...getting hold of some eating grapes to grow would be wonderful, as my little one costs me a small fortune with them....decorative is an option
Buying grapes from your supermarket is likely to be far more economical than trying to grow your own. The decorative option is more realistic. Vitis coignetiae is a vine-like plant, often offered in GCs. I have one. It sometimes has clusters of tiny grapes on it, but mine have never reached anything like maturity.
Hope you saw Monty's feature on carrots last night. He was telling it as it is - often a complete failure. Best to get your food from a supermarket, and grow veggies, or vines, just for fun.
Will be visiting my local Wyevale this morning too, shortly.
Just returned from my early-morning visit to Wyevale. These comments may not apply to all branches...
At this time of year GCs are often almost empty of plants, but all the display tables were fully stocked.
There didn't seem to be much cheap bedding. Strawberries were half-price (75p), and looked almost past their sell-by date. I noticed large tomato plants, with fruit on them, half-price, at £7.
Most of the plant stock was not reduced, so normal prices, around £7.
The seed sale is 50%, for selected lines only. I think that may include most vegeatables. I was looking for some seeds, but they didn't have what I wanted. I think it's an end of season clearance sale.
Right at the back is an area with remnant plants. They had a lot of sad-looking sunflowers, in yellow pots, for £1. They should be recoverable.
One curious item that did catch my eye - a chicken run, £340 - basically just a wire enclosure, and a wooden box for chucky to sleep in. It also had a plastic chicken inside - to give you the idea. Not sure if the plastic chucky comes with the set.
There weren't many people there. Maybe numbers will increase later.
I only just saw the end of last nights programme, where they were looking at geraniums and the potato test by Monty, but Jess wanted to see how big her carrots were today, so she pulled one! They are only 9 weeks old, but she thinks because they are bushy on top, they're ready! Hmm, bit longer to go yet Jess!
But I'm still waiting on word from my eldest daughter before I can go to Wyevale. Typical teenager. (Lives with her Dad. Only comes to Mums on the weekend if nothing better to do)
Yes, but a lot of those cheap seeds will be T&M and I have never had much success with the germination of their seeds. Even their vegetables where there are statutory germination rates; their seeds certainly come out expensive even when cut-price.
Not biased of course, but Jess gets my vote as the next presenter of Gardeners' World.....and oh Gawd, did anyone see him planting those leeks last night?
Carrots usually take about two and half months to grow from seed to maturity, so our Jess is on the money IMHO.
PS, Tip for Jess. To avoid pulling those carrots before they're ready, just gently scrape away a little soil from where the stems meet the top of the carrot and you'll be able to see the girth of them and know when they are ready for pulling..
Thanks for the tip David! Although I knew they weren't ready, but every morning when we go out, she ruffles her carrots 'hair' and says 'Are they ready now?', so I let her pull one to prove they weren't!
Never got to Wyevale due to visitors Probably best not going now. All the good stuff probably gone. No chance of getting there today.
Does GW come up in the iplayer, catch up thing? I want to see Montys carrots! LOL
Posts
Buying grapes from your supermarket is likely to be far more economical than trying to grow your own. The decorative option is more realistic. Vitis coignetiae is a vine-like plant, often offered in GCs. I have one. It sometimes has clusters of tiny grapes on it, but mine have never reached anything like maturity.
Hope you saw Monty's feature on carrots last night. He was telling it as it is - often a complete failure. Best to get your food from a supermarket, and grow veggies, or vines, just for fun.
Will be visiting my local Wyevale this morning too, shortly.
Just returned from my early-morning visit to Wyevale. These comments may not apply to all branches...
At this time of year GCs are often almost empty of plants, but all the display tables were fully stocked.
There didn't seem to be much cheap bedding. Strawberries were half-price (75p), and looked almost past their sell-by date. I noticed large tomato plants, with fruit on them, half-price, at £7.
Most of the plant stock was not reduced, so normal prices, around £7.
The seed sale is 50%, for selected lines only. I think that may include most vegeatables. I was looking for some seeds, but they didn't have what I wanted. I think it's an end of season clearance sale.
Right at the back is an area with remnant plants. They had a lot of sad-looking sunflowers, in yellow pots, for £1. They should be recoverable.
One curious item that did catch my eye - a chicken run, £340 - basically just a wire enclosure, and a wooden box for chucky to sleep in. It also had a plastic chicken inside - to give you the idea. Not sure if the plastic chucky comes with the set.
There weren't many people there. Maybe numbers will increase later.
I only just saw the end of last nights programme, where they were looking at geraniums and the potato test by Monty, but Jess wanted to see how big her carrots were today, so she pulled one! They are only 9 weeks old, but she thinks because they are bushy on top, they're ready! Hmm, bit longer to go yet Jess!
But I'm still waiting on word from my eldest daughter before I can go to Wyevale. Typical teenager. (Lives with her Dad. Only comes to Mums on the weekend if nothing better to do)
Jess will be very pleased to know that her carrots are bigger than Monty's!
Yes, but a lot of those cheap seeds will be T&M and I have never had much success with the germination of their seeds. Even their vegetables where there are statutory germination rates; their seeds certainly come out expensive even when cut-price.
Not biased of course, but Jess gets my vote as the next presenter of Gardeners' World.....and oh Gawd, did anyone see him planting those leeks last night?
Carrots usually take about two and half months to grow from seed to maturity, so our Jess is on the money IMHO.
PS, Tip for Jess. To avoid pulling those carrots before they're ready, just gently scrape away a little soil from where the stems meet the top of the carrot and you'll be able to see the girth of them and know when they are ready for pulling..
Thanks for the tip David! Although I knew they weren't ready, but every morning when we go out, she ruffles her carrots 'hair' and says 'Are they ready now?', so I let her pull one to prove they weren't!
Never got to Wyevale due to visitors
Probably best not going now. All the good stuff probably gone. No chance of getting there today.
Does GW come up in the iplayer, catch up thing? I want to see Montys carrots! LOL
It's here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01l44r8/Gardeners_World_2012_2013_Episode_15/
To see the carrot disaster, move the cursor to 13 minutes, 30 secs.
Just before that, Rachel dT's very unhappy non-flowering dahlias are at 10.40.
Excellent! Thankyou Gary!
I think it's good of Monty (and Rdt) to show scenes like that. It makes the viewers realise that they are not alone when things don't work.