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Hi Alan!
Welcome to gardening and welcome to Germany, too! Where abouts are you? I live in the Forest of Oden (Odenwald) between Frankfurt and Heidelberg and run a market garden there. So any language problems can be solved!
Black polythene can be sourced as “Silofolie” (black or green on the one side and white on the other) in Germany, compost is “Kompost”, green waste compost is “Grüngutkompost” or “Grünschnittkompost” and mulch is “Mulch”.
And you can deem yourself lucky, because in Germany composting green and household waste is the standard, so the chance of finding somewere to buy in compost close by and relatively cheaply is quite good.Hi Phil,
For one a glasshouse is much more expensive than a polytunnel. That is why as a hobby grower one usually only uses it for propagation. For two glasshouses stay warmer in winter, because the glass insulates better than the standard foil used on polytunnels. For three a glasshouse usally needs some kind of basement or groundwork underneath. This makes the construction more expensive and more time-consuming.
When using a glasshouse for indoor growing it could be that you have to plant a bit later than when using a polytunnel. It could also give you the possibility to overwinter or to grow plants with a higher need of warmth, but that depends a lot on where you are located and whether you heat the glasshouse in winter or not.
Hi Randa,
Could it be that your cucumbers are infected with downy mildew? This is not unusual. Spraying affected leaves with apple vinegar or milk can help. See the internet for the exact dosis. Alternatively you could also try plant homeopathy. If I’m not mistaken it should be either Silicea C 200 or Sulphur C 200 or Natrium Sulphuricum C 30, depending on what the weather/polytunnel-climate was like and the exact colour of the leaves.
Actually, reading your post again I think it’s probably Natrium Sulphuricum.Hi Asif,
When first signs of blight appear on tomatoes it’s usually already too late to do anything. With yours it’s definitely reached the fruit, which means it’s not worth picking the green ones. Because even if they don’t look it, they are infected, too and will get brown spots sooner or later. Sorry!
Next year try blight-tolerant varieties such as Primabella, Primavera and Resi. They are the first results from a project of the University of Göttingen in Germany. Seeds are available through https://culinaris-saatgut.de/en/shop/ They ship to England and you can pay via paypal. See my photo attached: It shows Primabella in comparison to Rotkäppchen, a determined variety usually grown in pots. I didn’t have time to do any pruning on Primabella and when I planted them they almost died due to sunburn. They only just started cropping but are enormously vigorous as you can see. I’ll definitely have some more next year.
As a general rule it can be said that the bigger the fruit on the tomato the higher the risk of blight infection. That is also the reason why varieties such as the tiny Golden Currant and Rote Murmel (we call them wild tomatoes in German) stay healthy when grown outdoors. The genetic tolerance of blight seems to be linked to fruit size.Hi John,
Using a knife or sheares to cut off infected leaves can help spread the infection. So an idea for next year would be to break infected leaves off rather than cutting them.Hi Jan,
Earwigs are useful because they eat aphids. I suppose you’ve got many of them, because there’s a lot to eat for them at the moment…
Hi David,
The beds in my kitchen garden are 4′ with 1′ paths in between. The beds in my market garden are 3′ with paths 1.5′ wide. Although 4′ beds allow for more room for growing in the same area I definitely prefer the 3′ beds. They are easy to straddle, so there are more positions for working in. And I find easier on my back working in the middle of the bed. I don’t have to stretch so far.
The same is to be said about the paths. The narrower they are the more room there is for growing veg. But if they are too narrow, one has to be ever so careful not to step onto the beds, that working becomes strenous. Make sure that at least they fit the size of the shoes that you wear when gardening.Are there any other no dig market gardens around, from people that earn their living from growing furit and veg? Peat mentioned Singing Frogs Farm, does anybody know others?
@ Maxita: You can grow your own compost crops like comfrey to make more of your own compost, but this takes a lot of time. I would advise you to buy in compost at least for the first couple of years. If you are hesitating because of the cost involved, consider how much more time you will be able to spend with actually growing instead of weeding if you mulch with compost.