God I love growing our own

[Garry R]

I just use a trowel. I believe one of my snails now holds the world altitude record for a gastropod.

James

How high do you reckon? Is that what's known as a snails space?

 

[JamezF]

How high do you reckon? Is that what's known as a snails space?

Quite possibly

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

I had a lot of aphids that I believe transferred from the lettuces to the tomatoes and peppers last year,

I once had a near total wipeout of my peppers that way
I now grow marigolds and basil in the poly tunnel...self seeds these days ...
It gets a bit rampant but it keeps all the nasties away and the bees get in for a feast

 

[Erichalfbee]

Not really grown by me but my 14 year old Vorwerk has just laid this.

 

[enrico]

Ouch! No other words for it

 

[pargyle]

I make my own seed compost from my own compost, vermiculite and leaf mould ... well seived down to a really fine level. It works but I find that I get weed seedlings coming up - and sometimes they are hard to tell apart from what I'm trying to grow and inevitably weed seeds seem to germinate quicker ....

So, I've decided I'm going to sterilise it ... I've been looking at videos (sad isn't it - watching compost videos on Youtube !).

I've picked up a 50cm x 30cm chafing pan with a lid on Gumtree which will sit nicely on the two burner portable electric hob I use for wax melting and recovery. From what I've learnt from the sad people who MAKE composting videos (which is even sadder than watchiing them) is that you just damp down the seived compost, heat it up in covered tray until it steams, give it a few minutes or until the temp is generally about 90 degrees C and let it cool. This apparently kills any fungus, bugs and renders any weed seeds infertile.

You can also do the same baking it in the oven or heating it with a microwave oven ... but I think using the ones in the kitchen would probably invoke instant divorce proceedings and my cost so far is £5 for the pan.

So ... that's my plan - does anyone else sterilise their seed compost ?

 

[Erichalfbee]

So ... that's my plan - does anyone else sterilise their seed compost ?

Seriously thought about this. Bought compost has produced some mighty weak seedlings on occasion.
I keep one compost bin entirely for kitchen waste but Stan throws weeds in it despite my entreating him not to. So blooming annoying. For a man who is a perfectionist in his workshop he's such a bodger anywhere else!

 

[pargyle]

Seriously thought about this. Bought compost has produced some mighty weak seedlings on occasion.
I keep one compost bin entirely for kitchen waste but Stan throws weeds in it despite my entreating him not to. So blooming annoying. For a man who is a perfectionist in his workshop he's such a bodger anywhere else!

The compost I've bought in store in recent years has been very bad.. I buy peat free but the seedlings have not flourished and in some cases actually died. I found they fare better on my own home made seed compost but its the weeds that are annoying.. hence my sterilisation plans. The best compost I've come across commercially sold is Levington M2 ... at £8.50 for 75 litres its not cheap but it looks as though it is not like the chain store stuff which seems to have bits of all sorts of waste in it... plastic, lumps of wood even bits of alloy foil and pieces of metal I've served out. I don't buy seed compost as it is a frightening price !

I'm hoping my plan for home made seed compost will work.

 

[fian]

The compost I've bought in store in recent years has been very bad.. I buy peat free but the seedlings have not flourished and in some cases actually died. I found they fare better on my own home made seed compost but its the weeds that are annoying.. hence my sterilisation plans. The best compost I've come across commercially sold is Levington M2 ... at £8.50 for 75 litres its not cheap but it looks as though it is not like the chain store stuff which seems to have bits of all sorts of waste in it... plastic, lumps of wood even bits of alloy foil and pieces of metal I've served out. I don't buy seed compost as it is a frightening price !

I'm hoping my plan for home made seed compost will work.

And why don't you make a solarization of your soil / fertilizer. It is true that it takes longer (30 to 45 days) but the cost is zero beyond preparing hermetic trays 10cm thick, which could even be used as seedbeds.

 

[pargyle]

And why don't you make a solarization of your soil / fertilizer. It is true that it takes longer (30 to 45 days) but the cost is zero beyond preparing hermetic trays 10cm thick, which could even be used as seedbeds.

In the UK ? We don't really get enough days of sunshine - even down here in the south of the country ...

 

[JamezF]

I suspect the reason that all sorts of plastic etc. are turning up in commercial composts are that they're incorporating more council green waste compost, in part to replace the peat.

I believe Charles Dowding has at least one video on his YouTube channel testing his own home-made seed compost against commercial ones. I imagine he'll give the recipe for his own, too. I suspect the content of his compost bins is somewhat different from the average domestic one though as he is running a fairly large operation (including a business) with a relatively high proportion of composted material that isn't grass clippings.

James

 

[fian]

In the UK ? We don't really get enough days of sunshine - even down here in the south of the country ...

It is true that solar radiation in the United Kingdom is less than in Spain, but since it is a small amount of reduced thickness, the necessary energy radius will be less. You can try as follows.

Get clear plastic cups filled with compost or soil. Drill a small hole in the bottom.
Arrange them on a tray slightly higher than the glasses.
Fill the tray with water until you notice the moist fertilizer in the cups (rising by capillarity).
Line the tray with greenhouse plastic (150 gauge thick).
Arrange the tray in a sunny location. Wait a month and do a test planting.

 

[Amari]

The compost I've bought in store in recent years has been very bad.. I buy peat free but the seedlings have not flourished and in some cases actually died. I found they fare better on my own home made seed compost but its the weeds that are annoying.. hence my sterilisation plans. The best compost I've come across commercially sold is Levington M2 ... at £8.50 for 75 litres its not cheap but it looks as though it is not like the chain store stuff which seems to have bits of all sorts of waste in it... plastic, lumps of wood even bits of alloy foil and pieces of metal I've served out. I don't buy seed compost as it is a frightening price !

I'm hoping my plan for home made seed compost will work.

Last year SWMBO germinated tomatoes and then pricked them out into pots of peat free but they just did not grow. This year she applied a liquid fertiliser and they're growing well.

 

[Erichalfbee]

So ... that's my plan

How are the worms, by the way?

 

[pargyle]

How are the worms, by the way?

My tiger worms are thriving... I've harvested many litres of worm pee which is very good fertiliser and they have made nearly a box full of wonderful worm compost... I've not harvested any of that yet as they are multiplying at a phenomenal rate at present so they need the space. Bloody sight easier to look after than the bees ... just dump kitchen waste on top if them every couple of days and drain off the worm pee... other than that they are left to get on with it !

 

[Erichalfbee]

First strawberries today.

 

[Goran]

First strawberries today.

Our kid started picking them some 10 days ago.. Now he is more into wild strawberries.. We also left some patches of wild strawberries for him at our property..

 

[enrico]

Second cucumber today. Early strawberries over in the greenhouse, first tub of early potatoes finished, ground beginning to crack with lack of rain but water table must still be reasonable as our 'withie pit ' still has water in . It is a ten foot deep pond where the willows used to be thrown in the winter to soak them before stripping the bark and weaving. We have the willows and wetlands centre just up the road where they still do loads of weaving. Made a fortune out of coffins during lockdown!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Made a fortune out of coffins during lockdown!

Aren't they expensive!
When I made my arrangements 4 years back even cardboard coffins weren't cheap. Couldn't find anybody to just take me away in a body bag

 

[enrico]

Aren't they expensive!
When I made my arrangements 4 years back even cardboard coffins weren't cheap. Couldn't find anybody to just take me away in a body bag

Yes, but they seem to be the green way of going!