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Post by derekbrooks on Mar 27, 2011 22:15:36 GMT
Heather and my grandsons went home to Wales this evening.Alex was a good help to me yesterday in the garden.There is a saying that if you want to know anything about computers,ask your grandson.He gave me a lesson last night and showed me several things that I didn't know how to do. Forgot to mention yesterday that I decided to take another 30 spray chrysanth cuttings which will definately be the last. Put the boxes of stools outside. Also took 15 dahlia cuttings.These may be the last too as I have taken 295.If I do take any more it will just be of varieties that I am short of as I did yesterday when I could have taken a lot more. This afternoon I have done the first stopping of chrysanths.The stopping date largely determines when the flowers will be ready.Two of the shows I enter are in August which is rather early for chrysanths so they have to be stopped early. For a plant to be stopped it needs to be at least 4 or 5 inches tall which is why I start taking cuttings as early as January. I have also been going through plants in the greenhouses that are still in small pots to see if they need potting on.Hardly any of the fuchsia cuttings taken last autumn have survived so I am really short of fuchsias.The few that were O.K.I took a few cuttings off to increase the stock. Last autumn I took a lot of cuttings from some dianthus that Thompson and Morgan sent me.They have over wintered in small yoghurt cups and have survived O.K.so I potted them into 4 inch pots and put them outside.Cuttings of angel pelargoniums have also survived well in yoghurt pots and I potted these up into 4 inch.
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Post by derekbrooks on Mar 29, 2011 21:04:03 GMT
Had a morning on the allotment and finished forking over the last veg plot so all the digging there is finished .There were a few weeds on the paths between the veg beds and I got rid of these. This afternoon I have mowed the lawns for the first time and forked over the herbaceous border.Spent the rest of the time emptying pots with dead plants in which I had sorted out from the greenhouses. I am now going to start pricking out my annuals.I have got some boxes ready and I am going to start with asters.
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Post by derekbrooks on Mar 30, 2011 21:03:05 GMT
Was in the greenhouses most of the day.Took the last 12 dahlia cuttings then removed the boxes of tubers from the heating benches .I need the room for other things now and I have taken 307 so that should be plenty.I decided that I didn,t need the home made propagator any more.There were just some begonia and gloxinia tubers and achimenes in there.Most of the begonias and gloxinias were growing so I potted these up.None of the achimenes are growing which I am disappointed about but I put them on one of the propagators where the dahlias had been hoping that some might grow.When this propagator is not in use I put a sheet of asbestos on top on which I can stand plants which gives me more room. Only 3 surfinias have survived from last year but I took some cuttings off them and I also took a few more fuchsia cuttings. As I have been sorting plants in the greenhouses and discarding some that were dead or not worth keeping .I emptied them all yesterday and this evening I decided to have a good pot washing session . Last night I pricked out 4 boxes of asters and now I am going to finish the asters then do some pansies.
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Post by derekbrooks on Mar 31, 2011 20:38:56 GMT
Not had time to do much today except going to school but this evening I have finished pricking out the pansies.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 2, 2011 22:16:25 GMT
Almost a full gardening day yesterday but I didn,t have time to go on the forum at night to tell you what I had been doing. Last year on the other forum some of you may remember that I said that I had lost the use of the polytunnel on the allotments.It is on someone elses plot and they want to use the beds themselves this year where I grew tomatoes and cucumbers and other things last year.There is a small area at the end of each bed where I grew carnations and they are allowing me to keep them there this year.I re-potted them a few weeks ago and yesterday morning I went and tidied them up by removing dead stems and leaves and re-tied them. One of the shelves in my greenhouse was collapsing because the bracket holding it was corroded so yesterday afternoon I went for a new one and fixed it up. Took 40 cuttings from bacopa plants that I had over wintered then spent the rest of the afternoon tidying up in the garden.Rosemary removed the chrysanth stools from the boxes for me and I put the compost in bags.I will probably grow carrots in it. Pricked out some African marigolds,penstemons and alyssum in the evening. I haven,t had much gardening time today but 180 mini plugs of busy Lizzies came that I had ordered from Dobies and I transfered them to two large cell trays.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 3, 2011 19:49:11 GMT
Sowed some more flower seeds this afternoon --nemesia,column stocks,some more lavatera and rudbeckia,zinnias and larkspur.I sow the zinnias in bottomless drinking cups turned upside down because they don,t like root disturbance.At planting time the cup is just lifted off over the plant.Sowed the larkspur in cell trays because they don,t like root disturbance either. Before that we went out for lunch with Martyn,our son, because it,s mothers day then we went to a garden centre because he wanted a shrub to replace a large Hebe that I dug up last year.He chose a Berberis and I will have to go and plant it for him one day next week.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 5, 2011 20:47:54 GMT
Been putting up my wooden frames and two asbestos ones today.They all store behind the shed until they are needeed.Usually some repairs are needed to some of them.Hope to finish them tomorrow then I can start filling them with plants. Tonight I decided to miss the veg meeting then I could carry on with pricking out.Been doing blue lobelia but I haven,t as much as usual because some has damped off.Just having a rest to go on the forum for 10 minutes then I will do some more after.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 7, 2011 22:04:00 GMT
Yesterday morning I went to my son,s to plant the berberis that I told you he had bought last Sunday. When I got home 100 mini plugs of fibrous rooted begonias and 200 petunias had arrived that I had ordered from Dobies.I transfered the beginias to cell trays and the petunias to boxes.Many of these had 2 plants in the plugs so I got a lot more than 200.Rosemary did 2 boxes of these for me. Spent the rest of the afternoon carrying on with repairing and fixing up the wooden frames Didn,t go on the forum at night because I wanted to get the petunias finished. Been out all day today so I haven,t had as much time but did a bit more on the frames when I got home and pricked out some calendulas and trailing lobelia this evening.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 8, 2011 20:44:30 GMT
A lovely day today and a full day in the garden and greenhouses. I have removed the dahlia tubers from the boxes and sorted them out .At the hut last Saturday somebody asked me for 12 tubers and I said I would take them tomorrow.I sorted 12 for him all different.Two other people have each asked me for three each so I sorted these out too.The labels needed re-tying so they wouldn,t come off.I don,t need these tubers any more as I have plenty of plants grown from them as cuttings.I will probably give the rest away on the allotments.I have just kept a tuber of Bishop of Llandaff because I have only got one cutting so I will plant this tuber out later. I potted more rooted dahlia cuttings into pots .All those taken up to March 13th are potted. I then had a box washing session.I washed all the boxes that the chrysanth stools and dahlia tubers had been in and some seed trays that had been lying about .I probably won,t need these boxes again for a while but now they are washed I can store them away rather than leaving them lying about looking untidy. We always go shopping at Morrisons on Friday evening .Today they had some surfinias in packs of three at £2.79 per pack.I got three packs (9 plants) and each plant had at least 4 or 5 cuttings on so I will get another 40 or 50 plants from them. .That,s a job for tomorrow. Going to do some pricking out now.I want to finish the lobelia and perhaps do some lavatera.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 8, 2011 20:48:50 GMT
Have you noticed that my computer has not put the hour on?My last post was recorded at 8.44 and it was 9.44.Will have to ask my son to change it next time he comes,
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Post by Fractal on Apr 8, 2011 21:12:54 GMT
Hi Derek,
just go into your Profile, click on Modify Profile, then go down the page to Time Zone. Select GMT + 1 and then save.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 9, 2011 21:39:21 GMT
Took about 40 cuttings off the surfinias I bought yesterday. Finished repairing the frames and put them all in position.I will be able to start filling them up now.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 9, 2011 21:42:07 GMT
Thought I had done it Steve but it hasn,t worked.Will try again tomorrow
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 10, 2011 20:53:24 GMT
Apart from the wooden frames I have been repairing I have some aluminium ones.These are also stacked away behing the shed and greenhouse when not in use.I fixed 2 of these up this afternoon and put the sweet peas on one and the onion sets in the other.These are in 3 inch pots and growing well. Potted all my tomato plants from yoghurt pots into 4 inch pots.There are about 30 altogether but about 20 are for the school to grow in the polytunnel.Because I have lost the use of the polytunnel on the allotments I am going to grow a few for myself at school . I am now going to prick out some cosmos and stocks.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 11, 2011 22:19:19 GMT
Today I have started potting chrysanths from 3 inch pots to 5 inch and putting them in the frames.I put a split cane and twistit in them at the same time.This will of course give me more space in my over crowded greenhouses.Not all plants are ready for potting up .Those that aren't are still going into the frames but a different frame than the others.I have only done about 5 varieties up to now and will carry on with them tomorrow. I have also sorted some dahlias out for Lou and got them ready for posting to her tomorrow.
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