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Hi Charles. I will never use FB. Under any circumstances! I have posted replies on this forum in the past but summer time constraints when I am at the allotment mean that I am more likely to be on my computer in winter. I used to have a forum page at the cricket club for player availability, tea rota etc. but it was plagued by spam so I closed it. Therefore I understand your dilemma but hope that you can keep it open. Best wishes, Kev Lane
Flea beetle has been awful this summer but of interest to me is that my brokali, red and curly kale, calabrese etc are virtually untouched by cabbage whites this summer despite swarms of them hovering around the plants. Could it possibly be due to our community allotments having no water supply so once I had established the module plants in June with imported water, they have had no watering since. However, the outer leaves are like leather and I wonder if the butterflies can’t actually lay their eggs on these tough leaves, or whether their is a natural barrier on there. Any others having this experience?
Interesting to see Stringfellow’s comment 24th April ‘Blooming rain is back – grrr’ What price now a steady 48 hours of gentle rain?
On a seed germination note, I have had moderate germination from Kings, Suttons etc, very good germination from Real Seeds and fantastic germination from Bing. Saatgut, especially peas where I had sown half a dozen 24-cell polystyrene modules in the spring, with virtually 100% germination. Their French beans sown direct in a double row was also well over 90%. Worst germination was King’s lettuce ‘Freckles’.Myself and another forum user on here, Paul, went to Sussex last autumn to buy these trays direct from Styropack and we paid about 30p each for them. We had to buy a bulk pack but I have been re-selling them to local allotment holders so it was worth the trip to collect them. You can see more details on an earlier thread on here.
I had poor germination with Simpsons seeds last year, so I mentioned it to Matthew recently (I live fairly close) and he was quite shocked. So he gave me a new packet a couple of weeks ago and germination has been really good.
Hi Vivienz
I am also in North Dorset (in Gill) and into year 3 no dig. I use mushroom compost (as opposed to green waste) from Henry Stanley at Pitton. You can find it on the internet.
You will need to call him for a quote.
Let me know if you would like to see a sample of what I have. Good luck!
Kev L
I have had no problems with my West Riding this year other than I thought it a little more wet and heavy than last year. Therefore I mixed it 50/50 with come lighter compost from a local commercial nursery that allows me some of their own home-made potting mix and I am very pleased with the quality of the mix and the resulting plants.
Hi Jacob, in most cases they will grow away in the early spring, as they grow from the heart which is the most protected part of the plant.
Good luck to both of you. You stories are heart-warming. There is a lot of excellent advice on here on every topic so if you have any questions I am sure that your posts will be answered. Margaret: when I didn’t have enough compost last year to spread to the depth that I wanted, I concentrated it on part of the plot and put black plastic on the rest of it and grew my squashes and courgettes in slits in the plastic. I still had a nice crop and no weeds. Good luck.
Hi Paul, yes I am interested. The ones I bought with plants in are 4×3 cells but this larger size of 24 cells would suit me better. What is their minimum for collection? I would take at least 24 trays and could take more if you had to buy a larger quantity. I could also put an email around the allotment society if we needed to take a lot. What price have they quoted? Thanks, Kev.
Sounds good Paul. If they are the same as the ones I have here I will be using them again. They are lightweight so won’t cost much to post out if several people want some. Thanks for your reply.
Hi all, I had my best plants last year in the styrofoam cell trays (bought some winter pansies in them the previous autumn). Styropack make them but only sell commercial quantities (minimum order 60 trays I think but I will be checking on Monday). If anyone else is interested in buying some of these maybe we could put in an order and share the costs. I am near the A303 in North Dorset. If there is interest I will pass on my email addy. Thanks for reading.
I have grown about 50 tubers of Charlotte and Kestrel under black polythene, pushed into a few inches of compost. I had a fabulous crop of pots with very little slug damage and very dry tubers compared to my neighbouring allotment holders who had muddy tubers in July and August.
Joan J for me too – great autumn variety
Hi Bobbingabout. Its late enough to sow seeds now for spring cabbage although I did sow some in mid September last year and grew in a cold frame all winter. The variety I used (and have used again this autumn) is Winter Jewel from Suttons (and possibly other companies) and I have had the best spring greens ever with tall and firm leaves with a lovely colour and flavour.