BrummieBen

cacti soil

My father grows cacti on the roof in Malta, and very successful he is too. The soil must be completely free-draining, and when I mean completely, I mean more like a sieve. I would not think it bad to have 10% compost or soil, mixed with 90% fine grit and sharp sand. In fact the best way he found to propagate cacti was to stand the cuttings in sand that is kept damp, but stood on a saucer full of pebbles, so the water drains out the bottom. Contrary to popular myth, cacti love being watered and fed, in the summer a general feed every week will see them grow quickly, they are greedy sods!! The trick is the substrate they are planted in, if it holds moisture they will rot. The mix I have detailed sounds madness, and when you water them, it is alarming to see how much seems to flow straight through! But remember, the cactus itself holds all the water it needs, provided you have the correct soil mix, overwatering will never be a problem!

 Managed to fish out some pictures, you have to love cacti flowers, they are VERY short lived typically less than 24hrs, and most cacti flower at night to be polinated by moths!!

Fork Handles

My first dwarf tulips are about to burst open, so will have some pics of those, the tete a tete are flowering underneath my south facing bay window, the ones at the front of my trellised border are gearing up too, they went in a bit late!

modern farmer revives old irish famine variety

Miss Becks wrote (see)

Ah that's why I couldn't find it, quite why it's under public profile rather than forum settings or the  appropriately named 'message settings' is  beyond me. Like I said, I'm far more used to vbulletin forums or more up to date ones which are far more logical and easy to use. TY Ms Becks and everyone else who helped!

Garden Gallery 2013

 before..

 after, as far as I got before it rained!! Now I have a stinking cold, and because the soil is so high in clay, it'll turn into a mud bath if I walk on it to put the raised beds up. Guess I'll be trying to start some of my veg off in the GH.

Some lovely gardens here, I'm very envious, I'm concentrating on the food production side firstly in my garden, I'll slowly be shaping the rest throughout the year.

modern farmer revives old irish famine variety

I don't know what you guys are looking at, but I have no option on any of the 'click to open' settings page that says accept private messages!!

modern farmer revives old irish famine variety

and where do you find that? I've looked under all the settings and no joy, this forum uses the strangest settings page I've ever had the mispleasure to use. (And I've been on forums 10+years) It's not intuative at all, could do with a complete overhaul tbh.

Planting around Apple Tree

Dovefromabove wrote (see)

Any particular reason Jon?

because it starts an arguement, like most trolls, this makes them feel better about their own pathetic lives.

modern farmer revives old irish famine variety

sotongeoff wrote (see)

Ben -as I said elsewhere-he is probably using a shared computer-so it is unlikely to be that easy

Oh it'll be very easy, even if it's multiple computers say in a library or public place, the first two numbers in the IP range will be the same. The board moderator could simply check for those IP's and see which accounts are accessed from that particular range. For example if he's in New York, the IP will corollate this, a quick check on the posts by these accounts could soon spot him. He has a particular style. The reason he is on here is because nobody is doing that. Most boards would have weedled him out and banned him by now.

modern farmer revives old irish famine variety

Verdun wrote (see)

There was a fellow called Jon cob.....there was a fellow called gridgardener......start again with my riddle....there was a fellow called thegreatgardner.... Oh! Forgotten now.
Jon, do you have different hats when sitting in your little room? One for each identity for each chair?

I think just one, with a D on it. What a strange man, using different accounts on the same thread, must have forgot to logout and relog under the right one. Still I'd say you'd have to be a little weird to have several accounts on this forum, it's hardly the most arguementative place here, surely the pillock would be better served trolling forums populated with teenagers? There surely must be a webmaster/ forum manager here? It really is very simple to identfy all accounts using same or similar ip addresses and ban them?

Fork Handles

Evening folks, nasty cold I have at the moment, throat red raw and nose like a tap Off to bed early I think, but i have ferreted some vids on youtube for anyone interested. Take care and nn all.

bulbs, daffs, tulips, hyacinths, alliums

Going to try the theory of 2 cuts a week

water those poor souls!

Back after a long slog

anyone else think this 'extended' winter, means a good summer

So lyon, change your name back to Gary, wondering why?

Fine Green beans in the shops

This made me spill my tea over the keyboard!

Your Favourite Tools

Needing old mouse or vole nests

While it's been raining

Most famous moment with your plants?

Peach tree

Hmm is this year going to be like the last?

Things you did in the garden as a kid which were extremely bad!