Topic: Potting shed at long last

[moonbells]

At last I've got my new potting shed, 7 months after the January gales destroyed my old corner shed and caused the garden to sprout all the contents.

I am looking forward to getting all the contents back under cover! But, in the meantime, I'm planning what to do next year in the light of having done precious little gardening/lottying this year (growing a baby does put a limit on what you can do, especially at my age!) and expecting that next year, time will be in short supply unless I get a *really* tolerant child! At least it's all in the back garden so I can grow *something* in between the yells.

I have 29" wide by 8' long staging, with 4' of glass above it (with a window controlled by an automatic vent). I hope to have a couple of cues, a couple of aubs and the rest of the space growing indoor tomatoes. Can anyone recommend a really compact and good tomato that doesn't end up 8' tall please? (Else it'll wind up being trained sideways rather like a sweet pea!)

moonbells

[saddad]

Just get a bush one... called determinate rather than indeterminate..
they stop automatically and don't get too tall... choose your variety carefully though as some eg Yellow Currant can end up as a 6' cube..
 ;D

[Barnowl]

Totem F1 is pretty reliable and manageable but OH & I weren't overwhelmed by the taste and dropped it after a couple of years. This year's indoor bush is a Gruschovka which has done quite well but has got pretty large.

Could you suspend a basket and have a tumbler like Gartenperle - I planted two seedlings in the same relatively small pot and the competition seemed to work well. Have to water very frequently though.

[moonbells]

I've been growing basket cherries (tumbler F1) for years, in baskets suspended from my old shed. And the lottie has my main crop of San Marzanos and Cream Sausages for passata etc. Up to now I've never been able to grow proper greenhouse tomatoes, hence my question :) 

My dad grows Shirley but they get quite tall, though they are indeed delicious! I am hoping to find a compact cordon variety rather than a bush. Suppose if all else fails I can simply stop them at 3 trusses rather than 4.

moonbells

[Mrs Ava]

Moonbells, did I miss the announcement that you are in the family way?  Or are the school holidays affecting the old grey matter?  Congrats either way.  Very exciting indeedy!

Can't help you on the tom front as I grow all of mine on the plot and they take over.  Ruud is a good tom expert who might have some suggestions.

[moonbells]

Moonbells, did I miss the announcement that you are in the family way?  Or are the school holidays affecting the old grey matter?  Congrats either way.  Very exciting indeedy!

Can't help you on the tom front as I grow all of mine on the plot and they take over.  Ruud is a good tom expert who might have some suggestions.

No EJ you didn't miss it - I never really made it cos I got rather ill at the start and wound up in hospital for a week with a drip attached. There's morning sickness then there's the extreme form where you get very dehydrated, and trust me to get that... Meant I spent that lovely April in bed and May not much more upright (was all I could do to cope with working) so lottie went west. Still very depressing, it's got so many weeds. Back garden did likewise, helped by the devastation caused by the January gales and it taking the Insurance Co's builders months to fix any of it.

I feel for anyone who got hit by the floods.

But, on a positive, I spent this weekend with Dad's help getting the shed contents back *into* a shed, and finding my poor conservatory again. I am putting all the propagation stuff into the potting shed: an 8' shelf's already gone up and been covered with (washed!) pots, and we've hung up my tools on the wall instead of them getting bunged in a corner. Need more shelving, as there's still a silly amount of stuff under the staging which needs to go upwards a bit (I'm thinking ahead to having small person investigating things!) and still too many pots scattered about the garden! Got rid of a load of rubbish too.

moonbells

[Mrs Ava]

Awww sorry about being so poorly MB.  My morning sickness came at the end of the pregnacies and in the afternoon.  Very odd.  It will be so worth it though.  I did my shed today.  I have 2 black sacks of 'spare' plant pots that nobody wants.  They are the 3 inch sized ones.  Even our local nursery and farm shop have crates full of pots reading help yourself!  I don't want to bin them, but I don't know what else to do with them.....I have enough to start my own nursery, and still have spares!

[Emagggie]

Moonbells, No knowledge of determinate toms I'm afraid, just wanted to say what great news. Glad you are feeling better now.  Nice to have a new potting shed and start again. It's a great feeling to declutter!!
EJ, what about freecycle? I asked for some and no-one responded!! ::)

[moonbells]

I have pot central in the back garden - shame it rained overnight as Dad spent half of yesterday bent over a bucket scrubbing pots. I've never had so many clean pots! This means I can put them away and forget till I need them.

I do wish someone would work out how to recycle the darn things. Did anyone else see the One show last night where they were having a go at Joan Ruddock for the, ahem, rubbish recycling facilities we have in this country? Apparently we can recycle plastic types 1, 2 and 3 but not 4-7, which are shipped to China or landfilled. The presenters queried why the Govt didn't lean on manufacturers to make them use recyclable ones, and basically got the answer that they couldn't do that...

I wanted to yell why on earth not? Then the presenter said that too, and got the answer that since the ships to China came here loaded with goods, they'd otherwise go back empty so it doesn't matter where they're recycled! But we have no control over reprocessing factory emissions in China, so how do we know that it's actually not making things much worse? Argh!

moonbells (hoping that her sproglet will have half a chance of surviving in whatever world it inherits)

ps hello Emagggie - you posted while I was previewing :)