I admit to cheating (just a little) I am off to the RHS orchid show today so these pictures (and words) are from yesterday afternoon rather than this morning.
Last weekend I was hoping for sunshine or warm weather so that I could finally empty out the office of the plethora of seedlings I had accumulated since January this year.
Finally on Sunday I bit the bullet and decided I would plant them no matter what and be taught a lesson in patience if they did not survive. It has been a week and I have had only one loss (that, which is not a surprise) and everything is currently holding strong.
Not sure if I even have six (maybe cos it is technically not Saturday) maybe I should have five on Friday.
The first picture is that of an unknown very green beetle that I saw today on my miniature rose; I have never seen it before, it is less than a centimetre long and quite narrow. I tweeted about it and will see if anyone replies with a name. Do you have any idea?
I planted out corn (‘Incredible’ F1); tomatoes (‘Money Maker’, ‘Matt’s wild cherry’ and ‘Clou’ I think, Experiments in Tomato) I still have ‘Baby Gazzi’, ‘Broad Ripple’ and ‘Fox Cherry’ waiting to get big enough to plant out next to the other tomatoes there.
Also put in ‘Jack Be Little’ mini pumpkin and ‘One Ball’ courgette and I already had some Swiss chard (silver beet) and radishes on the lower level.
The pictures are ruined by the fact I have to cover everything in wire to stop the squirrels from digging up the soil and removing the seedlings. Last month I came out to carnage as the wire was not on yet and the squirrels (or one very efficient one) had pulled up all the strawberries and chewed them in half. I planted both halves back in the soil hoping that like a worm maybe one piece would survive.
The wire is now over everything – it is ugly but effective; we have not had any more carnage since laying it. (That thermometer is not broken 27 degrees in the sun, 17 in the shade today – max and min not current though)
The second bed already had Brassica (perennial cauliflower , broccoli, Brussel sprouts) and I added kale and spinach plus some tiny carrot and parsnip seedlings. The terracotta pots are ‘Pink Solid’ celery; a hardy kind that has pink stems that stay pink even when cooked. If anyone has hints on growing celery, I welcome them as I have not grown any before now.
The remainder of the courgette and another pumpkin (Updates and a weird pumpkin) and the cucumbers/achocha that, when I tried to harden off they wilted and did not like the weather at all so I am trying again this week.
This is what happens when you can’t bear to cull or thin anything; I have ended up with many quite large tomato seedlings. This is the result of me over sowing; thinking that they would not germinate, however I was wrong and ended up with quite a few too many. This is not even all of them (I had culled the weakest), there are others off camera and also still under lights. I will give some to my friends and some to the local community gardens.
Death.
This is what happens when you plant cucumber and it is too cold I guess – the plant hardened off fine (didn’t even wilt) and was coping well with the cool nights but I guess it was a bit too much for it to be planted out. Hence, why I am waiting with the other cucumbers that wilted when hardened off the first time. Not quite the best note to end on but such is life, I guess.
So, I am not really sure what the count is but that is my six on Saturday (on Friday) just to show how my garden is going (the visually acceptable part anyway). Next week, we will lay some stepping-stones and patio and try to improve the mud clay pit that is the rest of the garden. We had a stump removed and I planted dahlia and gladioli but I am not sure if the dahlia will come up as they were quite shrivelled from waiting so long for the weather to improve.
I will post from the orchid show next week and not limit myself to six photo/topics.
If you would like to see more Six on Saturday – pop over to The Propagator and see his guide to Six on Saturday plus many others participating.
Have you dared to plant anything out yet? I know some people are under snow still or at least suffering from the cold. Maybe I will pay for my haste in the coming month, all will be revealed in time I guess.
Maybe your beetle is a Polydrusus Sericeus … (I didn’t know but I googled: it looks like)
I’m surprised by your courgette, your tomatoes …(already seen in your previous blog posts) which are clearly ahead of mine. (My cucumbers still remain inside the greenhouse … precaution)
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That looks like the right bug – the rose is under the apple tree so I wonder if it left after eating the blossoms. I accidentally left my cucumbers outside last night – I was very glad to see they had survived the cool night time; I guess it didn’t get too cold.
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I have tomato plants under lights inside the house. Usually by now I would have potted them up in larger pots and put them outside during the day to harden off and then pulled them into the garage at night. Still too cold and they are getting leggy. Some pots have two plants in them so as an experiment I pinched one or two back to see if they will leaf out from there and give me some more time. This weather is so unpredictable. Very annoying!
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If they are leggy just plant them deeper. I potted up mine a couple of times and I just put them at the bottom of the pot and sometimes even wind the stem around a little so it is all under the soil. Never had a problem with tomatoes becoming leggy -potting up is a cure-all.
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I plan to pot them up deeper in larger pots. I always do that when they go in the garden. The problem now is space and pots. Too cold to put them out to harden off just yet. I’ll repot a few in the pots I have. As usual, I planted the seed too early.
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It is amazing how much warmer it is in urban gardens! I just can’t believe how advanced all your plants are! It is great to have surplus like this, either to give away or fill gaps in case of accidents.
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Indeed. We were so hot last year alot of vegetables died in the heat. I never get rid of things until the last minute in case of accidental death.
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I had to check your location as I thought you were in London – and you are! Amazing how far ahead you are. Lovely pumpkins already on their way. Amazing
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That pumpkin is supposed to be bright orange and it has somehow turned out stripy white. Yet to find out if it is courgette pollen or a rogue seed in the packet
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Feels very ambitious to have tomatoes outside already. They baulk at lower than 10 deg overnight. Are you that sheltered in your urban hideaway?
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We are now getting around 8 degrees or higher at night – I know they probably will be slow to grow until it warms a little but I was sick of having them indoors and I think they were getting stunted (I didn’t have any larger pots) The sun warms the beds as well when there is some.
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Ok cool. Or rather, warm. You know your plot.
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First year – so I am ‘guessing’ I know my plot – ask me next year (or in five) and see how well I did.
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I look at your photos, then look over at my 1″ tomato plants on the sill, then look at your photos & think we can’t live in the same country. But we do & only an hour away from each other. 27 degrees. Just wow. But you’re going to have a great garden this year at this rate. Can’t wait to see what happens next.
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Thanks, I am very lucky but today is definitely not 27 – raining and miserable outside at the moment. (I cheat though- my veggies have been growing under lights not on window sill. I suggest that and you can have giant tomato that can’t be planted outside cos it’s too cold too)
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