Oh no Dove! I didn't see that before about the tomato and chilli. I didn't start mine until end Jul/beginning of Aug. I don't have a heated greenhouse - the closest thing I've got is a plastic culti-cave which I've never used before but I'm guessing that's no good?
Nope - they'll turn up their toes and snuff it ... sorry
Just put it down to experience - remember that the man who made no mistakes made nothing, and keep looking at this http://www.gardenersworld.com/what-to-do-now/week35/ - that way you'll do things at the right time next year.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Ah shucks, well there we have it. I was imagining feasting on my first home-grown veg in a few months time, how I'd pickle some of the huge chilli harvest, filling the fridge up with jars of the 4 different types of tongue-scorching delights I'd grown. And the tomatoes, how sweet and juicy they were going to be, with flavours as vibrant as their colours The best tomatoes I'd ever tasted no less! But no, not gonna happen. Ah well, looks like the Tesco veg section hasn't seen the last of me. lol
Thanks for the link I'll keep track of that for next year. I do have some carrots on the go though, will they be ok? Doesn't seem to mention them on the checklist page but I can see some wispy moustache-like shoots popping up over here.
Carrots should be ok - they're ok with cooler weather.
You might just be lucky if you have a sunny windowsill you could keep a couple of chilli plants on indoors for the winter, then they'll have a head start next year. Choose the two best looking plants - pot them up individually and keep them on a sunny windowsill indoors - only water them when they're dry.
Keep your eyes open for aphids/whitefly on them - I usually rub aphids off with my fingers or if whitefly attack indoor plants I put some Ecover washing up liquid in a bowl of lukewarm water, spread my fingers over the compost, turn the pot upside down and swoosh the plant (not the pot) about in the water and drown the whitefly.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Why don't you buy a secondhand book, or a cheap one from Amazon, about gardening? Then you will be fore-armed with knowledge for next year.
The reason ivy pops up in my garden where I don't want it is because I live in a woodland clearing and ivy grows in the woods. The birds eat the berries and drop the seeds in my garden.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
At least it's based on UK climate - I've found that beginners sometimes find second hand books on Amazon etc to be US based and that just makes for more confusion!
A bit like their cookery books with US measures!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Carrots should be ok - they're ok with cooler weather.
You might just be lucky if you have a sunny windowsill you could keep a couple of chilli plants on indoors for the winter, then they'll have a head start next year. Choose the two best looking plants - pot them up individually and keep them on a sunny windowsill indoors - only water them when they're dry.
Keep your eyes open for aphids/whitefly on them - I usually rub aphids off with my fingers or if whitefly attack indoor plants I put some Ecover washing up liquid in a bowl of lukewarm water, spread my fingers over the compost, turn the pot upside down and swoosh the plant (not the pot) about in the water and drown the whitefly.
Thanks for the info Dove, I'm going to try giving that a go. Interesting tip there about the Ecover washing up liquid and swooshing the plant around in that. It sounds almost like a bubble bath for the plant!
It's a shame about the tomatoes: I read this page and it mentioned Oct and Nov fruits for outdoor grown tomatoes in UK so I thought they'd be ok thru Aug/Sept and might produce the fruits early Oct but looks like my timing was way off.
^ It's the last point in "Duana's Top Tips" which says this:
If you get to October or November and still have fruits on your tomato plants that don’t look like they are going to ripen, harvest them all and make green tomato chutney.
Why don't you buy a secondhand book, or a cheap one from Amazon, about gardening? Then you will be fore-armed with knowledge for next year.
The reason ivy pops up in my garden where I don't want it is because I live in a woodland clearing and ivy grows in the woods. The birds eat the berries and drop the seeds in my garden.
Sounds like a good idea Busy-Lizzie, I might just have to do that. I've read lots of stuff online but I suppose a dedicated book would be a useful companion to have for the future.
I cut a thick ivy branch, about 30cm long, from a big patch which is growing around my hedge and stuck into a pot of compost with tomato feed. Doesn't seem to be growing though so I may have to cut the leaves and do it that way. It's strange because different videos I've seen say different things - some say that you can just bung any old cutting into a pot and roots will start forming - other videos say it needs to be cut from a leaf stem and potted.Maybe I need to track down some of your birds and coax them into dropping seeds into a pot.. lol
At least it's based on UK climate - I've found that beginners sometimes find second hand books on Amazon etc to be US based and that just makes for more confusion!
A bit like their cookery books with US measures!
Cheers for the link Dove, I think I'm going to order that today
Thick long branches won't work as cuttings. You need small thin pieces of new growth with a growing tip on them, cut just below a leaf node. Don't feed until after they have taken. It may work just by putting the shoots in a glass of water. Then pot into compost when roots appear.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Posts
Oh no Dove!
I didn't see that before about the tomato and chilli. I didn't start mine until end Jul/beginning of Aug. I don't have a heated greenhouse - the closest thing I've got is a plastic culti-cave which I've never used before but I'm guessing that's no good?
(image from Google)
Nope - they'll turn up their toes and snuff it ... sorry
Just put it down to experience - remember that the man who made no mistakes made nothing, and keep looking at this http://www.gardenersworld.com/what-to-do-now/week35/ - that way you'll do things at the right time next year.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Ah shucks, well there we have it. I was imagining feasting on my first home-grown veg in a few months time, how I'd pickle some of the huge chilli harvest, filling the fridge up with jars of the 4 different types of tongue-scorching delights I'd grown. And the tomatoes, how sweet and juicy they were going to be, with flavours as vibrant as their colours The best tomatoes I'd ever tasted no less! But no, not gonna happen. Ah well, looks like the Tesco veg section hasn't seen the last of me. lol
Thanks for the link I'll keep track of that for next year. I do have some carrots on the go though, will they be ok? Doesn't seem to mention them on the checklist page but I can see some wispy moustache-like shoots popping up over here.
Carrots should be ok - they're ok with cooler weather.
You might just be lucky if you have a sunny windowsill you could keep a couple of chilli plants on indoors for the winter, then they'll have a head start next year. Choose the two best looking plants - pot them up individually and keep them on a sunny windowsill indoors - only water them when they're dry.
Keep your eyes open for aphids/whitefly on them - I usually rub aphids off with my fingers or if whitefly attack indoor plants I put some Ecover washing up liquid in a bowl of lukewarm water, spread my fingers over the compost, turn the pot upside down and swoosh the plant (not the pot) about in the water and drown the whitefly.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Why don't you buy a secondhand book, or a cheap one from Amazon, about gardening? Then you will be fore-armed with knowledge for next year.
The reason ivy pops up in my garden where I don't want it is because I live in a woodland clearing and ivy grows in the woods. The birds eat the berries and drop the seeds in my garden.
Good idea BL - this one would provide all the basics
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/the-gardeners-year/author/alan-titchmarsh/?cm_mmc=ggl-_-UK-DSA_GOOGLE-_-SRP-_-_inurl:/book-search
At least it's based on UK climate - I've found that beginners sometimes find second hand books on Amazon etc to be US based and that just makes for more confusion!
A bit like their cookery books with US measures!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks for the info Dove, I'm going to try giving that a go. Interesting tip there about the Ecover washing up liquid and swooshing the plant around in that. It sounds almost like a bubble bath for the plant!
It's a shame about the tomatoes: I read this page and it mentioned Oct and Nov fruits for outdoor grown tomatoes in UK so I thought they'd be ok thru Aug/Sept and might produce the fruits early Oct but looks like my timing was way off.
https://www.edenproject.com/learn/for-everyone/how-to-grow-tomatoes-without-a-greenhouse
^ It's the last point in "Duana's Top Tips" which says this:
Sounds like a good idea Busy-Lizzie, I might just have to do that. I've read lots of stuff online but I suppose a dedicated book would be a useful companion to have for the future.
I cut a thick ivy branch, about 30cm long, from a big patch which is growing around my hedge and stuck into a pot of compost with tomato feed. Doesn't seem to be growing though so I may have to cut the leaves and do it that way. It's strange because different videos I've seen say different things - some say that you can just bung any old cutting into a pot and roots will start forming - other videos say it needs to be cut from a leaf stem and potted.Maybe I need to track down some of your birds and coax them into dropping seeds into a pot.. lol
Cheers for the link Dove, I think I'm going to order that today
Thick long branches won't work as cuttings. You need small thin pieces of new growth with a growing tip on them, cut just below a leaf node. Don't feed until after they have taken. It may work just by putting the shoots in a glass of water. Then pot into compost when roots appear.