Wildfood.info

by **Herbidacious** » October 18th, 2018, 12:52 pm

jolly good. Do you never get them?

by **suffolk** » October 18th, 2018, 1:17 pm

We came here in 2011 and the garden had been neglected for quite a few years before that, so no one had used any sprays and therefore we have plenty of natural predators ... lacewings, ladybirds, hoverflies and blue tits etc and we never seem to get more than they can cope with. We've never used any pesticides, not even a squirt of washing up liquid, in this garden.

Occasionally there may seem to be rather a lot of greenfly early in the season, but I just brush most of them off with my fingers or a jet of water from the hosepipe, leaving a few for the predators and balance is restored

by **Herbidacious** » October 18th, 2018, 1:20 pm

I've never used pestitcides either and been here since 2009. But we have neighbours, of course.

There don't seem to be (m)any predators of the flyng variety around at the moment.

by **suffolk** » October 18th, 2018, 1:24 pm

If the washing up liquid doesn't work just fire a jet of water from the hose at them .... or brush them off with a soft paint brush.

by **TeresaFoodie** » October 24th, 2018, 9:20 pm

A question about my chilli plant please. :grin:

It has been living in my shower room for a while now, getting a couple of sprays with soapy water daily to get rid of bugs. I think they have all gone! It's now time to move it. I won't be putting it back on the kitchen windowsill until I have repotted it. It also needs cutting back I think as the branches are now stupidly leggy and the whole plant is just too huge. Any tips for when/how this should be done? Before or after repotting? Where will it be happiest over the winter?

Ta! :tu:

by **scullion** » October 26th, 2018, 12:33 am

this may give you all the advice you need - read down through the q and a section about overwintering and pruning.

by **Zosherooney** » October 26th, 2018, 6:17 am

I bought a chilli plant from the Chilli Festival the summer before last. She said it would over winter if looked after it. It did and I had loads of chillis this summer, so I plan to do the same again this winter. I brought it in from the GH and sat it on a plate in my lounge. All the leaves dropped off and in April this year it went back in the GH and is now twice the size it was last year. As soon as it went into the GH new shoots appeared and it was very happy, just fed it tomato food when I watered the tomatoes.

Tezza PM me your address and I'll send you some of this years chillis for you to try.

by **scullion** » October 26th, 2018, 8:35 am

the important thing, tezza, is to restrict the watering - only do it when you see the leaves start to wilt, don't overpot it, and give it good light.

by **TeresaFoodie** » October 26th, 2018, 9:24 am

Thanks both. The info you have provided here tells me all I need to know. :tu:

And thanks Zosh, my address is on a PM. :hug:

by **TeresaFoodie** » October 31st, 2018, 12:47 am

I just thought I'd update while I think of it...

My chilli (Harold) is now in the living room in a fairly dark corner, still with a few bugs, being sprayed daily, only being watered when it looks like it needs it. I am still to prune and re-pot. But interestingly, I notice that my old friend the spider which did live in my bedroom for a bit, hung from a web in the doorway then scurried across my face in the night, then made a little home under the kitchen windowsill where Harold used to live, has made the long journey from kitchen across hallway and across living room to be reunited with Harold. He's built a web across the front of the plant. I'll bet he's having a field day chomping on the remaining bugs.

How harmonious that we are all getting on? :grin:

by **scullion** » October 31st, 2018, 1:49 am

not sure i'd put it in a dark corner, it'll still be photosynthesising through the stem even if it has no leaves. if it liked your kitchen window i'd be inclined to put it back there.

by **TeresaFoodie** » October 31st, 2018, 5:59 am

scullion wrote:not sure i'd put it in a dark corner, it'll still be photosynthesising through the stem even if it has no leaves. if it liked your kitchen window i'd be inclined to put it back there.

The thing is too big to put it back yet, plus still has some bugs which kept carping all over my draining board and worktops. I could do with a sunnier spot that isn't in the kitchen, but I ain't. :rolleyes:

I'm really wondering whether to stick it on Freecycle to see if a local can make better use of it. Weighing the whole thing up, including the costs (very minimal, but a cost is a cost) and the yield, and lack of space, it doesn't seem worth me keeping hold of it.

by **karadekoolaid** » November 1st, 2018, 1:25 am

Chile plants need sun. If you haven´t got any, then they need light and heat. Take it out of the darkness and place it in the light, otherwise, you will have Harold RIP.
Don´t water it very often. They like tropical conditions: humidity and sunlight. The bugs will go away if the plant is in the sunlight. If you over-spray it with bug spray, it will also kick the bucket!

by **TeresaFoodie** » November 1st, 2018, 1:58 pm

I've tried it in the only light space that I have (shower room) but it's not warm in there. I've put Harold on Freecycle.... :sad:

by **TeresaFoodie** » November 3rd, 2018, 4:13 pm

RIP Harold. :cry:

When I got up this morning, most of the leaves had fallen off. So, as I had dried lots of chillies and therefore have some seeds, he went in the bin. Poor chap.

by **suffolk** » November 3rd, 2018, 5:43 pm

A dead plant is an opportunity to grow another one

by **TeresaFoodie** » November 3rd, 2018, 10:12 pm

Yes!

That will be a first for me, growing chilli from seed. I'll have to really scrub the pot.

As I disposed of the plant I apologised to my resident spider for removing his main food source! :lol:

by **Zosherooney** » November 4th, 2018, 7:41 am

The leaves always drop off mine but they come back next Spring......

by **Herbidacious** » November 21st, 2018, 5:36 pm

Earlier this afternoon I looked up to see a squirrel ripping off an inca berry and nibling it, paper 'lantern' and all. Did someone say thet the husk is posionous? Hopefully not for squirrels (annoying as they are.) Anyway I nipped outside in my pjs and slippers and harvested a bowl full of them. There are still a lot of green ones left on the plants. I wish I had room to bring the plants inside. I suppose I could manage one, but they are very big.

Will definitely grow these again. They are nicer than (v expensive fruit) I have bought in the shops. I wonder, if I grew them from seed and started them off earlier, they would fruit earlier. I bought them as plants and kept some indoors, some out (I must be missing some plants...) and they both seemed quite slow to develop.
I noticed one plant even had a few flowers on it still.

by **Herbidacious** » January 14th, 2019, 12:36 pm

I know it's a bit early, but I like to start thinking about it in the sometimes quite grim winter months (although not to cold yet...)

These look interesting, but possibly slug fest inducing.

https://www.rocketgardens.co.uk/product/plants/celtuce/

I have a 20% off code just for today. I had a tomato selection pack from Rocket last year. They did well.

Still contemplating a small poly tunnel...

I mustn't over order... (as a general thing.)

Still not planted garlic. may just wait until March now.

by **scullion** » January 14th, 2019, 4:46 pm

they look interesting. i may look for seeds.
the garlic i planted three weeks ago is coming up quite strongly. i would still plant it now rather than waiting, if i were you.
i have some sweet potato slips to pot up but i think they may prefer a new bag of compost rather than the dregs of last year's.
one of the cuttings i took from the lovely cherry tomato last autumn is still alive on the living room window sill. the other damped off in the kitchen.
i'm beginning to think about seed sowing in the next three or four weeks.

by **Herbidacious** » January 14th, 2019, 4:52 pm

ok Scullion. Thanks. Maybe this weekend then. I am probably over thinking it. Last year's late-planted elephant garlic was a bit pusillanimous. We are talking (large) 3-clove bulbs!

Are sweet potatoes tastier when home grown, or are you doing it mainly for the fun of it? (Or a new experiment...?)

edit: clove bulb, not love blubs

by **scullion** » January 14th, 2019, 5:20 pm

mainly for the fun of it - and they have nice flowers - but they're meant to be quite prolific given the right conditions and i do like knowing where my veg comes from.
the sweet potatoes that i'm taking the slips from were put in the propagator last year. one, that had sat there in a jar of water and had done nothing since last spring - until i turned it the other way up in the autumn and it started sprouting slips and producing roots (durr), the other, a new one from lidl, went in to the propagator when the other started sprouting.
if you're thinking of having a go at it i'd start them off soon. they need a quite a long growing season and, i think, a little protection in this country.

by **Herbidacious** » January 14th, 2019, 8:17 pm

It's tempting. I have some in my fruit bowl (!) Although I may beed organic ones...?

So just cut in half and put the cut side in water?

by **scullion** » January 15th, 2019, 1:00 am

i bought organic ones from waitrose but they didn't want to know - the ordinary ones i got from lidl worked a treat.
i used the whole sweet potato as i didn't want to risk an infection getting in the cut part. the important thing is to get them the right way up - the attachment end goes in the water - have fun working which way that is!

by **Herbidacious** » January 15th, 2019, 8:56 am

Ha! Thanks. I have already watched two videos

This chap seems useful:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC76ZG8 ... c6ebVcPkVw

by **Herbidacious** » February 1st, 2019, 1:04 pm

So is anyone else thinking about what to grow this year yet?! (apart from sweet potatoes.)

by **Badger's mate** » February 1st, 2019, 3:56 pm

I've had a bit of a clear out, will take stuff to a seed swap next month. Some things worked well and will be kept, some produced but didn't really get used. We're not that bothered about kohl rabi or Batavian lettuce for example. Also self-blanching celery. Okra came to nought, but as it was an exceptional summer we'll give it another go this year. Tried some pointy red cabbages but will revert to ballhead ones this year. Will try again with the big white drying beans. Toms did so well, particularly 'Red Alert' on the plot. I grew them under a biodegradable plastic mulch, which kept the fruit much cleaner than usual. I feared significant mollusc damage, might have got away with it last summer. Will try melons 'Emir' as a friend did well with them but maybe it was a good melon year. Will cut down on chillies (too many visits to Wahaca, clearly) but brought some sweet pepper seed back from Hungary to try. Will grow tomatillos as ever. I realise I forgot to order cardoon seed when I put an order in the other day.

I'm reasonably settled with varieties that do well in my soil, three different spuds for example, but will always try a few of a fourth variety. This year I'm giving King Edwards a go; the plot suffers from common scab against which it's a reasonably resistant variety, besides being a good cooker of course.

I'll probably give up on peas. I've got some 'Champion of England' seed I saved from last year (I won three plants in a raffle). They will get sown and I will crop them, but it's a lot of bother and every chance we'll be away when they're perfect. That said I expect I'll do mangetout again.

Last year I bought a Chilean Guava and a Sichuan Pepper. Hoping for great things...

by **icelesley** » March 23rd, 2019, 1:21 pm

This year will be the usual tomatoes, I have just finished using up last years' glut from the freezer. Also potatoes, lettuce, peppers, chillies, spring onions, cabbage, sprouts (if I can keep the birds off them), beetroot, I might try broccoli again, then the usual rhubarb and strawberries.

by **scullion** » March 23rd, 2019, 4:41 pm

have finally got round to planting my chitted first earlies - lady christl (aka pembroke first earlies) and international kidney (aka jersey royals) (aka = if grown in the named place). i think i have some sarpo mira somewhere so i will see if they've chitted themselves already!

by **Herbidacious** » March 23rd, 2019, 8:08 pm

I plan to sow things tomorrow, but can't find my (new) seeds. Have they actually been sent?
I could sow some of last years'.

What to sow... Not tomatoes as I am buying plants. I don't have the appropriate space to do ltos of things. I was going to do inca berries, but apparently they are a ba***rd to germinate so decided to buy plants again.

by **Seatallan** » March 24th, 2019, 12:48 pm

Just put in some French beans. Let's hope our Boppet doesn't immediately dig all the seeds up.

by **Herbidacious** » March 24th, 2019, 4:01 pm

I just spent the afternoon going to a garden centre rather than actually gardening

by **scullion** » March 25th, 2019, 9:58 am

if they grow - i put into the propogator, yesterday, three courgettes, three different types of chilli and long, sweet peppers. on the draining board there are three (new) pots of tomatoes as well as the ones that have already been potted up.
i won't be putting beans in just yet and they get on better if planted in pots/modules first, for us, otherwise the slugs get a good meal on the young shoots as they emerge.

by **Herbidacious** » March 25th, 2019, 12:35 pm

I lost a load of seeds that I bought. Bought more yesterday, plus one tomato pot so that I have one ahead of the rest.
Will start off courgettes and cucumbers soon, I suppose. I must not over do it. I want to go on holiday in July...
I am seeing a lot of slug damage already. My lovely, big and until recently healthy-looking sage bushes are all raggedy now. they do seem to love sage. Some of my daffodils were nibbled soon after blooming too.

by **scullion** » April 5th, 2019, 12:27 pm

have you tried surrounding them with spent coffee grounds (not decaf)? i got a load of bags from the local starry bu@@ers and used them round the edge of my (not so) barren wasteland, last year, after removing all the slugs and snails that i could find. i don't seem to have suffered much since from damage but that may have been due to the dryness last year and earlier this. i will be renewing it soon, though, just in case..
picked some purple sprouting broccoli from it just now. i'm rather pleased with it - it's a mix of flowers, edibles and herbs. the chard and spinach still look good and i know you can eat hostas but the red of the chard stalks look just as interesting.
i noticed a radish the size of a turnip there this morning but i may just leave it to flower and go to seed cos i'd imagine that it's quite woody at that size!
i have taken the courgettes out of the propagator as they are producing their first true leaves already and i don't want them to get too leggy before i pot them on.
the draining board toms are coming through, as are the chillies in the propagator.

by **Herbidacious** » April 7th, 2019, 6:19 pm

I have just sown some courgettes (2 types, I think) chillis (Machu Picchu), tomatoes (Indigo Blue) cucamelon, coriander (to create a buffer between chillis and courgettes...?!) and also two types of poppy (not for consumption

) Not very pleased with the seed compost. It had lots of large hard bits in it.

I have also planted some anenomes, which were quite old. I did soak them, but not holding out a lot of hope.

Potted on a Gardener's Delight, bought from a gardening centre the other week - thought it might be fun to have one that's well ahead of the others. It almost doubled in size in a fortnight on my windowsill. If only I had a heated greenhouse...!

I have an aubergine on the go too.

I have quite a lot of plants on order. Hoping to do peas soon, but not enough time this (rather curtailed) weekend. I bought a 'veg trug' in which to put some peas.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VegTrug-Pati ... 2749.l2649

Hope to get moer done next weekend, but I am on a one day beginner's sewing machine course on the Sunday.

I have found having things raised up on metal tables etc helps with slugs. I may get another if it seems good (am yet to construct it.) I am wondering if I can make something like this for less money.

by **Herbidacious** » April 10th, 2019, 9:09 am

Three Crimson Crush (blight resistant) plants on there way to me, apparently :bounce:

It occurs to me that the ones I sowed at the weekend are maybe rather too late, if the germinate, unless I do get my polytunnel to extend the season.

My garden centre gardener's Delight is now 1ft tall with flower buds

I also ordered the cherry bushes) in the end. (Of course.)

by **scullion** » April 10th, 2019, 3:24 pm

let us know if they really do fruit in the first year!

by **Herbidacious** » April 10th, 2019, 4:07 pm

I will. I am dubious, but I am good at delayed gratification

by **Herbidacious** » April 10th, 2019, 4:07 pm

Some summerlast tomatoes arrived too, today. I don't remember ordering them... :oops:

I can see I am going to end up with 24 plants again... cat feeders (plant waterers) will not be happy.

by **slimpersoninside** » April 10th, 2019, 7:34 pm

Herbidacious wrote:I have just sown some courgettes (2 types, I think) chillis (Machu Picchu), tomatoes (Indigo Blue) cucamelon, coriander (to create a buffer between chillis and courgettes...?!) and also two types of poppy (not for consumption ) Not very pleased with the seed compost. It had lots of large hard bits in it.

I have also planted some anenomes, which were quite old. I did soak them, but not holding out a lot of hope.

Potted on a Gardener's Delight, bought from a gardening centre the other week - thought it might be fun to have one that's well ahead of the others. It almost doubled in size in a fortnight on my windowsill. If only I had a heated greenhouse...!

I have an aubergine on the go too.

I have quite a lot of plants on order. Hoping to do peas soon, but not enough time this (rather curtailed) weekend. I bought a 'veg trug' in which to put some peas.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VegTrug-Pati ... 2749.l2649

Hope to get moer done next weekend, but I am on a one day beginner's sewing machine course on the Sunday.

I have found having things raised up on metal tables etc helps with slugs. I may get another if it seems good (am yet to construct it.) I am wondering if I can make something like this for less money.

Hi Herbi. Hope you don't mind me asking, what are the measurements of that trug please. I like the look of it but have no concept of how big 30litres will be.

Thank you.

by **scullion** » April 10th, 2019, 9:46 pm

this is what it says further down the webpage -

Approxiamte dimensions: H79cm, W65cm, D40cm.

ps the spelling mistake is theirs not mine!

by **Herbidacious** » April 11th, 2019, 11:03 am

I guess what you want to know are the dimensions of the bit the compost/soil goes into. I am not sure if I can work this out before its constructed but will have a look at it tonight.

I have been very successfully growing peas in a deepish but terracotta trough. I envisaged it being of a similar size, but it might be bigger. Will let you know asap.

Meanwhile, I noticed this morning that two types of courgettes, two (?) types of chilli and some tomatoes are coming up in my propagator.

by **Herbidacious** » April 11th, 2019, 2:23 pm

I noticed that Thomson and Morgan do this one too:

https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/black ... ed/G2206TM

a lot cheaper. Bad reviews mainly about ease on construction. They have strange little pickets in them...!

Not sure how good any of these will be though. They are not that attractive, but that's not really the point. I am mainly trying to get things off the ground on metal legs to avoid slugs. There may be cheaper ways to do this.

by **Herbidacious** » April 11th, 2019, 2:25 pm

Hmm

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Planter-Vegeta ... filter-bar

by **Herbidacious** » April 11th, 2019, 2:27 pm

This is of some use - pot size to compost in volume converter

https://harvesttotable.com/container-an ... do-i-need/

by **Herbidacious** » April 13th, 2019, 1:59 pm

I would say it's about 29 cm deep (from top of container to bottom) 61cm wide.

16cm from back to front at bottom, 33cm at top from back to front..

I usually grow peas in the teracotta pot with the tulips in it:

The green pot to the right is a 30cm one.

I have not constructed it yet. I might have a go later today. Or tomorrow. Or ask husband...! quite keen to get some peas going.

by **slimpersoninside** » April 13th, 2019, 4:38 pm

Thanks for the info Herbi, I'd quite like a couple of these (I'll need to work out where to put them before broching the subject

).

Good luck putting it together :tu:

.

by **Herbidacious** » April 13th, 2019, 5:49 pm

Thanks. Hopefully it won't be too difficult. I am just very tired at the moment, so wary of doing things that require brain power

I am tempted to get another if it looks promising.

Also need to set up a new (internet) router...

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