Robot

Latest posts by Robot

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No Ladybirds

Posted: 27/06/2012 at 20:36

I've been hand weeding all day and I haven't seen one single ladybird - nor any larvae. What's happened to them all?

I was amazed at the amount of ants there are out there. Also the greenfly and blackfly population has expanded on last year. Even my rhubarb spray can't cope.

Haven't seen any lacewings either.

Yes, cut out the dead wood. It won't to anything and the tree is better not trying to support it. Cut into the green just above a bud if you can. I know it's a big job but it will spur the tree on to make new shoots. Perhaps you could give it a copious amount of water with an all purpose feed in around the base of the tree to help it along. I'm really pleased you found some green.

I have a large Hibiscus plus several smaller ones and the large one was nuked in the winter. I've cut it back to the green and have been giving it a feed and there's new shoots appearing now. The small ones are all in leaf and doing fine without any loss of leaf or feeding. It seems a lot of big trees suffered this last winter.

Peppers & Margarites - the same malady?

Posted: 26/06/2012 at 16:40

I use cow manure for two reasons. 1) is that I know a farmer who has so much muck from keeping his cows in barns during winter that it keeps at least 2 villages going - fabulous stuff and 2) it only takes 1 year before it is usable instead of the usual 2 for horse manure.

Oh yes, thirdly, it's free....

Scrapbook

Posted: 26/06/2012 at 16:31

Perhaps I should say for numpties like me on the computer that from My Documents and the folder you create for your shortcuts, you just double click on the shortcut of your choice and you'll be taken to that page.

You will have to sign in if you want to contribute to the discussion - which is another gripe................. Why, after signing in, can't you have a button to redirect you to the page you started at instead of having to go all the way through the home page again? Or, just stay on the page you're at????

Scrapbook

Posted: 26/06/2012 at 16:25

A super idea but don't wait up all night expecting it to happy quickly.

In the meantime I just highlight the address from the address bar - i.e. this page is

http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/site-feedback/scrapbook/4265.html

and drag it by the little green GW logo to a folder I've made in My Documents which I have open while I'm using this site. You can then rename the shortcut to whatever you want to remind you or just leave it. For instance - this shortcut is named "Scrapbook - Site Feedback - gardenersworld.com automatically which is pretty self-explanatory.

I agree, Hollie-Hock, not being able to access further than page one of our posts is a bit miffing to say the least but I understand it will be looked into next week.

Will anything benefit from these old pipes?

Posted: 25/06/2012 at 18:37

I'll do that wee thing. I'll get some peanuts tomorrow and put them towards the back of the pipe as I've a food crazy dog. I'm assuming cover the entrance with some bits of wood. Hubs said the entrance was too big but I was being a smarty pants - again!

Thank you for taking the time to reply

liquid plant food

Posted: 25/06/2012 at 18:05

I think it's horses for courses, Pash. I make nettle manure and use it where I think plants look weak and on the veggie plot for things like toms, peppers, haricot vert, borlotti beans and squash. I don't put it on root veg as I know they don't like freshly manured ground so just assume they prefer to be underfed, rather than overfed. But I could be wrong.

I buy specialist feed for the pelargoniums in my window boxes and pots.

For anyone interested to make their nettle feed, just pick a whole big bunch of nettles, chop them up a bit and put them in a large bucket of water for about 2 weeks or until it's all smelly and dark. Then you can either use it straight from the bucket or decante it into plastic bottles. I have some old 5 litre plastic wine barrels (sorry to say) which I keep by the water butt and fill a normal size watering can with about a 1 part nettle to 10 part water mix. I am careful not to let the mixture touch the leaves of the plants. My old neighbour told me that. There was a nettle thread recently here.

Be warned - it is a smelly mixture but I'm sure it keeps a lot of pests at bay.

I do a rhubarb leaf mix the same and use it to spray on plants with black/green fly. Again a smelly business.

Peppers & Margarites - the same malady?

Posted: 25/06/2012 at 17:47

Hi Alina -

The happy Marguerites are in a new bed which has really poor soil and I put in some old cow manure and compost about a month before planting it up. The poorly Ms are in an old bed which was weeded out completely about the same time but nothing was added to boost the soil as there is quite a lot of leaf mould from a nearby oak tree.

The peppers in the tunnel are in a raised bed with rotted cow manure at the bottom and my own compost on top. They get fed with tomato fertilizer when I feed the tomatoes which are in raised beds either side of the peppers.

So, there's no real connection.

Will anything benefit from these old pipes?

Posted: 25/06/2012 at 17:40

Well, I think the housing estate is complete. Do you think we've done enough to attract a hedehog or two? Shame we cannot adopt them here. Can anyone send a couple by post? I don't see how they'll come by themselves if they can't see far. I might have to erect a neon sign at the end of the road.... Suggestions as to how to attract them into the garden is welcome.