Thursday - with my rickety hot/ greenhouse still standing I decided it was time to plant out the sweet peppers and aubergines in their new home. Gave one of the aubergines to my neighbour with the strict instructions not to actually grow an aubergine if I didn't succeed :) I interplanted them with french marigolds to repel greenfly, a red curly basil, pot marigolds and coriander.I also planted out the two cucumber plants and sowed two more seeds in situ. The plants weren't properly hardened off and I have been wrapping them in a fleece blanket each night but they are beginning to show signs of cold damage. I hope they pull through and that the seeds germinate, might even sow a couple more in the greenhouse as back up.
And now there is more space emerging in the greenhouse I ha
ve finally potted on my ochroes and moved them into the greenhouse (ignore the mess I'll sort it out, I promise). They were potted into a mixture of compost, rotted rabbit droppings and bedding with a generous dose of blood fish and bones. Then today I remembered I had a special mixture of rotted rabbit droppings and bedding rotting down further with some lawn clippings which I was to use to pot up the ochro, duh, haven't really got anywhere else to use it so it will have to be thrown back on the compost heap.
ve finally potted on my ochroes and moved them into the greenhouse (ignore the mess I'll sort it out, I promise). They were potted into a mixture of compost, rotted rabbit droppings and bedding with a generous dose of blood fish and bones. Then today I remembered I had a special mixture of rotted rabbit droppings and bedding rotting down further with some lawn clippings which I was to use to pot up the ochro, duh, haven't really got anywhere else to use it so it will have to be thrown back on the compost heap.Friday was a dud day - zilch in the garden done.
Saturday (today) - I walked into my greenhouse and the ochro was sulking even though I was mindful to open the door before the sun became to intense. The plants were visibly suffering from the heat in the greenhouse so I pulled my finger out and sewed together the two net curtains I purchased in a charity house approx two weeks ago, leaving a gap for the window to go through which will allow me to open it easily. Then I draped it over the house and what a difference it has made, in the autumn it will simply go in the wash.When that was done I sorted out any watering that needed doing and then cracked on with planting out or potting on of plants. So the remainder of annual salvia were planted out among the three brassicus beds. I also planted some borage and pot marigolds in and around the beans bed and pot marigold at the edge of the globe artichoke bed and brassicus bed.
I really hope vege plot should look pretty this year as I really stuck to my plan to get lots of flowers into and around the beds. I have also left most of the selfsown poppies, calendulas, nigella, fever few and others to just get on and do what they do best, that is look pretty.
The young globe artichoke plant was planted out in its final position. I prepared the soil wit
h more rotted rabbit dropping and bedding with a another generous helping of BFB (really wish I had remembered about the forgotten bagged stuff) anyway hope it grows away beautifully.
h more rotted rabbit dropping and bedding with a another generous helping of BFB (really wish I had remembered about the forgotten bagged stuff) anyway hope it grows away beautifully.
At the edge of one of the beds which has perpetual spinach, chard, lettuce and spring onions already in it, I planted the five young red orach plants that grew from the ten seeds I sowed. These plants selfseed really well I'm told so I want them to do so into the brick path where in the future I could leave them to grow in the corners to look pretty as well as to have lazy grown food :)Some coriander seedlings were also planted out into the corner of the tomato bed, again to encourage the seeds to fall into the brick footpath for easy/ lazy growing of the herb.
The sweetcorn experiment is off to a flying start with two seedlings emerging hopeful 
more will appear soon.
more will appear soon.In between all the planting I got some weeding done and potted up the last of the brassicus seedlings which I'll plant out either tomorrow or Monday and I gave my surplus plants to my neighbour.
All in all got most things I wanted to do done and enjoyed being outdoors in the lovely sunny weather.
Take a look at what started to bloom today and the bees have already found it but I wasn't fast enough with the camera.
The concept of planting vegetables with complimentary plants that repel certain pests was a concept completely new to me until I read Bob Purnell's excellent book, 'Crops in Pots'. Needless to say, the space on my balcony is extremely limited - any suggestions for tiny pots that could have a positive effect?
ReplyDeleteCal
Hi Callum,
ReplyDeleteHow about dwarf french marigolds with your tomatoes they are said to repel greenfly and would easily fit in the space of the growbags at the base of the pots (or you could cut out new holes for them at the corners and along the edge), they can be got quite cheaply normally in a tray of 10+ in some supermarkets and at your local garden centre.
And how about a dwarf nasturtium with the beans, its said they help to entice the blackfly away from the crop onto themselves.
Both of these flowers should also encourage beneficial insects such as hoverflies which in turn will lay their eggs which will hatch out into hungry aphid eating larva.
Parsley and basil also likes to grow next to one another and tomatoes, no need to plant them into the grow bag but you could place their pots close to the tomatoes (parsley also do well with beans)
A couple sweetpea plants with the beans would also bring in more pollinators so hopefully giving you more beans and you have the added bonus of a great smelling balcony.
Oh I just remembered you are growing carrots too, well how about sprinkling some spring onion seeds into any bare patches before your next watering session. They are suppose to deter carrot root fly but in all honesty I don't see that being a problem for you at the height your gardening ;)
Just remember if you do add more plants to your dedicated food growing pots you'll need to up the amount of feed and most likely water to ensure they all do well.
Hope these give you some ideas you can use.
You've been busy Kella. I've never been very successful with aubergines myself, but the one I am growing this year is coming on a treat. It's now in it's final growing container and has been put into the greenhouse. It's looking really healthy so I'm hoping that it does fruit for me this year.
ReplyDeleteHi Jo, well I'll be sending you the same good growing vibes I'm wising for myself. The best I have ever managed was one small one the size of my thumb about five years ago. They always flower well for me but never set any fruit.
ReplyDeleteHere's to a bumper harvest of aubergines for both of us :)
Kella,Having read yours and JO's comments to each other I just thought I would tell you that the allotment garden in RHS 'Wisley' had the most amazing aubergines growing outside last year. I asked the gardener there if that's what I had been doing wrong (keeping mine in the greenhouse!) and he said that theirs were kept and bought on in the greenhouse and then went outside around the middle of June. So I am going to do that this year and see what happens. They had them planted into the beds rather than standing outside in pots, so I'll try that as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info Maureen, I have always grown them outside but with no actual success. Mind you I grow lovely flowering plants but just no fruit :( and I’m in Kent.
ReplyDeleteI transplanted mine a little bit earlier this year as they weather has been so much warmer but would normally wait till June. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, maybe they need more feeding, I just don't know.
Which is why I decided to through some plastic around them this year, hopefully I’ll have some success this time.