Gardening tips and ideas

[Sunny Saver]

Free bedding plants from Homebase if you b*y today's Telegraph.

[baty]

Keep a look out for pests also getting ready for winter.

Found some leaf burrowers on a leaf in an outside plant. Then had a good look at the others, arrgh. Got the specially designed tools for the job out (my fingers and nails), and squished them!!

Put my indoor chillies out in the rain yesterday for a bit of 'real' water, it also got rid of some flying insects, win win.

[seven77]

Tip I was given that works well and saves on time and energy is not to water too much the veg etc. you have growing in the ground. The roots will dig deeper to find water and make a stronger more rooted plant. Water when they look a little droopy even in summer.

[Sunny Saver]

I've b*ght a few seedlings in the last year, some survived some didn't.

I thought it was me, but one of the companies said the netting/lace/ whatever you call it had been bound too tightly at the base of the plant, so the roots couldn't grow.

Now I snip them a bit before planting, so the roots can grow.

[baty]

On checking my indoor chillie plants I found some tiny webs and red mites. Could be red spider mites and have sprayed them with mixture of water and washing-up liquid. Fingures crossed they will be erradicated

[Preston1990]

........... have sprayed them with mixture of water and washing-up liquid. Fingures crossed they will be erradicated

If that doesn't eradicate them, then at least they'll be clean!

[ahman]

Preston 1990 wrote: Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

How true. Any idea who said it?

[baty]

Here we go again....
My chilli plant Spike did not make it through the winter :crying:due to those pesky red spider mites, just couldn't get rid of them!! However, I gave an offspring to OH's son who will give me a chilli when it starts to produce and hopefully grow another Spike again, the circle of life eh.

Went to the Chilli Farm in Devon and got some seed from them to plant - Prairie fire is now on my windowsill.

Anyone else getting that urge to grow things?

[Sunny Saver]

My tulips are doing nicely: one pot of red ones and two of two different shades of purple. The campanulas are growing very tall, but not flowering.

[Diane65]

Lovely to see this thread coming alive again. How wonderful going to a chilli farm and sorry that spike didn't make it.
My rocket is back again in my trug and my cherry blossom is in full bloom.
Last weekend I made my garden more secure replacing open trellis for fence panels plus added a couple of padlocks so feels private now (I live on a corner house). Now I'm thinking of painting my scruffy looking bench and table jasmine white (I had a disaster last year with 2 treatments interacting although supposed to go together). I'm going to keep the chairs the natural wood colour but add white seat pads so it all matches.

I imagine your tulips look so pretty sunnysaver