God I love growing our own

[rossbyjove]

Nor mine. Well, not other than sycamore seedlings, anyhow.

James

Actually just noticed some of the purple pacifica have stucke their heads out.

 

[rossbyjove]

I made the mistake of putting in three year old crowns and harvested the following spring ...lost the lot - they really are a long term project and need time to establish. Mine were not helped by bindweed getting into the bed and my efforts to get rid of it did not do them any favours - the crowns don't respond well to being disturbed. I'd like to try again as it's such a treat for a few weeks but ....I'm not sure I've got enough patience to wait.

I have a fairly large bed , one green colonard and the other purple pacifica.
They seem to have crossed and I have one plant that produces seed.
Sold a load of plants at a car boot sale. Had to put a fence around them last week to keep the chickens off !

 

[rossbyjove]

When does Asparagus usually appear? I planted about 6 plants I grew from seed last year. I see one where the spear has broken the surface but none of the others. I thought they were on the earlier side and had all but given up hope.

Do resist the temptation to eat some this year......

 

[Murox]

When does Asparagus usually appear? I planted about 6 plants I grew from seed last year. I see one where the spear has broken the surface but none of the others. I thought they were on the earlier side and had all but given up hope.

Anytime soon if your soil is right. If you planted crowns they would take 2-3 years before you should start taking them, from seed I would add another year to that timescale. Patience is an essential ingredient.

 

[rossbyjove]

From seed? Well done.
I bought three year old crowns and even then didn’t harvest till third year.

I actually have one plant that gives seeds.
I have had asparagus sprouting all over the place.
Put them in pots and sell what I don't plant on.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes I have red berries in the autumn and seedlings sprouting up all over the place. Never thought of growing them on! The bees love the flowers and the pollen is bright orange

 

[enrico]

Yes I have red berries in the autumn and seedlings sprouting up all over the place. Never thought of growing them on! The bees love the flowers and the pollen is bright orange

All mine are male! Get loads of flowers but no berries

 

[Erichalfbee]

All mine are male! Get loads of flowers but no berries

Ah yes. Not all of mine produce berries.

 

[JamezF]

I think I saw berries on one asparagus plant last year. I vaguely recall reading that it's considered better to have male plants because they tend to produce thicker shoots or something like that.

I'm struggling to keep up with the plants that need planting out at the moment, mostly because the weather is so variable. I've got peas growing under fleece and more ready to go in, but high winds are forecast for the next few days so I don't really want to expose them to that. Other plants are going in though. I now have all my first and second early potatoes planted as well as lots of calabrese, romanesco cauliflowers and summer cabbages. I noticed earlier today that my pickling onions are just starting to sprout and the early carrots have germinated. No sign of the parsnips yet however.

We're right down to the end of the winter brassicas and many of the salad leaves in the greenhouse and polytunnel are producing flower buds. Of the latter it's really only the true lettuces that are left now. The PSB has been fantastic though. Every time I have thought "That's pretty much over then" it has produced another flush of buds and in fact we'll be eating some this evening. Clearing away the non-productive plants combined with mowing the grass for the first time has really started filling up the current compost bin and it's generating some decent heat now. I put the thermometer in yesterday:

Last job of the Easter weekend is going to be clearing away the remaining leeks I think. My onions are at the point of needing to go into the ground and I don't want the rust that's appearing on the leeks to transfer over to the onion seedlings. Fortunately we have family visiting tomorrow who will take quite a few and my in-laws will have some as well.

James

 

[rossbyjove]

I think I saw berries on one asparagus plant last year. I vaguely recall reading that it's considered better to have male plants because they tend to produce thicker shoots or something like that.

I'm struggling to keep up with the plants that need planting out at the moment, mostly because the weather is so variable. I've got peas growing under fleece and more ready to go in, but high winds are forecast for the next few days so I don't really want to expose them to that. Other plants are going in though. I now have all my first and second early potatoes planted as well as lots of calabrese, romanesco cauliflowers and summer cabbages. I noticed earlier today that my pickling onions are just starting to sprout and the early carrots have germinated. No sign of the parsnips yet however.

We're right down to the end of the winter brassicas and many of the salad leaves in the greenhouse and polytunnel are producing flower buds. Of the latter it's really only the true lettuces that are left now. The PSB has been fantastic though. Every time I have thought "That's pretty much over then" it has produced another flush of buds and in fact we'll be eating some this evening. Clearing away the non-productive plants combined with mowing the grass for the first time has really started filling up the current compost bin and it's generating some decent heat now. I put the thermometer in yesterday:

Last job of the Easter weekend is going to be clearing away the remaining leeks I think. My onions are at the point of needing to go into the ground and I don't want the rust that's appearing on the leeks to transfer over to the onion seedlings. Fortunately we have family visiting tomorrow who will take quite a few and my in-laws will have some as well.

James

The greenhouse is groaning under the weight of all the stuff waiting to go out.
GB 'news' said we would be dying of heatstroke this easter holiday.
Can we sue them for BS ?

 

[JamezF]

Had an unexpected yet nonetheless welcome delivery late today. A friend turned up on his tractor with a couple of tonnes of horse manure. The tractor is an old Massey Ferguson 35, so no cab or any other driver comforts, and just as he left we had a torrential rain shower.

I'll probably move the manure into one of my compost bays and it can just sit there until the winter.

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

GB 'news' said we would be dying of heatstroke this easter holiday.

luckily noone in their right minds would watch that squalid channel - let alone believe anything it says

 

[enrico]

Had an unexpected yet nonetheless welcome delivery late today. A friend turned up on his tractor with a couple of tonnes of horse manure. The tractor is an old Massey Ferguson 35, so no cab or any other driver comforts, and just as he left we had a torrential rain shower.

I'll probably move the manure into one of my compost bays and it can just sit there until the winter.

James

Best stuff. We can have as much as we like from a local person. He delivers a trailer load once or twice a year with a similar old tractor! I always give him a jar of honey, or fresh asparagus! Always needs to rot for 12 months to kill the weed seeds!

 

[rossbyjove]

luckily noone in their right minds would watch that squalid channel - let alone believe anything it says

It shows up on my MSN hotmail page as does the "You will die from (insert anything here) from the Express.
There is no news any more......
















2

 

[Curly green finger's]

Don’t you just love to see a bit of a root from a perennial separated from the parent plant growing

 

[JamezF]

Don’t you just love to see a bit of a root from a perennial separated from the parent plant growing

As long as it's not couch grass or bindweed

James

 

[Curly green finger's]

As long as it's not couch grass or bindweed

James

Aye I know what you mean perfect time of year to split perennials I’ve also got 300 perennial plugs coming for the stall.
Should keep the guys busy
Have you ever grown onions through polythene before , I’ve cut squares out , I’m using it to stop the weeds all in the tunnel I couldn’t do it outside it would get blown away

 

[JamezF]

Had a bit of a tomato day today. I transplanted everything that I sowed in modules into 4" pots as I'm not ready for them to go into the polytunnel yet.

Then I moved all of the plants that I grew from cuttings last Autumn into the greenhouse from the bay window in the house where they've been ever since. Six out of thirty-two didn't make it through the winter, but the rest were mostly doing well. All had flowers and some even had fruit! They were all very spindly though: at least two feet tall with stems about ¼" diameter.

As these plants were all a bit of an experiment anyhow, I've decided to continue with it. I cut the tops off all of the plants and put them in jars of water, then cut the stems into sections from above a leaf axil with a shoot to just below another leaf axil. Stripped off most of the leaves and put them in water too. I'm hoping that at least some will root. The lowest section of stem I left in the pots, trimmed down to just above another leaf axil with a shoot, so hopefully they'll start growing again.

The reason for this experiment is largely so I don't have to buy seed for F1 tomato plants, which seems to be getting stupendously expensive. In the main I'm growing non-F1 varieties, but there's one F1 that I really like. So here's your bonus plant biology question:

If an F1 plant self pollinates (as tomatoes do), does the seed thus produced come true to the parent plant, and if not, why not? I can see why it doesn't work for F1 plants that pollinate each other, but why it might not work when there's only one set of genes to work with and they're the ones for the plant you want, I'm really not sure.

James

 

[fian]

In genetics there are 3 phenomena that condition expression or phenotype.
1. The relationship between the allelic variants of the same gene (complete dominance, incomplete dominance, codominance and recessive)
2. Epistasis or when the manifestation of a gene is conditioned by the allelic varieties of another gene.
3. The effect of methylation of nitrogenous bases due to environmental conditions (epigenetics).

 

[JamezF]

More seed sowing today -- cucumbers, courgettes, sweetcorn and leeks mostly. The greenhouse is now absolutely rammed full. Getting some more stuff planted out to free up room is now a priority. Early brassicas and onions really need to be in the ground now I think.

My father-in-law did some mowing yesterday, so I added the clippings to the compost heap mixed with some semi-composted woodchip to balance out the green/brown ratio. This morning the temperature was up to 72°C! I reckon we should try baking potatoes in it

I also saw my first asparagus shoot today. This is their second season, so I might allow us enough of a picking for one meal before we let them get on with growing.

James