Recent Posts

Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 ... 10
11
Non Edible Plants / Re: Narcissus
« Last post by saddad on April 15, 2024, 08:35:39 »
If they are really overcrowded, they don't mind being a bit "cosy", I would repot them in larger pot and plant the whole thing outside in the garden. You can dig it up early next year. If taking it in I would wash the soil off and pot up again to take indoors to avoid slug and creepy crawlies on the window sills!
12
Non Edible Plants / Narcissus
« Last post by jesssands on April 14, 2024, 23:39:42 »
Just a quick question please.
I have a pot that is bursting with narcissus bulbs.
They were kept in a hot old peoples home until they finished flowering.
I've got them at home now. Wondering, if to store them indoors until autumn for planting outside or plant them outside now?
Sorry for many years of absence on here. My life has been ridiculous!
13
The Basics / Re: Bewildered by nets
« Last post by Deb P on April 14, 2024, 16:45:10 »
I bought a roll of the green finely woven debris netting from Amazon, and cut it to fit over various sized beds and frames. I also use them as ‘curtains’ to drape around wigwams of beans, sweet peas and tomatoes as frost protection for a few weeks. Protecting crops from the very hot weather the other year was another use got them, plus greenhouse shading.
I’ve reused mine for about 10 years and fold  and store them at the end of the season. I mark them in all four corners in permanent marker with a letter indicating the size ( for example T for tomato drapes, B for beds, C for curtains ) so I don’t have to open them up to find the size I require. I still have some left on the roll!
14
Edible Plants / Re: Seed Saving Circle 2023
« Last post by JanG on April 13, 2024, 07:31:26 »
They look amazingly healthy and perky after surviving -13. Great to know.

I’ve planted out both Rossia and Red Evolution from an early February sowing. Looking promising. Pictures later perhaps.
15
Edible Plants / Re: Seed Saving Circle 2023
« Last post by galina on April 12, 2024, 18:39:36 »
A very happy PS to add.  Last winter wasn't quite as cold as the previous years, the coldest being -13C and not for many nights in succession either.  Seems that self seeded lettuces like similar to Flashy Troutback and similar to Flashy Butteroak can indeed survive these conditions. And similar to Flashy Troutback looks stunning right now!  They are beautifully winter hardy.  Outside in the garden.  I took the self seeded Rossia, planted it in the greenhouse over winter, and that has been feeding us for several weeks now already, as I hoped it would.  Just today I also discovered one tiny Red Evolution among the weeds.   I have taken photos of similar to Flashy Troutback and similar to Flashy Butteroak.  Thank you for these delightful seeds again Vetivert, which have just revealed a very useful additional feature, their hardiness.  Hope they will do equally well for the circle members. 
16
The Basics / Re: Bewildered by nets
« Last post by Tiny Clanger on April 12, 2024, 14:53:49 »
We use scaffolding net over most of the crops. We buy off ebay
17
Chillies Ahoy / Re: Pepper re-do
« Last post by Vinlander on April 10, 2024, 18:12:59 »
Going almost completely "out of the box", now is a perfect time to sow perennial chilli peppers (Capsicum pubescens aka. manzano, rocoto, locoto, "gringo killer" etc.).

That's because its possible to get them growing really fast with the current temps and daylight - you will still need a sunny windowsill until May but they are also much better at shrugging off occasional chills (they can even survive 0C - especially if they are 9 months old, but not -1C).

More importantly this October you will have plants that will still fit on a windowsill - (because they don't mind a bit of pruning at this point).

If your sunny windowsills are really narrow (and you don't have any kind of sun room - or even a glazed porch) then it's worth making a sowing in May or June so they will fit.

You might just possibly get some green chilli fruit this October - you should use all of them straight away - they can make any stew taste like it's got loads of black pepper in it - very different from the ripe fruit that are hot in the normal way.

More importantly, know that none of this species produce fruits that will dry out - even the ripest ones will go mouldy in a week unless used or frozen - they are just too fleshy to dry (unless you slice thinly and dry in the oven).

They will always survive on the windowsill (unless you don't have double glazing and turn the heating off).

There are plenty of websites for more information but I'm interested in how they can be more reliable than the other C. species. 

These are properly perennial, they don't sulk through the spring and get overtaken by seedlings (like C. annuum do). They will hit 1-2m in their 2nd year and have a yield to suit.

You must sow more in April '25 so you always have 1year plants the next spring - it's much easier than keeping them for year 3.

For year 3 you have to to grow them on a succession of pots and as soon as a 25-30cm pot isn't too silly, you bury the whole pot wherever it will do well - then you can lift the pot in Sep, remove all the ripe and green fruit and trim it to fit in somewhere above 4C. In my sunroom with a frost-stat I get over 70% survival after the 2nd winter and 50% in their 3rd.

Plenty of websites sell seeds but next year you might want some more exotic ones - semillas.de have about 30.

Cheers.
18
Chillies Ahoy / Re: Pepper re-do
« Last post by peanuts on April 07, 2024, 04:34:24 »
Interesting re germination of peppers - I bought a plant four years ago. It has small perfectly formed little round pointed chills, they're not long, and not creased like the habeneros ones, but I've no idea of the name.  The first year it produced loads of beautiful little quite hot peppers on the open veg patch.  Come October. because it looked so healthy and still had a good crop coming, my husband, who isn't the veg gardener (!), suggested I  pot it up and bring it into the house for the winter.  It continued to produce all winter, and was full of flowers in the early spring. 
I kept seed,  but have had difficulty in germinating it.  Two years ago I managed, but last spring and this year i've had nil germination.   I've only just thrown out the original plant, in its fourth year, as it finally died!  I've managed to keep the second, so will have a corp this year.
Just a thought - I don't freeze the seed, and I no longer have a heated propagator, so I just try in the warmth of the house.  It's also difficult to find a good compost here.
19
Chillies Ahoy / Re: Pepper re-do
« Last post by Deb P on April 06, 2024, 21:53:09 »
Interesting comments about the pepper germination, I sowed in a controlled heated propagator mid Feb and got very patchy germination with all of my chillies and peppers. I resowed  some more of the no shows four weeks later, with more vermiculite  in the mix of peat free multi purpose compost and most seeds performed better this time
I have just purchased four plug plants chillies from an eBay supplier to fill the gap which arrived today and are potted on, and I also got three cuttings from them as they were taller than expected!
20
Edible Plants / Re: Thunderbirds are go....
« Last post by Obelixx on April 06, 2024, 16:51:52 »
I've never noted germination times TeeGee but have a feeling tomatoes usually take a week to 10 days for me and chillies a bit more.   Other than the cucumbers, none of the ones I've sown this year were fresh seed, hence the experiment with the aloe vera.   The last of the curcubits are now thru too. 
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 ... 10
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal