Under the great UK Sun 2011!

[MJBadger]

Singto , nice spot , stay safe & fingers x`d .

 

[Habel]

got the last of my plants out last night. Hope they didnt mind the cold to much! Hope we get sum rain in a few days, as the ground was dry, and i wasnt carrying that much water on me! So thats 20 plants out now, and ive got some more on the go.

9/10 of my sk1/haze x mixed cracked, And amazingly 6/6 of my nirvanas papaya cracked. I say amazingly as i just figued out them seeds are 8 years old, and have never been stored in freezer or fridge, just in the package they came in at room tempeture! Just goes to show just cause nirvana is cheap, doesnt mean there not quality seeds! 0/4 of the lowryders cracked but they are about 6 years old and i had trouble germinating the other 6 when i got the pack originally.

I think thatll do this season, i mite start sum skunk 1 yet but not sure as im running outa spots!

 

[BOSCO]

got the last of my plants out last night. Hope they didnt mind the cold to much! Hope we get sum rain in a few days, as the ground was dry, and i wasnt carrying that much water on me!

Not a drop of rain here in 3 weeks, I'm having to bucket water from the stream just to keep the veggies going and 1 of the spots I chose as a guerrilla spot went up in a large gorse fire yesterday.

Good news is there is a band of rain heading in from the Atlantic over Ireland that should hit you guys towards the end of the week.

 

[Habel]

i hope my plants are doin ok then, after the frost the other nite. was -1 in the morning when i got up and there was ice on the windscreen! And stil no rain but its looking quite cloudy now! hopefully itll rain l8er. All my new seedlings are up. Ive added an old t8 blue tube light to give some blue spectrum as my bulbs are warm white, and they are already streching loads more than the last bunch of seeds i did with just the warm. Hoping the blue will make them a bit bushyer and vigourus b4 they get transplanted out.

 

[Marathanman]

Should rain tonight, good luck with your outdoor venture.

 

[JGP]

It's raining here at last hopefully this will be the end of the frost to.

 

[BONGSMOKE]

FBB = fish blood and bone. I read somewhere that rabbits dont like blood? Not sure if thatll work. but i am making cages for most my plants and maybe some fishing line perimeter aswell.

Yer ive heard wd40 can work, aswell as chilli / garlic in spray form. Not sure if ur suposed to spray the leaves with it or just around your plants?

cheers m8

 

[BONGSMOKE]

going in pots outside this yr,anyone rec soil and feed i should use,was using the exspensive stuff,grrr.allso lookin to purchase some real outdoor auto,s.any ideas.ppl.

 

[Singto]

The rain has finally arrived across the UK, after the hottest April on record it looks like things are back to normal!

I don't know about you guys but I've still got some prep work to do and this weather is definitely needed. I started a bit at the beginning of the month but the heat just dried it like rock and its been unworkable untill now., and don't talk to me about digging in over 20 degree weather! Next seasons prep will ALL be completed over winter for sure.

I went to check on the freebee plot yesterday, after planting i had to quickly nip back because i forgot the slug pellets (these are the business, i used copper tape previously but found it to be overpriced crap that doesn't work, but after loosing a few with tape and then trying the pellets last year i'll never look back. Just don't use many) but this time was just to see if they'd settled in ok. I only stayed for a minute but was pleased to see they're looking really good, pert if you know what i mean?

Thanks for the positive words guys, its a hobby that you cant discuss normally but i'll be stopping by to share ideas n stuff through the year.

Singto.

 

[rocket high]

copper wire from earth cable works real good you can coil it up to get max protection... its better quality copper. pellets also work what kind did you use ?

 

[Habel]

yer im gona go into town now to pic up some pellets. glad we finally got some rain!

 

[Singto]

copper wire from earth cable works real good you can coil it up to get max protection... its better quality copper. pellets also work what kind did you use ?

yeah ive seen people do this before. what swung it for me was how well the pellets out performed the tape. and with the tape i couldnt stop all these small snails climbing the cages and munching holes in the leaves. With the pellets i feel like im getting my own back, it destroys the slimy buggers.

I just got the tesco's stuff, i think its all the same tho.

yer im gona go into town now to pic up some pellets. glad we finally got some rain!

you can probably get some from the poundshop, wilco's, b and q ect and wont cost more than 2 quid.

 

[Yes_I_Am]

have any of you guys planted in real obvious place, like last year we put one right in a car parkj to a sports center lol and cropped over a oz

 

[wotamess]

have any of you guys planted in real obvious place, like last year we put one right in a car parkj to a sports center lol and cropped over a oz

haha awesome... one of my little dreams is to do some urban guerilla stuff.

hope y'all hanging tough...



-wam-

 

[harold]

and cropped over a oz

id love to see a pic of this? lol.... i think haskins needs a few replacements in the japanese maple section lol

 

[Habel]

i got sum slug pellets from asda, just went for the cheap £2 own brand, but they need have sum stuff for about £4.35 thats organic, and decomposes in nitrogen and something else for plant food, so mite be helpfull for some peeps that are worried about using them thinkin they are gona affect the plants?

 

[MJBadger]

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i think haskins needs a few replacements in the japanese maple section lol

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=19017&pictureid=667700

 

[harold]

a bit of red food dye, nobody will ever know lol

 

[Habel]

checked up on to sites lastnite, been out a week, plant looking ok, scattered some slug pellets, and sprayed with insecticide, a couple of plants had that spit looking stuff which has a little larve inside, not sure wat they are but i killed them. Went to my other site today, one which is tucked in some thorn bushes, got a few pics...

This one looks like a very early showing male, its even gone purple! Il leave it a bit longer just to be sure.

This one here looks nice and healthy

This one here has had a bit of trouble getting adjusted, maybe to much nutes from the FBB, or just sensitive plant, who nos im sure itll be fine tho.

By the way all 3 or Danish Gold.

So then i went to check on my 2 HP2 i had jsut round the corner from these, and as i got close a huge deer jumped up out the bushes and ran away! as i got to the plant i could see they had been trampled. one was fine and had grown round the bent cage, the other 1 cage had come complety off and there was a few nibbles! looks like the soap didnt work!

Also these 2 plants were crawling with baby grasshoppers! and the smaller one had been eating quite alot! i sprayed with insect repellent and scattered slug pellets, hope its enuf to kill the crickets? Sorry no pics of these as its in veiw of a path so couldnt hang around!

 

[COOKIE MONSTER]

a couple of plants had that spit looking stuff which has a little larve inside, not sure wat they are but i killed them.

We call that cuckoo spit over here, a minor pest but best to get rid of them.

"Plants affected
Everthing from pine trees to strawberry plants, however sap filled perennial flowers such as chrysanthemum, dahlia, plus shrubs/trees such as roses, fuchsia, rosemary, lavender, hawthorn and forms of willow are also attacked. Grasses are also favoured haunts.

Season(s) present.
May and June.

Cuckoo spit , photo / picture / image.

Appearance of damage.
Blobs of frothy white liquid on the stems of plants.

Cause
The “spit” is made by an insect, the young of the froghopper (Philaenus spumarius or Cercopis vulnerata).
The female froghopper lays her eggs in early summer, into slits and grooves in the stems of plants and wild un-mown grasses. The eggs hatch out in the following spring and the young nymphs emerge to clamber on to plant stems, where they then go on to produce nests of froth-like “cuckoo spit”, within which they sit until they become fully mature frog hoppers.

Trouble?
Although the froghopper nymphs pierce plants and suck sap; causing slight damage and distortion of young shoots, the damage done is so minimal that it is nothing to worry about.

Organic or cultural control.
None usually needed as the nymphs be gone in a few weeks at the most.
If you really can't bear them, or if the cuckoo spit is being produced on your home grown veg and herbs, then a strong jet of water from a garden hose should be sufficient to dislodge them".

Danish Gold looks very good, have a few in pots and 1 or 2 males did flower early and develop more of a purple hue.