Plans for planting

[JamezF]

Sounds like a good plan, what do you make from your gooseberries? Have you ever thought of putting a hive at your allotment?

It's actually my home rather than an allotment, so I already have hives here

James

 

[Nannysbees]

It's actually my home rather than an allotment, so I already have hives here

James

Great having them near isn't it

 

[JamezF]

Great having them near isn't it

It is, though I also have a few hives at a farm perhaps a mile and a half away. It's actually a better site than mine in terms of the weather, being on a sheltered south-facing slope, and quite possibly has better access to forage, but there's no room for any more. It's quite cramped already.

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

They need space to ramble and good sun but store brilliantly. We’re still eating butternut squash harvested last September.

Yes I’ve just eaten my last one.

 

[E&MBees]

Has anyone used soil blockers? I was wondering about them as an alternative to using the flimsy plastic module seed trays.

 

[JamezF]

Planted out radishes and peas for shoots in the polytunnel today. It was far too miserable to spend much time in the open air. I did take this photo of the plot though, looking a bit sorry for itself as it slowly empties...

James

 

[JamezF]

Has anyone used soil blockers? I was wondering about them as an alternative to using the flimsy plastic module seed trays.

I thought we'd mentioned them earlier in this thread, but for the moment I can't find the messages so perhaps I imagined it.

I really like the idea of using them. It's just the practicality of making them in the numbers I'd want. This is one side of my propagation greenhouse at the moment:

There's not quite so much on the other side yet. Maybe only ten trays. But then there are another twenty trays in propagators too. Each of the trays is 20 cells, so that's somewhere in the region of 1200 cells, plus perhaps thirty larger ones for the broad beans. I actually emptied three trays today, transplanting radish and peas, but immediately refilled them with flowers that my wife wants for the beds in the garden. That's an awful lot of blocks to make and I'll need far more before the year is out

In the meantime I've tried to make my trays less prone to breaking by punching a 16mm-ish hole in the bottom of each cell. The compost doesn't fall out, but it means I can (just about) push the plant out of the cell from underneath without crushing the plastic, which makes them vaguely like these, but cheaper and more suited to the size of my fingers. Punching the holes out is another very tedious job, mind

Perhaps I need to invent a soil block making machine

James

 

[JamezF]

Found it! Starting at post 87

James

 

[E&MBees]

Found it! Starting at post 87

James

Ok. I understood the pellets to refer to the ones that you can buy which are held together in a ‘fleece’ wrapper. They expand when soaked in water and the seed is then added.

I was thinking of these:

 

[E&MBees]

I thought we'd mentioned them earlier in this thread, but for the moment I can't find the messages so perhaps I imagined it.

I really like the idea of using them. It's just the practicality of making them in the numbers I'd want. This is one side of my propagation greenhouse at the moment:

There's not quite so much on the other side yet. Maybe only ten trays. But then there are another twenty trays in propagators too. Each of the trays is 20 cells, so that's somewhere in the region of 1200 cells, plus perhaps thirty larger ones for the broad beans. I actually emptied three trays today, transplanting radish and peas, but immediately refilled them with flowers that my wife wants for the beds in the garden. That's an awful lot of blocks to make and I'll need far more before the year is out

In the meantime I've tried to make my trays less prone to breaking by punching a 16mm-ish hole in the bottom of each cell. The compost doesn't fall out, but it means I can (just about) push the plant out of the cell from underneath without crushing the plastic, which makes them vaguely like these, but cheaper and more suited to the size of my fingers. Punching the holes out is another very tedious job, mind

Perhaps I need to invent a soil block making machine

James

How big is your greenhouse? Not that I’m envious!

 

[JamezF]

How big is your greenhouse? Not that I’m envious!

It's 12'x8' if I recall correctly.

James

 

[enrico]

Tomatoes, peppers and chillies and aubergines growing strongly in pots under growlights ready for greenhouse when frost's gone. Peas all out. Broad beans in flower. First early potatoes in pots in greenhouse. Not growing Mellon's this year. Saved our own sweet potatoes from last year and have four that should make ok plants.
Cherry plumb in full flower, always gives us loads of fruit. Quince trees just coming into leaf. Our sechuan pepper has survived the winter. Gave us more peppers than we can use last year and got some nice seedlings coming through.( Vicious thorns!) All onions and garlic growing.
Still eating squash. Just finished last of last year's sweet potatoes and main crop potatoes, loads of onions and garlic still left. Eating fresh cabbage, water cress.
Going to be a good year I hope!

 

[JamezF]

I was thinking of these:

Yes, we did touch on those as well, in particular DIY methods for producing them as far as I recall. Unfortunately lots of the people who have created videos or posted designs for DIY systems appear either not to sow a lot of seeds, or to have an awful lot of time on their hands

James

 

[JamezF]

Just found this clip from Gardeners' World. Seems like a lot of faff with the mixture though.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p068y4ps
James

 

[Moobee]

Has anyone used soil blockers? I was wondering about them as an alternative to using the flimsy plastic module seed trays.

I’ve been collecting loo roll middles since last autumn so planning to try these this year.

 

[E&MBees]

I’ve been collecting loo roll middles since last autumn so planning to try this this year.

I’ve got a newspaper pot maker which works well. The school that I work with in the garden have made their own pot maker using sections of wooden rolling pin to mould the paper round. Apparently it works really well.

 

[bwlchgwyn]

It's 12'x8' if I recall correctly.

James

I am envious James mines only half that size. Do you heat it?

 

[Nannysbees]

Tomatoes, peppers and chillies and aubergines growing strongly in pots under growlights ready for greenhouse when frost's gone. Peas all out. Broad beans in flower. First early potatoes in pots in greenhouse. Not growing Mellon's this year. Saved our own sweet potatoes from last year and have four that should make ok plants.
Cherry plumb in full flower, always gives us loads of fruit. Quince trees just coming into leaf. Our sechuan pepper has survived the winter. Gave us more peppers than we can use last year and got some nice seedlings coming through.( Vicious thorns!) All onions and garlic growing.
Still eating squash. Just finished last of last year's sweet potatoes and main crop potatoes, loads of onions and garlic still left. Eating fresh cabbage, water cress.
Going to be a good year I hope!

Wow!!!!! That is amazing

 

[Nannysbees]

Planted out radishes and peas for shoots in the polytunnel today. It was far too miserable to spend much time in the open air. I did take this photo of the plot though, looking a bit sorry for itself as it slowly empties...

James

With the amount of seeds you have sown give it a few weeks and that area will be transformed with produce

 

[Nannysbees]

Have been making these over the past few weeks, very successful last year. Have six boxes of them hopefully will be enough. A box of my flowers will be given to my parents,93 year old aunty and a box to my mother in law. That's hours of pricking out and transplanting. Already started on the marigolds yesterday!!! Hope they haven't shot up too early but they have their true leaves and looking strong so it's in the lap of the gods