Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
On the seaweed front. I also collect a batch every year. Once you have your seaweed you could save a little back to make a seaweed “tea” which you can then use diluted the following year as a foliar fertiliser. ( Soak it in a lidded bucket – lots of online recipes. ) Many people also swear by it as a fungicide for scab, mildew, damping off etc.
It’s also often included in those winter tree washes for top fruit but tbh I would not rely on that as a cure-all as tests have shown many of those don’t work that well and in those cases it’s probably much better used as a soil conditioner.
I have just sown my onion seeds this week and I have followed the advice from Robinsons regarding temperatures.
“Germination should take approximately 2 weeks at a temperature of 12deg C. Keep the seeds moist but never over water at this stage.
-
We have found that a higher germination temperature will in many cases damage the seeds, thus giving poor results.”
http://www.exhibition-seed.info/cultivation.htm
Robinsons are similar to Medwyns albeit not as famous. They have specialised in onions for many many years and it chimes with Charles’s point regarding temperature being too high.
I haven’t strictly followed the 12’C max as I am not growing for the show bench,- and many other texts say 18’C is fine, but I am trying to keep them coolish despite my propagators not having thermostats.
Good luck with your second batchHi bluebell,
I’m a newbie to the forum and to PT’s as we’ve only had our 20’x 40′ PT for 6 months- which is 800 sq feet- maybe 6 times the surface area that you are looking at. I’m sure you will get replies from more experienced members here
Nonetheless here’s my two penneth worth…
As much ventilation as possible. That’s hard to automate- unless you have some boffin friends who can rig up a system for you. If you can’t visit often I think that is problematic not just in summer but also in autumn/winter when you don’t want any moist stagnant area rotting your autumn salads. I am opening up every day, even on days like this where the fleeces are on at night.Here in Wales, the temperatures can rise really high when the clouds part which means an awful lot of adjustment trips. In summer we got frequent peaks of 35’C+
We have wind-up one side ventilation plus doors front and back, we haven’t fitted an extraction fan yet but will do. Even with everything open and some shade netting it can get very hot.Sliding double doors -essential for us as we are very exposed to wind.
Concreting fixings in? We did – same effort and cost as base plates but then we needed solid fixings due to size, wind factor, high water table with clay pan in places plus high rainfall area.
If you’re not using a water tap nearby gutters connected to large butts as they can fill quickly . Gutters really beneficial even though the rig-up is fiddly with repair tape which channels the rain over the gutter lip. ( Any better suggestions would love to know?)
Non-condensation covers – ours is , still get the odd drip onto the beds but I have no experience with the other cover to compare it with.
Cover tightening – you should be able to do that with a helper at that size, plus online video guides. Ours took four people, a hot day and a lot of sweat and swearing with a subsequent re-tightening from the side rails but, so far, it’s as tight as a drum.
Nicky Kyle’s website is also good for organic, non-commercial PTs – I don’t think she does any hand pollination and it might seduce you to go a little larger if you can.
Overall: expensive but well worth it, even with a second-hand frame like ours.Outdoors, certainly in a rural area, I think you just have to live with them and consider other pests likely do more damage in the long run. They are probably our commonest British mammal and each female raises about 20 plus annually with a long breeding season. That means I probably have several hundred at any given time in one acre. Voles are key to UK raptor survival and even if only tawny owls frequent your area, a few tall fence stakes which cost a couple of quid, strategically placed near raised beds will help – if there are no other tree perches nearby .
Here I see buzzards etc perching above the entrances to vole runs under our plastic mulch. Indeed from that we habituated the buzzard to come for a scrap of meat every afternoon! Owl boxes and/or tree cover planting are ideal but maybe not realistic.
I cover all empty raised beds in winter as we are in an area of very high rainfall. Agree with previous posters, voles love no-dig and they love any kind of hiding cover – indeed a snow blanketed winter helps their population peak enormously. I tried non-grass paths between raised beds but the only difference that made was I could not see their habitual runs.
We can only manage them and the more destructive field mice in the polytunnel with mousetraps and a metal quarter inch mesh perimeter barrier. Our PT is a zero tolerance zone for any rodents. but, even then, if open doorways are un-netted they will find their way in- to them it’s their local deli on their nightly shopping run. So a feral cat/cat would work well inside.
Basically, I live with them, they are mainly grass eaters and that’s key. I temporarily protect the young heads of some of my “slow ” veg such as cabbages, kales until they get going etc as the leading shoot gets eaten off but again, this is probably mice. ( A mesh ” cup”again, milk bottle halves encourage grey moulded shoots- but I will try some kind of DIY chilli spray next year. ) Also ensure there is no mulch/membrane close to the trunk of fruit trees as they provide a hiding place for bark chewing. I left a wodge of cardboard down for a week in preparation for a new bed and lifted it yesterday to find a vole underneath and all it’s eaten grass channels.
In my experience, here, mice, and of course slugs do more damage. So it’s a case of picking your battles. On balance they have brought in a whole range of wildlife to my plot and so make growing more interesting.