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Hi,
Celeriac aren’t hardy and will bolt if they get chilled before being planted out. Easier to start again in FebruaryRHS advice is to dig it in in the autumn and the aminopyralid will be neutralised by spring. I’d try stacking it in a heap somewhere out of the way, sprinkling soil between the layers. Leave it at least a year and test it by planting a couple of spare tomato plants in the pile, if they are OK everything else should be.
It doesn’t affect grass so you could spread it over rough grass if you have any.
Hope that might be of some useFor the past six or seven years I have grown a strip of buckwheat around my brassica and have not had serious issues with cabbage whites. They are around in huge numbers but the eggs don’t seem to hatch. It doesn’t work for the plain green caterpillars but there are fewer of them anyway.
I know it’s no help for this year but may be of use next year.Regards
TristanYou can grow them under a light until they are ready to plant out but then you need to ‘harden’ them to the outdoor conditions before putting them in the ground. You will need to do this by standing them outside, still in pots or trays, somewhere where you can give them a bit of shelter from the wind then bring them in at night. Do this for a week and they should be fine. Milk jug cloches work well for marrows, courgettes and squash as the wind can damage the stems when they are transplanted.
Regards,
TristanHi Joshua,
I don’t know what type of grow light you are using but blue spectrum light will produce more compact plants whereas red spectrum increases joint length and induces flowering/fruiting (just think of the difference between spring and autumn sunlight).
Plants grown under artificial light will need to adapt to natural daylight and the leaves will scorch if they aren’t hardened off, by standing them out in a sheltered spot during the day for a week before planting them out.
If they are falling over in the trays it could be damping off, try to improve the airflow, reduce the heat a bit, and water with 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda in a pint of water.Regards,
TristanHi Marcus,
A few thoughts occur on reading your post, oak trees are probably the least difficult tree for under planting, although water requirements will always be high.
Leafy veg tend to do well when shaded but will need more watering.
Most fruit plants are originally woodland edge plants so will get by at the drip line of the tree canopy. The crops will be smaller and later however.
Plum trees are greedy and i find suckers rising 25 ft from fan trained ones, but suckering is less likely on standard trees unless they are weakened.
Alpine strawberries love a shady spot and can self seed around if left to their owd devices.
I’ve had a good crop of leeks from a heavily shaded bed before, and good brassicas close on the south side of a huge conifer hedge, that did need some digging as i put a trench along the side of the bed to sever the feeder roots.
Hope that helps,
TristanWhoever mows the verges will probably be happy too!
18 inches apart in rows 2 and a half feet apart (45 cm and 75cm in metric),
Or 18 inches apart in the style of a number 5 on a dice down the row if you want a more compact bed.
TristanI think Ophelia is a miniature variety. Poly tunnels have lower light levels than glasshouses which may reduce your yield.
Try tres hative de barbentane and pinch off the flowers once five fruit have set if you want large aubergines.
Hope this helps
TristanHave you ever had problems with fungus gnat/sciarid fly when using your own compost? I ask as they have been a nightmare in bought in composts containing green waste in spite of using predatory mites. Bacillus thuringiensis(?) used to work well but can’t get it anymore so I’m looking into alternative growing media.
Regards,
TristanHi,
It may be worth a daily poke of the heap with a long cane, combined with knocking the sides. This won’t stop them coming to your bin but may discourage them from nesting in it.
Regards,
TristanHi,
I’d go for planting singly in deep modules or pots and sow them about 8 weeks before the last frosts in your area. They don’t like getting pot bound before planting out so get away better if they are smaller at transplanting. They’re also less prone to wind damage at this size.
HTH
TristanHi,
150 x 30 mm should suit a low raised bed.
I am with Hawfinch on this one though, slugs love decaying wood. There have been a few articles recently that suggest using the 16 inch concrete roof tiles half buried as an edging. Haven’t tried these yet to know if they cause slug problems too but they can be found very cheaply or free on the usual websites.
If you go with the timber try Danish oil as a preservative, works well and is food safe.HTH
TristanHow near are you to a green compost producer? Our nearest sells it for £2.50 a tonne, or about 1.5 cu m, plus haulage which is usually the expensive bit.
A tonne should cover 10 sq m at 15cm depth so you could get, say, 35 tonnes, probably three loads.
Regards
Tristan