Got another couple of courgettes from the greenhouse yesterday, and looks as if they will keep coming now. One male flower on the outside ones so far, and a couple of tiny squashes in the greenhouse so far. There is one small pepper as well, so I will leave it to grow a bit.
Shan
Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 9075 Location: South Wales
Posted: Wed Jul 17, 19 8:37 am Post subject:
My peppers are doing well.
The Aubergine plants are enormous but I think they are suffering from a bit of overwatering (I need to get the auto watering on separate lines because the peppers are getting too little & the tomatoes & aubergines are getting too much) as I noticed that one of the fruits had rotted. Now that I'm back, I can manually take over the watering.
I thought it might help to also thin out the Aubergine plants a bit to help increase ventilation?
three very bushy and vigorous tomato plants took a hank of sash cord,many sticks , trellis and mesh to tie them up into position
one tomato is two stemmed and 6 ft tall , it has assorted supports holding it to wire mesh on the wall
the carrots in a window sill trough upstairs are doing well, at a guess the first thinnings at little finger size are a couple of weeks away.
for small/salad carrots the upstairs trough thing does save a lot of bother with pests and diseases and so long as you use a pick small type 6 " of good loose stone free potting compost seems to suit them.
in the ground or even a container near ground level i uses to have a variety of vermin most places i have grown carrots
if everything is perfect carrots are easy but perfect is tricky unless it is created and a carrot bed is a nightmare of pests, diseases and soil conditioning.
unless you go down the agribusiness methods route, tub up is a decent chance of organic carrots from soil to pan in seconds.
pick em in the sun if poss
im not that keen on most carrot based foods but super fresh little ones are ace.
The Aubergine plants are enormous but I think they are suffering from a bit of overwatering (I need to get the auto watering on separate lines because the peppers are getting too little & the tomatoes & aubergines are getting too much) as I noticed that one of the fruits had rotted. Now that I'm back, I can manually take over the watering.
I thought it might help to also thin out the Aubergine plants a bit to help increase ventilation?
Take off some of the leaves to increase airflow
Shan
Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 9075 Location: South Wales
I don't seem to have a lot of luck with carrots. Have had to reseed the bed and a few of the new ones just starting. It is raining this morning, so that will help them.
I had to thin the chard the other day, as for once it is very enthusiastic. It is in a new raised bed with lots of compost and a good depth of soil, so rather better than the previous beds. The onions are doing well in similar conditions including a lot of rotted sawdust and again, the rain will do a lot of good.
Shan
Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 9075 Location: South Wales
Posted: Thu Jul 18, 19 8:05 am Post subject:
Well, I have a new problem. A Starling keeps getting into the greenhouse via the auto-opening windows and demolishing my tomatoes. I'm going to have to net over the top of the greenhouse; very annoying.
gregotyn
Joined: 24 Jun 2010 Posts: 2201 Location: Llanfyllin area
Posted: Thu Jul 18, 19 1:36 pm Post subject:
Get Mr Shan outside with the air gun-or is that illegal?
Shan
Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 9075 Location: South Wales
Posted: Thu Jul 18, 19 2:45 pm Post subject:
Well, I have just managed to catch it in the greenhouse and rid it of its head. Hopefully, it was only one Starling.
avian infestation is one valid defence but netting the windows might be nice
you are scary, cqb with vermin is no
something that might help is that birds pecking at tomatoes are often more interested in water than calories, i have reduced outdoor damage to nowt by always having a full bird bath
avian infestation is one valid defence but netting the windows might be nice
you are scary, cqb with vermin is no
something that might help is that birds pecking at tomatoes are often more interested in water than calories, i have reduced outdoor damage to nowt by always having a full bird bath
Plenty of water here. I think it might have been a single Starling that had a taste for tomatoes.... not anymore. I shouldn't mention it but the chicken ate the Starling's head.
ahh, the dirty 4 dozen ( and various other chooks )
meshing the vents with fly screen is good as it is a pretty good small pest barrier as well , however mesh will also exclude pollinators .
15 mm mesh will exclude most birds while allowing airflow and insect transit
if the windows auto open a low tech approach might be as simple as good gaffer tape and a bit of decent textile net on the side they move away from.
ie open out net on inside easy or the other way which can have access ( and perhaps pre hospital trauma life support ) issues
inside or beside outside i feel comfy , over makes me nervous with glass.
I would suggest mesh over the vents too if it reoccurs. My bedroom window when I was a child had wire mesh over it as a neighbours cat used to come in, and Mum was terrified of cats generally, and that one would suffocate me while I slept in particular. Strangely, I rather like cats.
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