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Hi I use any old plastic veg bags from supermarket a great way to reuse as our area doesn’t recycle !! But am considering brown paper bags like green grocers used to use .selling just picked no washing is required & encourages purchaser)receiver to wash their veg !! As soon as you wash health & safety becomes more complicated I think.
Hi Sandra I have sheep so often use wool it takes a while to break down & on beds weeds can sometimes get tangled up in it but otherwise good around small plants but not 100 % against slugs not really necessary with no dig best put in compost as heats up quite hot & will break down quicker .if you have areas rough & weedy a very thick layer will mulch out weeds & supply slow release nitrogen you could add compost on top to plant into as it would take along time to break up. Hope this helps
That’s really hard I hope you are all recoverd now & have had a little rain. I also have had numerous failures but ended up having success by sowing in the shade of a shed with each tray in an open veg bag from supermarket with holes to preserve moisture but not cook.si far so good though onions poor so they need a spell in the fridge before sowing.im going to plant my very late purplesprouting as I think it will just be small & late ?
Hi Asif I wonder if it is mice ore voles ? In the spring I had the same with my broard beans the whole plant pulled out & the bean seed chewed the rest left very frustrating after getting them to that stage & all healthy . I found finely ground pepper heled & I think chillie powder can work too but it’s a bit of a performance every night ..mouse traps are the only other way I think .good luck
Having dreadful mouce vole problems having grown my seeds in a plastic box sealed at night I had beautiful broard beans plants & was believed that they won’t touch the bean once chitted peas too BUT not so my friends after a few days I am down to 50% loss & trying to stay positive & the traps have regrettably come out hopefully not too late . I have tried catmint & longfolia mint but I didn’t have any luck in the winter.. pepper however does work if you can keep applying but like slug pelletsit gets expensive . I also don’t want to kill everything & cause a void in the natural balance . The mice also had a go at a few of the onions after chitting but I think only as there were a few seeds not germinated . I think they have had a bad spring too but is very demoralizing.
I was looking forward to saving seeds from alderman peas grown for shoots & sowed 3 per cell as advised by Charles the poor germination of these seeds has confirmed my wish to save seed all I have to do now is get these dreadful seeds to grow . I will try another batch . My oscar pea seeds from real seeds on the other hand sowed a week later 100% same conditions & came up 1st. I have saved Welsh onion seeds before & looking forward to saving leeks too this time .
Real seeds have some great advice on seed saving too.Thanks Charles my grandson is very excited by the prospect of potatoes I didnt want it to be a complete failure ! But I think his own tuber in a pot might be a good idea just in case . A future no digger in the making !
Thanks for the posting advice too.Hi I cannot find a new topic button so I’m hoping that someone can help here..I had some long sprouts on some early seed potatoes that I removed & put in a little water to grow on &for my grandson to watch now do you think they can grow any potatoes like sweet potato slips? or will there not be enough energy as no seed potato attached ??
Thanks MandyI have real problems with all small pests my purple sprouting were completely ring barked & some completely eaten peanut butter seems fairly a tractive to them.also with seeds I have deterred them & mice with fine ground pepper I think it plays havoc with their sense of smell but on a wet windy situation it is not the easiest to implement !!even putting it down the holes stops theme coming out but it needs constantly refreshing. Planting cat mint around or sprinkling leaves is supposed to deter them too .
If any one can help with my latest big pest …pheasants trampling pecking dusting eating making holes in nets & never there when there’s a gun around !!
MandyThanks Charles the more I read about no dig & understand about the soil the more I like it .
Thanks for you replies & for your videos all very helpful
MandyThanks…I was led to believe that potassium is water soluble & would be washed away out of the heap or from the ground by the time the plant needed a boost for fruit so would I need to add more around flowering time or is that just another garden myth ?
MandyHi Charles
Can you tell me if you should use any special ingredients in the compost for growing soft fruit .in the past I have made comfrey tea & banana & citrus skins tea….should I forget liquid feeding & put the comfrey leaves & fruit skins in the compost mix that is going on the fruit ? I use horse muck no added straw just picked off the field & heaped.I mulch with sea weed & old pine needles if available too.
Thanks mandy