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Vegetable garden

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Quite possibly Julia, if seedlings are not hardened off properly (exposed to enough sun, strong light) they can struggle when planted out. It is worth being careful with fertiliser with the new roots of seedlings. (testing new mobile toy here, so excuse if repeating past info)
 
I'm quite a fan of water crystals for pots. Consisently warm where I am so pots drying out can be an issue. Agree about the terracotta - I like large concrete pots with drainage hole - heavy to move though!
 
Happy said:
The same fate year back happened to my chilli plants, all died on me, had to go on dried pods for the whole year, got few tiny ones in fruit this year already.
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For some reason, chilli is the one thing that doesn't grow well for me.
Have tomatoes, snow peas, lettuce, zucchini, basil and leeks all going great (actually the zucchini is going mental) but the chilli plant is growing slowly, and last year was the same.
 
I have a 4x2 meter plot in the backyard that has seen a few seasons of consistent use. I put a bunch of snow peas in a few months back and they all turned yellow and died. Other plants have very slow growth. So I have been resting the patch for a bit now. Any tips on what to use to replenish the nutrients (did use cow manure but only had a short term effect).
 

moXJO, I use rotted down grass clippings combined with blood & bone, plus Searle's potting mix. Used to use cow, chook manure but, like you, I found it had minimal and quite short effect. The Searle's potting mix gives the bed good drainage, has what seems to be a quality fertiliser plus wetting agent. I've used this mostly in the flower beds and have had great results. Also use seaweed tonic type fertiliser poured over new plantings, then later Thrive.

Milo, good point about the fertiliser with young seedlings. I didn't add this until they'd been in a few weeks and were looking very sad.
 

Might be a good idea to test the soil for PH levels. If it's out of balance, no amount of fertiliser will help. You will need to rectify the soil using the appropriate product.
 

Blood and bone might be the missing factor.Mainly avoided it due to the stink factor. Will take a look at searle's as well, thanks for the tips Julia.

Fishbulb said:
Might be a good idea to test the soil for PH levels. If it's out of balance, no amount of fertiliser will help. You will need to rectify the soil using the appropriate product.
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Yes, checked this but thanks for a reminder. Better go check again just in case. As I have managed to produce a fair bit out of a small garden space.
 
Lots and lots of bewtiful chillies/peppers......... red ones , green ones , yellow ones , big ones small ones ............... Add em all

Add some garlic and a lemon tree

Plant a few onions

Add one young goat

Nirvana
 
Three fantastic natural ingredients for vegetables - Seasol (liquid seaweed) - great for transplanting and promoting root growth (ie carrots) but good for all things at all times and regularly. Charlie Carp - this is amazing stuff made from liquidised European carp that are destroying our inland rivers. Lime or dolomite corrects the acidity from organic matter and fertilizers. Some vegetables do not like lime so consult a booklet like Yates Gardening guide - has absolutley everything you need to know/available at nurseries.

Also sawdust/horse manure collected from stables makes a great mulch or dug into the soil. I use it by the ute load. Mulch is the most important thing apart from water in the summer (and winter) even when growing from a pot.

Many of the recent difficulties of growing vegetables/seedlings is from the drought/dry weather. Hand tap watering does not compare to rain water. Tap watering is rarely deep enough and contains traces of chlorine etc to kill bugs - plants dont like it either.

Hope this is of assistance. Zird is a qualified horticulturalist as well as other things.
 

I noticed that parsley and even more dill hate being transplanted.
All my stuff I let go to seed and most of the time parsley self sows rest I store just in case (good I do that as I said this year was total collapse of the routine.)

My parsley is best in winter too and in summer parsley that hardly gets any sun is tenderer than one growing in full sun.


Julia said:
Basil is very good.
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My Basil is 95% summer crop, parts of some plants that are next to wall that gets sun in winter survive, they look very sorry and I keep them just as respect for plants will to live.
They usually set to seeds as soon as they put few leaves on.


Included picture of my early cropping chili and survier basil, (will have to work on focus in the future not to mention year should be 2009 not 2008)
 

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I see you're in NSW, Happy, so if your parsley is best in your winter, I guess the summer heat up here in Qld is maybe why my parsley is struggling.

I've had no trouble with transplanting parsley and dill, better still basil which seems very hardy, in winter, just in the last month or two.

They're healthy looking plants, Happy. I have some basil that I keep chopping back, has been there for a couple of years now, and it keeps coming back with new young growth. It gets bitter when the plant is older.

Zird, thanks for your comments. I'd forgotten about the chlorinated water.
I've just switched the watering system over to the tank water so hopefully it might improve the languishing parsley.
 
Zird said:
Also sawdust/horse manure collected from stables .

.
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My friend got some from a race horse stable and all his plants died (roses, veges). Apparently it’s full of all the stuff they feed and inject into the horses.
 
Tried again today, date OK, but pictures could be better.
Will probably give up as don't want to fill up whole garden post with my bad pictures
 

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I have used probably 50 to 80 loads of horse stable manure over the years and never had a problem only excellent results. I often use it as a mulch on clients ornamental gardens with excellent results. So not sure why it would kill all your friends plants.
Maybe if it is heaped up to thickly around base plants could cause a problem but this is the case for all mulches or if there is say 95 % fresh manure in the mix could burn plants especially if not watered in after applying as mulch.
 
How much direct sun do veges need? I'm going to begin trying to grow some veges soon. I have a small area that doesnt get much direct sun in the winter months though. It's rather bright, but just not direct. It may not make much difference for the winter though, because I cant really do much but tend to the soil? The winters where I live in Japan are pretty damned cold.
 
Ato said:
How much direct sun do veges need?
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Depends on the plant, but generally the more the better (providing its not 40 degrees!). My old man used to grow vegies for a living and they were always grown in full sunlight. You can prob get away with 5+ hours a day but they may not grow as quick/well
 
Has anyone tried the Topsy Turvy Planter!!!!!!!

When it comes to growing vegies i was trained by the Dark side so its a slow painful death for my plants!!!!!!!

Tim
 
Airfireman said:
Has anyone tried the Topsy Turvy Planter!!!!!!!

When it comes to growing vegies i was trained by the Dark side so its a slow painful death for my plants!!!!!!!

Tim
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I've used upside down 2 litre coke bottles, rather than tossing them away - just chop off the bottom. I currently have around 160 tomato plants and I have them everywhere. The ones that are the least successful are the ones planted upside down.

My guess is that the more active parts of the roots would be the finer ones which still grow towards the open end of the coke bottle - with watering the nutrients drain away from the roots. Also this area is the first to dry out. I guess more dirt would be in order if I were to try again.

Piccy enclosed for your viewing pleasure
 

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Good idea Roland, Interesting to note that your tomato plants have grown upwards towards the sun, whereas the advertised topsy tury have grown down???
Maybe the weight of the plant pulls it down???

Tim
 
Airfireman said:
Good idea Roland, Interesting to note that your tomato plants have grown upwards towards the sun, whereas the advertised topsy tury have grown down???
Maybe the weight of the plant pulls it down???

Tim
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I actually wouldn't be surprised that the marketing material contains plants that were grown quite differently to the final placement in the Topsy Turvy. I have 3 different varieties including a smaller Tom Thumb Tomato and they all curl towards the sun.
 
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