Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi Giorgio,
I live in Belgium, in a region known as Campine in Italian. We have a sandy and infertile soil that does not retain water well. So even though we have about 800-900mm precipitation annually, we always have issues during hot spells and drought due to poor soil (almost every year).
I “solved” this problem by making raised beds filled with (mushroom) compost (20-30cm). The difference is immense. As a matter of fact, I never thought of watering the plants during the drought, but rather of saturating the compost with water. Once a week was fine, though I was quite liberal with water. My crops grown outside: beetroot, cabbages, beans, celeriac, carrots, parsnip, leek, tomatillo, zucchini, squash. I watered onions once a month. Things have been and are growing great.
I have other parts were I only topped the soil with a few cm of the same compost, but plants didn’t do very well. Many died… 🙁 While topping the soil with compost certainly helped boosting fertility, it didn’t result in a miracle under the extreme conditions of the last two months, but the raised beds did!
Hi,
I am a first-year gardener myself 🙂 I understand very well the excitement of a new plan.
I find it difficult to give tips for your specific situation – I cannot count on years of experience. Still, a few comments:
– Perhaps you might want to start with a general plan and make it more specific as you proceed. This gives more breathing space and allows more creativity. Unless you are very sure about what you want, that is.
– I have a slight slant in my garden and do not worry about it a bit, but my soil is sandy and covered with plants. Even with heavy rain, the water disappears instantly. Your situation might be different, and heavy thunderstorms might wash away your top soil. If you fill raised beds with compost, this might be less of a situation. I have not attempted to make my raised beds level, but my situation is rather different.
– Concerning shadow, note that we are currently around the Summer solstice and shadows at noon are at their shortest. At the Winter Solstice, they will be at their longest. Since Vienna is at ~48°N, expect that the length of an object’s shadow at noon is about 0.45 times the object’s height (tan 24.14°), while at equinox it will be about 1.111 times (tan 48°, from 21 March – 21 September). I personally would not make a definitive plan before the end of September, as this will give a better idea about how much shadow you will have and where it will occur. Also, the situation of end September will reoccur in end March/early April, when early growth is in need of the Sun’s energy.
Good luck 🙂
Hi MJSJ,
Which variety are you growing?
I have sown 5 different varieties, starting out in january-february, and have planted out the seedlings under various conditions, by way of experiment. At this moment, the plants that receive most direct sunlight look the best. Those that have shade in the afternoon are doing considerably worse, even with better compost.
The patch that is doing best is a raised bed (30cm high, stone) filled with mushroom compost. At this time of year, it receives full sun from sunrise until 4pm. I have watered today, but last time was 3 weeks ago. Multisown and the size is competitive with bio-products from the supermarket.
At a second place is a patch, raised bed (20cm high, stone), filled with 10cm soil and topped with 10cm mushroom compost. It has decaying wood below ground level, and full sun from 9am till 7pm.
At a third place, a patch with a few cm of compost on top of soil. Full sun from 9am till 7pm. Small onions, but acceptable.
Last place, a patch with full sun from 8am till 1pm, 10cm compost on top of soil. Poor size, what you might call spring onion 🙂
Shade early in the growing process in not necessarily disadvantageous, as this will stimulate the plant to begin bulb formation earlier than “normal”. Once bulb formation has commenced, more light will usually result in larger bulbs.
Our soil here is very poor and sandy. I don’t have to dig a full meter to arrive at sand of “beach quality”.
Asparagus beetle does not (directly) affect the roots. It feeds on the ferns.
In the Low Countries, we often grow asparagus differently: we make a sort of “raised beds” on top of the crowns, which allows to harvest white asparagus. Harvesting continues up to the summer solstice, after which new growth is allowed to form ferns and gather sufficient energy for next year’s growth.
Also, growth is highly temperature dependent. We grew asparagus in sandy soil, which warms up quickly in spring and allows growing straight instead of crooked plants.A visual impression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdUlvXgzCQc
You could plant some bulbs that open early in the year, which I always experience as an invitation to enter the garden when there still isn’t that much to do. Add some other flowering plants, perennials or self-sowing annuals, that begin flowering from May on. I personally like calendula, but one large patch of it might become boring after a while. Nevertheless, an easy, undemanding and beautiful plant.
Perhaps a note on what you should not do: plant an evergreen low-growth bush-like cover, of a type that is often used to reduce garden maintenance for those that like to have something green in their garden but don’t want/can’t involve themselves with gardening. They are often a hiding place for slugs, which I assume you don’t want in your allotment.
I don’t know the correct English term, but translated from Dutch it would be “cabbage collar”. I apply them to most of my cabbages.
A DIY picture guide, in Dutch but the photos are self-explanatory, I believe: http://www.mergenmetz.nl/tuin/de-basis/zaaien-verspenen-uitplanten-en-stekken/koolkraag/
I have bought seeds from Vilmorin (France) and Semailles (Belgium, organic) and have had quite decent germination. Both companies are located in continental Europe, however.
Interesting… I should have read this topic before. My Boltardy seeds (King) were rubbish as well. I sowed a second time as I hoped I did something wrong in my first sowing, but again, as good as nothing. I sowed Chioggia beetroot at the same time, with exemplary germination rate (sourced from well-known e-bay vendor).
I sowed a few onion varieties, Santero being among them and also being the only one that failed miserably (Suttons). I sowed a second time, just to make sure, but it looks as if the experience is going to repeat itself…
Best germination + vigour for onion seeds are for seeds I purchased from Bingenheimer Saatgut (Stuttgarter Riesen, https://www.bingenheimersaatgut.de/) and Semailles (Rouge de Huy, a local variety, https://www.semaille.com/en/).
I had Komatsuna seedlings in the cold frame before the Beast from the East arrived. They were two weeks old and about 75% of the seedlings survived the Beast (-9°C at its coldest here, and icy wind drying out the soil) without additional protection (like fleece or straw). I actually wanted them to die and just sow again after the Beast, but won’t be necessary 🙂
Also lettuce seedlings (Winter Gem) survived.
I’m not sure whether January is “too early” to sow onion in general. There is a variety named “Exhibition” which the package advises to start sowing in January. What I have gathered from “the literature” is that it is important to sow when days are becoming longer again (after Christmas) to avoid the plant from forming flower/seed instead of bulb (avoid the plant mixes the seasons). The part I don’t understand is how this would apply to winter onion (such as Senshyu).
I planted some cloves early November 2017, they are about 3-4″ in size now (Belgium, no protection). They are the slowest grower of my garlic plot though.
My parents used to cultivate (white) asparagus commercially. We used to burn the ferns as they turned yellow and dried out in order to control further spreading of the common asparagus beetle.
It reminds me of black vine weevil. I lost two heucheras this autumn: plants appeared perfectly healthy and suddenly the part that’s above the soil flies away with the wind… The larvae nibble at the root at ground level and “decapitate” the plant quite effectively…
I can’t really confirm black vine weevil is what is hitting you, but it most certainly reminds me of it.
I cut down two conifers and a eucalyptus on a small new plot I will start using for growing vegetables. I had them chopped down in small pieces and made a separate pile for it. I know from experience that the conifers will compost, even though it will take more time. I will mix it with other compost when it’s ready.
Perhaps I’d be more worried about the eucalyptus. The tree has an allelopathic effect on other plants. The internet is full of opinions whether or not eucalyptus can be used as a mulch, and I don’t know myself whether or not it is a good idea. I did notice that vegetation around the eucalyptus tree was “suffering” compared to other spots in the plot, but on the other hand, since a chopped down eucalyptus can’t produce anymore allelopathic substances, I believe that allowing the mix to compost will also get rid of them over time.