwise, I'd be tempted to put them on the floor - if the bottom tomatoes don't ripen you can always pick them green and ripen them in a paper bag. You could put a banana in the bag as well which will help them ripen but it's not strictly necessary)
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organic cotton, fair trade cotton, linen
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Posts: 2022 | From: the smallest town in England | Registered: Sep 2003
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auntie di
Ship's Magic Pudding
# 11521
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Corpus cani:
Pictures of my brassicas will follow (when the battery on the camera has charged.) They are worth seeing. Suffice to say, cabbage and cauliflower will not feature largely on my menu this autumn, despite my hours picking the bloody caterpillars off the plants.
Corpus
Cc, I too am hopeless with brassicas of all forms, and one of my brothers, a real whiz with cauliflowers and cabbages (smug beast presents them to me, knowing I can't for the life of me grow them), tells me I need to lime the ground, once or even twice a year. When I remember to try this, I'll see if it works!
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auntie di
Posts: 586 | From: Staffordshire | Registered: Jun 2006
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Anyone versed in the Care of the Cactus?
I have just adopted one (?) from a friend who is moving.
The pot is quite shallow, but it has growing in it 4 stems of of the tall, narrow sort, two of them about 3 ft tall. There is also, in the same pot, a cluster of the round sort (you can tell I am not terribly well versed).
They seem happy enough in the small amount of soil, but they are, as we discovered when transporting them, quite top-heavy. So at the moment they have to be leant against a wall.
Should I transplant them? And if so, how do you handle something that size, weighing several pounds, and covered in spines?
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
If they're happy enough, leave them alone. Why risk killing them off? No, seriously, I've had cactus grow forever in the same pot and ultimately split the thing from sheer enthusiasm. That's the time to transplant. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
If you DO have to transplant, you do it using a heavy towel wrapped around the spiky bits (which may break off, in which case you simply shove them back into the ground and have a new cactus when they root). Might add gloves. If you are willing to destroy the pot, the whole affair becomes so much easier, as you can handle it from the root ball end, rather than the spiky bit.
Really, they don't need much room, or water for that matter, and may resent being messed around with. Why not let them settle in to their new home with you? You can remedy the top heavy problem by seating the current pot inside a larger decorative ceramic pot, and wedging it in with pretty rocks. This works for top heavy amaryllis too, which also like being a bit potbound.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Meant to add: When in doubt, don't water (if they start shriveling, ignore me and do it. They generally come back then).
Never let them stand in a saucer full of water--if the soil they are in stays damp, they will look just fine until the day they keel over and you discover that the whole thing has rotted through at ground level. If you use the large decorative outer pot, be sure this doesn't result in standing water (since lots of these have no drainage hole). Perch the real, inner pot on an upside down saucer or something, to keep it out of the overflow.
If you do repot, use a cheap plastic pot you won't mind hacking through when you have to do the job again--in, oh, twenty years.
If you start to like the things, take the little baby offsets that develop at the base of the main cactus, pull them free (use a heavy washcloth or tongs or something!) and then stick their bottoms back in the dirt. Voila, new cactus. Some offsets will even start growing roots into the air in the hopes of inducing you to pluck them away from Mama and give them a pot of their own. "Hey, look! I've got roots!"
[ 20. August 2006, 17:50: Message edited by: Lamb Chopped ]
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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