growing stuff

[muppet]

Well done hardy, but a spud bag from the pound shop would have done the same thing with less manufacturing. 3 for a fiver  satrt low down and top up.

Tried different variations this year, in tunnel and outside ( pinks, Queens and Maris pipers).  Definatley going with far more maris pipers next year. They give easily double the yield and far bigger in size

What are they like for chips

No chance of fixing your shoulder.

[lawnseed]

this year has all the signs of another disaster for farmers. much of last years potato crop never got harvested and is going to be ploughed into the ground. the weather is so bad grass growth is the worst i've ever saw and response to fertiliser is practically nil. i think even at this stage it is safe to say your looking at huge rises in food prices and maybe food shortages. worldwide farmers are not fairing much better with new zealand/austrialia suffering drought. there are reports of food riots in mexico city where the flour to make tortias ran out. in america the government policy of promoting biofuel has put human needs for food in direct competition with the fuel industry. we peaked in terms of sustainable world population some time ago. the more human activity there is the worse we make it. we have to burn fuel to produce/transport food in sufficient quantities to feed ourselves and the more fuel we burn the worse the weather and therefore the yields get. cant see a quick fix for this

well.. looking back at this post..  what a difference a bit of good weather can make. this year has been particulary busy with work so I have to confess I grew very little. just a few peas. however what I did do was gather up loads of seeds for the new year, also I think its possible to grow onions from now until the new year in the plastic tunnel. all I need to do is get one up . I rang mckennas in Armagh to see what it would cost.. aaouch.. seem very expensive for what is essentially a sheet of plastic. I've been told to keep an eye out for some old mushroom tunnels that the grower wants rid of but I noticed fellas on donedeal actually looking for them and I don't see anyone giving anything away. either way maybe when things slow down i'll get something done.

Landed gentry. You'll be first for the chop come the revolution.

i'm willing to share my produce comrade if you have something you'd like to trade

[BennyCake]

Anyone have an organic way of sorting out greenfly, red spider or those other wee gits?

[johnneycool]

Anyone have an organic way of sorting out greenfly, red spider or those other wee gits?

Ladybirds love greenfly, so start collecting them and put them in and around your infected plants and they'll be fat as fools allegedly.

Any one know of an animal other than hedgehogs who love slugs? Some of the ones I've found in the garden were like small seals!

[Bensars]

Anyone have an organic way of sorting out greenfly, red spider or those other wee gits?

Ladybirds love greenfly, so start collecting them and put them in and around your infected plants and they'll be fat as fools allegedly.

Any one know of an animal other than hedgehogs who love slugs? Some of the ones I've found in the garden were like small seals!

Same here. Just noticed at the weekend.

If its a green house/tunnel you can get a copper strip to put across doorway. Apparently they wont cross it. Seen somewhere else a copper type of sticky tape.

i use just use a load of pellets.

[Hardy]

Any one know of an animal other than hedgehogs who love slugs?

Ducks. They'll clean the place of slugs in no time. The beer traps work well too.

[AZOffaly]

Ducks will clear the slugs and then shit all over your garden. I've heard beer traps work well, but they didn't for me. Probably because I drank the beer before I left it to the slimey bastards. I don't like using sprays and all, but I'm afraid it's the pellets for the slugs. Nothing else worked for me.

[Hardy]

There is the slug/shit trade-off, OK. Pellets are bad though - they kill the birds that eat the slugs, I'm told.

[AZOffaly]

I think if they eat them in vast quantities. At least I hope so.. I'd hate that. I'd put the netting over the beds if I thought that would happen. But the pellets are the only things that have worked for me. I was getting decimated. One night I came out with a torch and it was like a big f**king jelly bowl with the slippery hoors everywhere.

[Hardy]

I used nets last year to keep birds off my strawberries and loganberries. I ended up killing three blackbirds - one entangled on the net and two that somehow got in and couldn't get out - presumably died of thirst. No more nets for me.

Some say night-time slug-hunting is as good a way as any to get rid of the slimy hoors. But don't adopt the time-honoured practice of throwing them into your neighbour's garden. Not even if you don't like him. Because apparently they'll cover surprising distances to get back to stuff they fancy.

Also - if you're only talking about a small area, put a barrier of ash (the stuff from the fire grate, not the trees) around it. They won't cross that. Use the beer traps to clear the area inside the ring - they hide in the soil during the day, it seems.

[AZOffaly]

I have a green house for my more delicious leafy stuff this year, but I put out Dahlias after having them in the green house for propogation/seedlings and the bastards had a field day. The pellets came out then I'm afraid.

[EC Unique]

Does salt work?

[5 Sams]

Does salt work?

Yep sorts the hoors out. Pour a drop on one and watch what happens.

[The Iceman]

crunched up eggs shells seem to help keep them away from the raised beds. I've also a neighbour who has a copper strip around one bed which he swears by and i've seen a video online of someone with a small battery and two metal wires around the box causing a small current which deters the slug when they cross both wires....

I might try the ducks option - i havent seen too many slugs about but once the kale/chard/lettuce gets up I'm sure I'll be battling.

[BennyCake]

Where does them slugs hide out? Every morning they leave trails in my greenhouse. How the feck do they get in?

The greenflies were eating the shite out of my strawberries so I had no choice but to spray. I couldn't find any ladybirds around at all. Their numbers must be dwindling badly.