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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 11, 2014 18:49:58 GMT
Showery this morning but dried up this afternoon. Finished tidying up the dahlia tubers and got the boxes ready to plant them in but didn't get time to plant them.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 12, 2014 22:27:28 GMT
This afternoon I have boxed up my dahlia tubers . I have a lot more than I have room for on my propagating benches but I have done one more box than I did last year . I have planted 3 to 5 tubers of each variety and there are 5 large white boxes and 3 mushroom boxes. I have 2 propagators in the house and I put a large box on each . The other 6 went on the warming benches in the greenhouse. I had to take some boxes of chrysanth stools off the benches to make room but these are growing well so don't really need to be on.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 14, 2014 23:25:28 GMT
We had an allotment meeting last night and one thing that was decided was that there was rubbish that needed shifting and it was decided to hire a skip to put it in. It will have to be put on the main path between the plots but this means that I won't be able to get my car down to my plot. This is not a problem unless I have a lot to take or to bring home particularly anything heavy. I thought the ground might be too wet for digging today but I decided to go because several sacks of old compost that I have grown potatoes and carrots in at home to take down and also the large boxes that have been used to store the dahlia tubers. So I thought I had better get rid of these while I can still get my car down to the plot. I spread the compost on some of the plots and raked it in. Even though the soil was a bit too wet I did some weeding from the paths then I wouldn't have to walk on the soil. It has poured down all night so I won't be going tomorrow.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 15, 2014 20:22:27 GMT
It did half an inch of rain last night so it is too wet to go to the allotment. I couldn't go anyway because the car has been in a garage for its M.O.T. So I decided to make a start washing all my plant pots of which I have hundreds. I also use a lot of drinking cups and small yoghurt pots so I started off with these today. I find these very useful for the first potting of small plants like fuchsias. When I get new ones I of course make drainage holes in the bottom. With drinking cups I can cut holes in the base but yoghurt pots are thicker and need drilling. I wash them all at the kitchen sink . It is a boring job but I can watch the birds on the feeders outside. When washed they are kept in 25 litre tubs and buckets behind the greenhouse.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 16, 2014 21:09:24 GMT
Had an afternoon in the greenhouse today and took 230 chrysanth cuttings. They are in eleven half seed trays, 20 in each and the remaining 10 in margarine tubs. Put them all on the warming benches but had to remove some more boxes of stools to make room.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 17, 2014 21:54:27 GMT
Dry today and it hasn't done much rain for two days so I went to the allotment this morning and carried on with the digging and weeding. Rosemary had to go out in the car this afternoon but I went back to the allotment when she came home. While I was waiting for her I emptied some more buckets and tubs that had grown carrots then I could take the compost to the allotment.
I didn't test my soil last winter so I thought I had better do it now. I took samples from all the allotment beds and some from my own garden. Put all the samples on saucers and put them on top of a cupboard in the kitchen to dry. So ,one night when there's nothing I want on the telly I will have a go at testing them. Some years I have done a full analysis but now I think I will just do the pH's.
Our horticultural supply hut opens again tomorrow morning so I will be going there every Saturday morning unless I am away.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 18, 2014 20:54:32 GMT
When taking chrysanth cuttings on Thursday I noticed just a few greenfly so I gave the stools a spray to get rid of them before they multiply. Spent the rest of the afternoon washing pots.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 19, 2014 21:03:12 GMT
Thought it was too wet to go to the allotment this afternoon so I have done some hand weeding in my garden. Finished the chrysanth bed and did the rose bed and terrace. Went over the rose bed with the claw to loosen the soil.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 20, 2014 22:44:35 GMT
A nice day today for a change so I went on the allotment this morning and afternoon. I thought it would still be wet for digging and weeding but it was better than I thought so I got quite a lot done.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 21, 2014 21:33:18 GMT
Not as nice today . It is much colder but it was dry till 4.30 when it started raining and it has rained hard this evening. I had only just over an hour for gardening this afternoon but I thought I had better go to the allotment and do a bit more weeding before the rain came.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 21, 2014 21:33:32 GMT
Not as nice today . It is much colder but it was dry till 4.30 when it started raining and it has rained hard this evening. I had only just over an hour for gardening this afternoon but I thought I had better go to the allotment and do a bit more weeding before the rain came.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 22, 2014 22:19:14 GMT
Showery today and I haven't done much only washing pots
Three of my dahlia tubers are growing
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 25, 2014 22:25:58 GMT
Not done much gardening recently mainly due to the weather. Last Thursday I was washing pots most of the day and yesterday I was at Blackleach all day. The weather wasn't bad this morning while I was at the hut but it started raining about 1. 30 till 3.00.
This evening there was nothing I particularly wanted to watch on telly till the football and it comes on later than usual today. So I decided to do some soil testing. The samples had been drying on top of a cupboard in the kitchen .I did all the pH tests first as I think these are the most important.
ALLOTMENT BEDS
Brassicas 7.0 Potatoes 6.6 other root crops 6.6 , other products (peas , sweet corn ,courgetes etc. 6.9 .Spray chrysanths 7.0 dahlias 7.2 gladioli 6.9 runner beans/sweet peas 6.7 , annual beds1,2,and3 6.7 , annual beds 4 and 5, 6.1
MY OWN GARDEN
Chrysanths 5.9, front garden 6.5, back garden 6.2.
I am happy with all the allotment beds except those that are only 6.1 and my own back garden(including the chrysanth beds) which are a bit low. I will put limestone on these beds at 12 oz. per square yard which should increase the pH by about one unit. It means though that I won't be able to manure the chrysanth bed until a month after I put the limestone on to give this a chance to work first.
I said last week that I would only do the pH tests but I decided to do other tests on some of the samples which are the main ones--the veg beds and chrysanth and dahlia beds. I did all the phosphate tests and they all came out "medium". I will do the potash tests some other time but I have not enough chemicals to do the nitrogen. It is many years since I bought any chemicals for this kit and I don't know if they are still available but I will phone next week and find out.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 26, 2014 20:46:58 GMT
It rained a lot during the night and most of the morning but dried up this afternoon. Far too wet to do anything on the allotment or in the garden. However, I told you last week that we were having a skip for rubbish on the allotment. So I went just for this purpose. When I am digging or weeding, if I dig up any bricks or stones I just throw them in a corner so I thought this skip was a good opportunity to get rid of these . I also put in two sacks of weeds
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 26, 2014 20:52:34 GMT
None of you have replied to the question I asked on the "How To" section. Can nobody help me.?. Are you not going to be able to see my pictures again.
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Sept 6, 2018 17:58:08 GMT
Sept 6, 2018 17:58:08 GMT
Aug 10, 2019 9:01:47 GMT
Aug 10, 2019 9:01:47 GMT