[HawfinchParticipant]

Thanks Charles. No I don’t use any supplements, but will try spreading rockdust and see if that helps. Unfortunately one cannot buy seaweed powder here. I mainly use green garden waste and worm compost to feed my garden soil, I don’t have very much manure based compost, maybe that could part of the explanation.

[HawfinchParticipant]

As I have never seen an analysis of compost before these figures don’t mean much to me, hopefully somebody else might be able to give you a more qualified answer. Here, in Switzerland, we can also get compost that are the leftovers of biogas production, it sounds much like yours. I usually mix it with horse manure and leave it to compost some more for at least 6 months before using. I’m not sure how much, if any, good it does, the only positive effect I’ve noticed is that after spreading a good layer there are hardly any slugs, they don’t seem to like it.

[HawfinchParticipant]

I’ve got mice, a toad and slowworms in my compost, doesn’t seem to ever have done it or my veg any harm, so I wouldn’t worry.

[HawfinchParticipant]

No, there aren’t any aphids anywhere. I use the same, my own, compost that I use for the tomatoes that are doing very well, so maybe it really is too much watering.

Thanks for the input, Charles, much appreciate it.

[HawfinchParticipant]

I put rose prunings and other thorny bits and bobs on my beds to keep off the neighbours’ cats.

[HawfinchParticipant]

Hi Lottie,

an additional thing, aubergines need a lot of heat and fertile soil and should never dry out. I find the can be difficult in our climates, but are def worth it if they do succeed.
Good luck.

[HawfinchParticipant]

Thanks Charles, I’ll get to sourcing some now then.

[HawfinchParticipant]

I’ve been trialing a growing media made up of very fine leaf mould onto which I sow the seeds and then cover them up with a fine layer of worm compost. It was something I saw in a video on youtube, I also sowed the same seeds into normal bought seed compost, and the homemade variety has so far been as good as the bought stuff. And with my own mix I can be certain there will be no aminopyralids in it.

[HawfinchParticipant]

If you really want to get raised beds I’d go for one metre wide, then one can comfortably reach the middle of the beds. But I have to tell that I am in the process of dismantling mine. They just harbour too many slugs and eggs, I have found dozens when removing the disintegrating wood.

[HawfinchParticipant]

Hi Gavin, I used it quite a bit last spring and summer. It definitely heated up my compost piles, I only have space for two, but I got lovely compost faster than in other years. I, once again, can only recommend looking at the oneyardrevolution videos on Youtube. Patrick Dolan has several videos about how and why he uses coffee grounds. You might have to go a bit back to find the specific coffee ground videos, but they are well worth the time spent watching them.

[HawfinchParticipant]

For anybody interested in this topic I can recommend the One Yard Revolution channel on Youtube. Patrick Dolan from Chicago has done comparison trials with biochar, garden compost and compost tea, and he stopped using the biochar as he found things didn’t grow better in a well nourished garden, plus in a blind-tasting trial the biochar tomatoes were rated the lowest.

[HawfinchParticipant]

To finish it off – her neighbour had carrots sown next to her plot so it’s most probably, like you suggest, a carrot cross or wild carrot.
Thanks again for your suggestions.

[HawfinchParticipant]

Thanks everybody for your input. I’ll see if I can get hold of my neighbour and ask her although I think it’s probably a rogue plant, she doesn’t do much gardening.

[HawfinchParticipant]

Ah Spreewald, must be a lovely area, from what I’ve heard. I somehow thought you were in southern Germany 🙂

[HawfinchParticipant]

Thank you for the advice. I’ll try Karen’s suggestion and cut half of the plants now. And remember to do it in July next year!

We did have a very wet summer, but have hardly had any rain since eariy August so it’s already extremely dry here again.

Karen, might I ask where in Germany you are? I’m just outside Zürich in Switzerland.

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