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I hope I have mixed celery too! I am planning a relaxed celery mix that I can just scatter in the beds. I have some big healthy pink/reds and greens that overwintered and are going to seed at the moment (much better than the ones I ever planted...). I might lose the bigger stalks, mixing them all that way, but I mainly use it in soups and stews so it's not a problem. Thanks again Vetivert for the seeds! Fingers crossed for your peas...

Leather gloves, the kind that are often bright yellow, work well. But they're a little more expensive and don't last as long as you'd hope. A pair for just nettles and thistles would be possible for attacking a patch. That tends to be the only time I wear gloves in fact, as the state of my hands testifies. If it's just one or two nettles and they aren't too vigorous, I don't bother with gloves but get the nettle right down at soil level and twist the stalk away from face and arms. There seems to be a sting-free section just where they emerge. But for a patch I wouldn't be as hardy!
For the stings up arms, which are more painful as hands can get very used to nettle stings, I can only suggest cutting the long stalks up first. But all these things - changing gloves and cutting stalks - take more time

Quote from: JanG on May 14, 2025, 06:08:15

Quote from: Vetivert on May 13, 2025, 19:20:16Thank you for organising this again Jan and count me in please :)


The Chinese Pink Celery I included last year appears to have crossed with a plant of Chinese White Celery, or accidentally mixed. I was sure they flowered at different times and the white seedhead was discarded but must have been mistaken.

Anyway, it's quite fortuitious as the seedlings are a mixture of vivid pink, pure white, pale pink, and pinky green. Selection options!

I'm fairly sure my seedlings are all pink but I shall check again today.

I was wrong! My celery seedlings have a mix. About 80% are the deep pink but, as you say, no problem.
Were you growing the excellent Redventure last year? Might they be part of the cross too?

I usually fail to achieve nettle sting free bliss, but the plasticised (butyl) gloves are the best in combination with long sleeve clothing as carrying the nettles to the bin that rots them down to produce liquid fertiliser, usually ends up with stings up the arms.  Unless I am using the left glove on my right hand (the right one is always the first to go so I wear a lot of left gloves on my right hand) and that isn't so well plasticised and then it stings. So I need all the recommendations available too please.      

Hostas need really special protection (so edible in Spring that pies/patties/pasties are on sale across the Med).

Surrounding them with a water moat is very effective but the simplest method is to set the hosta pot in the middle of your pond (and keep it clear of leaves or stems that can be used as a bridge) I'm assuming the slugs can smell hostas etc.

Also, the frogs (& newts?) are much more likely to eat the molluscs on their own "manor".

Cheers.

I've seen many pests that leave fluffy blobs of white eggs (scale insects, mealy bug etc) but never seen this level of organisation (trooping the eggs?).

Is it a different species or is it just the weirdly dry Spring? Or what?

The strips started appearing a couple of weeks ago and are also replaced very quickly by more of the same, I'm squashing them every other day but they haven't stopped yet.

The plant is outside now so I hope predators are available to do the job for me...

Cheers. 

Humidity, definitely.  Lower air moisture content in continental climate.   A few small, white puffy clouds or none.  Usually here we have bright sunshine, unless it actually rains, not the more usual British overcast weather without direct sun (but without rain).  If you see black clouds blocking the sunlight here, take cover!  One year in Britain we had six weeks of continuous cloud cover and no sunshine at all.  I was tearing my hair out, because the tomatoes and squashes hated it. Britain has a maritime climate with moisture from the sea trapped by much denser cloud cover. 

Quote from: galina on May 14, 2025, 13:46:05Vetivert and Jan, yes but it only worked here.  In Rushden not so much, because of bad mildew.  Here we do not get that same mildew.  I know that some people have done it successfully in England for an autumn harvest with a July sowing.  It is worth an experiment, but clearly not with precious peas.  Good luck. 

Galina, do you know what the key difference is between the two environments in terms of their effects on mildew? Temperature, humidity, other?

Rushden's slightly alkaline soil did not save the peas from extensive mildew problems. I had no sweet pea experience then and neither did I attempt to spray the edible peas against it. 

A cool and moist environment is definitely a good idea, as peas can crisp up and perish in the heat of summer quite fast without it.  Watering pots might be more difficult than keeping the ground moist.  I find that yellow podded peas last quite a bit better in summer heat than green podded ones. 

                   

By 'at home' I'm assuming you mean outside at home, rather than indoors, although I've read of someone keeping a single climbing bean plant indoors, out of season, in order to get precious seeds. Personally I'd prefer the at home alternative, outdoors, where you can keep a daily eye on the plant(s).

I have no understanding at all of the likely effects of peroxide but instinctively it doesn't seem to go well with an edible plant, and so much faff!

But it's obviously a question of personal preference and convenience in your precise circumstances. Good luck. Let us know.