deedee21

Talkback: Snails

I think that the onlycertain way to get rid of the slugs and snails would be to use a flame thower  on them! Seriously!! My veggie patch at the moment has nothing in it but empty grow-bags (previously containing courgettes), stumps that were once lettuces and chard, and the only healthy looking thing is the strings on the wigwams - originally holding sugar-snap peas and beans. I stopped trying to grow anything else in the hopes that the rain would eventually stop - or I decided to build an ark - whichever came first. I do, however, havea couple of concerns with the flame-thrower idea. Firstly, that I might set fire to the shed or fence and second that I could set fire to myself. Maybe the flame-thrower is a bit drastic! They'd only evolve further and become flame-proof !!  I tell you, the person who invents a guaranteed method of getting rid of snails and slugs or stops them from eating my plants that doesn't endanger birds, hedgehogs, children or pets and that doesn't involve picking them up and putting them in a bucket should be awarded a Gold Medal!

Flippin' pigeons

Might sound odd but have you considered tying in another (empty) basket on top of your planted ones to form a sort of ball? Your plants will grow through and cover the top one, keep the pigeons off and maybe even become a talking point, too.

Invasive plant eradication

Thanks for that - I'll give it a try. It will have to wait for a couple of weeks, though, 'cos I'm going on holiday on Saturday but will make a note to get some and then attack the little so and so.

Thanks again.

Invasive plant eradication

Sorry, no picture and no, not too worried by the idea of a weedkiller provided it wouldn't kill off the other plants in the border. My invasive friend is growing in amongst and through plants that I wouldn't like killed off.

lobelia advice needed

Hi m0rce,

Sounds like your suffering from 'damping off' of your seedlings.

A couple of things that might help - Mix the seeds with some silver sand before you sow them - it'll help reduce the problem of sowing tiny seeds so thickly: water sown seeds from the bottom - put your seed tray in a gravel tray of water and let them soak up the moisture from below rather than water them in with a watering can - you see when the compost starts to glisten that they are watered enough. When they start to sprout water with a solution of Cheshunt compound - a powder that you dilute and use to prevent damping off. As soon as you see the seedlings take off the cover to prevent too much moisture building up - another cause of damping off. Seedlings can get scorched from the sun on a windowsill (especially if south facing) so you may need to move them.

As for repotting - you can put the little clumps in 3" pots when they have their set of proper leaves. You might want to try sowing a few seeds in 2" pots instead of in a tray - then you would just need to repot into bigger pots and might find that easier.

Hope it helps.

Invasive plant eradication

Hi peoples,

Wondering if anyone out there can help me with a problem plant. Like, possibly, a lot of people I bought a little plant a couple of years ago and lost the label. Was informed by the seller that it was a 'littlle ground cover plant' and would do the job very well (read that as conquer the world!) It is a low growing little thing - only a couple of centimetres tall with chocolate coloured fern-like leaves and, apparently, small 'towers' of red flowers. It spreads by underground runners and is now in danger of taking over the border I mistakenly planted it in. I've tried hoeing it in, pulling it up painstakingly by hand and smothering it with mulch but to no avail. It keeps coming back! Can anyone identify the culprit for me and suggest a way of killing it off, please. 

Talkback: Planting an apple tree

Hi, I've just been given an apple tree, 'James Grieves'. It came in a pot so, last Sunday,I planted it in a raised bed . I made the hole twice the width of the pot and planted it no deeper than the depth of the actual pot. However, since checking on the 'net realised that I should have dug the hole to twice the depth of the original container. Worried that it may suffer I decided to re-plant it yesterday and deepened the original planting hole. Was it OK to replant it so soon?

Invasive plant eradication