[waterbuffalofarmer]

Hey guys. So a few days ago I was ordering seeds from T&M and I came across 2 very interesting gardening tips. I thought I would share them with you all and maybe you coulf all share any more interesting tips on gardening? Well here goes..... They say sowing sweetpeas alongside runner beans is very good for keeping away aphids. Also sowing marigolds next to tomatoes keeps away whitefly and if you sow basil, mint and chives near tomatoes it keeps away aphids and other pests.

[Small Plot Big Ideas]

I've tried marigolds before and not sure if they work but it looked nice! 

My favourite tip at the moment is to plant leeks (or onions) alongside carrots because the leeks confuse the carrot fly by masking the smell of the carrot

[Fleecewife]

I grow tagetes marigolds with tomatoes because it's supposed to keep away the white fly - mind you, I never had white fly before I started doing that 

I don't do any other companion planting.  I tried sweet peas with runners - it was said to encourage pollinators to the beans.  All I got was rubbish sweet peas and swamped beans  .  I also used to grow summer savory with broad beans - prevents something or other, and they cook well together but for me, where I am, I could never get the savory to be ready in time for the beans cropping.

I do love the idea of companion planting........

[pgkevet]

I stopped growing mariglds after they got covered in blackfly 2 years running..and i stopped buying T&M seeds 'cos they were expensive and I always got poor germination compared to other brands- although that was on more specialised fancy stuff. Thesed days i buy my seeds on ebay - cheap and excellent germinations... but then again just common stuff

(I spent more on some T&M seeds for exotics than the cost of buying seedlings or plants... and back then i used temp controlled incubators so it was spot on to instructions)

[cloddopper]

Tip :-
if you make your own potting mix using home made compost  treat the whole batch of mix with hot water at 160 OF or more to kill off any slug eggs in the mix. Let it cool to tepid before using .

 This year I have lost trays & trays of 1 " tall seedlings in the glasshouse.
 It was only when I gently moved some of the horticultural vermiculite away I'd sprinkled over the seeds , to look where I knew a root should be that I found a tiny black slug 1/16 of an inch long.
 On looking at several other plant less tubes I found more of the little buggers.

This next sowing session I'll not only hot water sterilize the potting mix ,  I'm going to be adding a few dessert spoons of liquid slug killer to the hot water as well as it is suppose to have a residual effect in the soil for several weeks.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Tip :-
if you make your own potting mix using home made compost  treat the whole batch of mix with hot water at 160 OF or more to kill off any slug eggs in the mix. Let it cool to tepid before using .

 This year I have lost trays & trays of 1 " tall seedlings in the glasshouse.
 It was only when I gently moved some of the horticultural vermiculite away I'd sprinkled over the seeds , to look where I knew a root should be that I found a tiny black slug 1/16 of an inch long.
 On looking at several other plant less tubes I found more of the little buggers.

This next sowing session I'll not only hot water sterilize the potting mix ,  I'm going to be adding a few dessert spoons of liquid slug killer to the hot water as well as it is suppose to have a residual effect in the soil for several weeks.

What is the method for treating the soil? I am most intrigued I have never heard of this before.

[cloddopper]

One gert big 22 & 1/2 quart canning pan heated up to almost boiling ( Beading ..where small bubbles rise off the pan floor ) then pour it into a cut down 310 litre blue food grade barrel that has three or four buckets of my home made potting /sowing compost in it .
 I have a small stainless steel  1& 1/2 pint pan screwed onto a bit of broom shaft to make a long handled ladle.

I have a double gas ring  burner ( ancient 1950's caravan cooking hob & oven ) thatr i drilled the jets out to 1 mm dia ... I use it outside by the office sheltered from the elements for  outside cooking & when it's too hot to do our pressure canning indoors. It fair roars when it's going full belt .

Simply ladle the scolding hot hot water onto the potting mix and give it a stir with another broom stick .

 
 There are 200 mm dia " Gas rings " , available on eBay for about £25  if you're looking for a big heat source to boil up or cook outside.
 

[cloddopper]

PGKVET mentions the exorbitant cost of T&M seeds .. most other UK  located seed houses are catching up fast .
 There is a solution that initially looks very expensive but over a couple of years works out exceedingly cheap and gives a heck of a lot of seeds .

  I discovered the FRANCETTI ( sp ) range of seeds .

 Whilst equaling T&M prices & in some cases exceeding them , the amount of seed is hundreds of times greater.    So providing you set up a simple system to keep the opened seeds cool & dry ( sealed air tight Tupperware type  box or am large screw top jar in the bottom of th fridge is what a lot of folk use )  , you can take advantage of the viability life of the seeds that usually lasts for five or so years to give you at least 75 % germination .

 I have a seed viability list that I got off the internet five or more years ago .  Will look for it innth log cabin tomorrow if anyone wants to see if it is still there .

The Francetti seeds seem to be true to the viability life list , but a lot of the UK seed houses seeds don't .
Perhaps because they bulk buy for the next five years in one go & release a few  each year

 As a general rule though , with the exception of parsnips you can add a year or two to the indicated use by date on the packets of the UK seeds & mark your estimated use up date on the bottom of the packet in marker pen .

 A way of finding out if the seeds are viable is to cut up ten  1/2 " square of kitchen towel  , set them on the inside of a Pyrex dish lid , add a table spoon or so  of water to the lid . Now put one seed on each square , ensure the square is nicely  wetted then put the body of th dish over the lid and slip it in the airing cupboard .
In a few days you'll know the viability if you multiply the number of germinated seeds by ten .
  If it is bigger seeds like peas & beans  wrap the seed in a couple of inches of 1/2 " wide cut kitchen towel strip and add six or so tablespoons of water to the lid .

Carrots for instant :-
You're luck to get 200 T&M seeds   Francetti  give you about 2500
Tomatoes 50 against  Francetti's 750

[pgkevet]

Our local Spar sells a limited range of Francetti seeds. I haven;t bought any though. I always check quantity per packet when buying ebay. I'm also pretty mean when it comes to sowing most seed types - as in 1 brassica seed per module and keep seeds dry and for several years except for things like parsnip that really do have to be fresh.
AFASIK Officially seed sellers are supposed to conform to germination percentages and you can ask refund for failed seeds if sown correctly but hard to prove poor viability with those known to be hard to germinate.
I'm too lazy to collect my own seed but that is perfectly feasible if you want.

[cloddopper]

I got some  expensive  fuchsia plug plants years ago  and was amused to read the enclosed note saying ...  " Taking cuttings from these plants will infringe our products registration protection & you can be sued if found out " . ( or something very similar).

So I tip and layered them , never severing them from the host plant , eventually getting  a 55 foot long hedge row of connected plants from the same few original plants

[CarolineJ]

Make mini individual cloches for seedlings by cutting the bottoms off 1l supermarket own-brand bottles of soda water/tonic water/bitter lemon etc - push down well into the soil to anchor against the wind.  Husband's whisky and soda habit kept me in very good supply until he decided to buy a Sodastream...

[Fleecewife]

A slightly different type of tip, but mine is: don't sow too many seeds in one go.  It's so easy to just put the whole packet in, but it puts a strain on space which causes poor growth, plus it adds to the cultivation and glut aspect. There really is a limit to how many lettuces and courgettes you can eat     If you allow each plant the amount of space it needs, it will crop better for you, and be easier to care for than a whole row of squashed up seedlings.  Many seeds will last for a few years and still germinate well.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

We used to put plastic bottle cut in half around the base of all the beans and tomatoes and we used to fill them with water the required amount without it seeping all over the soil and everywhere Can anyone give me any tips on growing strawberries at all?

[Ghdp]

Sprinkle some radish seeds in rows of slower germinating plants. It will be quickly easy to see the row and you get a crop of radishes as you thin the row.

[Jukes Mum]

I had lots of spare garlic this year. Offered them to my neighbour who say "Oooo no, don't give them away, plant any spare garlic around roses to keep the aphids away". Going to try it and see what happens.