» Pauls Garden

June 2011

Paul — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 14:16:36 +0000

Hydroponics 2011

Paul — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:12:50 +0000

I have setup my small hydroponics kit again for another attempt at growing using this method. Luckily, I have a hydroponics shop very close to my house so when I went in there a few weeks back for supplies I was also able to get some advice.

I am trying to avoid a repeat of last year when mould formed around the roots and killed the tomatos growing in the system – http://wellrooted.co.uk/2010/06/hydro-disaster/

I have three types of chillis in the system – Jolokia, Apache and Cayene. I am using ‘Chilli Focus’ diluted in the resevoir water to feed the plants.

The top of the tray I had used last year was made from wood and I cut holes in the top to allow the plants to grow through. The difference this year is that I have the correct plastic top to the tray and I have cut diagonally through the cube cut-outs. I then bent up each corner and cut a small hole in the middle to allow only the stem of the plant to come up through. In theory, this should stop the light getting to the ‘rockwool’ cube that the plants grow in which should in turn stop them becomming green with algae and allowing mould / disease into the system…

Here’s hoping.

Boxes Complete

Paul — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:42:52 +0000

I managed to get around to making the new garden boxes today and I am very pleased with the result! This will make the little part of the garden much easier to manage while still keeping the cats mess at bay.

Propagation

Paul — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:47:00 +0000

I decided to purchase a new heated propagator to help with the germination process of some of my seeds. I went for a 50w version with a built in thermostat that is designed to keep the soil temperature at 19 degrees c. So far it has been excellent and my cucumber (spacemaster 80) seeds came up within 4 days! The tomato (black krim) seeds have also since appeared.

I now have all the wood I should need for the new garden boxes and will hopefully make a start on them this weekend. I also installed an autovent onto the greenhouse window which is working a treat.

I was also very surprised to see flowers and even small green strawberrys on my outdoor plants today!

Next Idea / Plan

Paul — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 22:07:40 +0000

I’ve been toying with the idea of making my main bed easier to manage as the existing mesh has fallen into disrepair over the winter. Unfortunately it is required to keep all of the local cats out!

This is the idea I have come up with…

I’m going to make three seperate wooden frames with strong plastic mesh panels. The idea is that to get to a section of the raised bed you can just lift off a box section and continue with the planting and just place back again when done. I shall use a light wood so they should be very easy to move about. Each box will be 109x87x60cm so I’m going to buy just over 30m of wood to build them all!

Back to the plants and the tomatos (big zac, cedrico) and chillis (apache) are doing great at the moment…

Preparation 2011

Paul — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 20:19:08 +0000

I am much more organised this year and I have started to prepare my very modest space to make the most of it ready for the spring. I have removed the shelving from the greenhouse and built large wooden boxes instead. This will allow the plant roots much more room to expand than the grow bags of last year were able to provide.

I have already planted a good few seeds and they appeared through the soil in just 5 days, hopefully a sign of things to come! This is what I have planted so far…

Tomato (Cedrico, Big Zac, Shirley, Ailsa Craig) Onion (Ailsae, Ailsa Craig) Chilli (Jolokia, Apache)

The onions will be part of my bid to improve on last year’s giant onion attempt, my measly 800g Ailsa Craig. Follow the attempt here.

In the picture, you can see the newly built boxes ready to be filled with soil. The near left hand corner will be filled with the hydroponic kit again soon. The box with the soil already in has held extra strawberry runners from last years plants over the winter along with the ones in the pots. The advocado tree in the background has just about survived the cold (I think)!

The end is nigh

Paul — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:51:51 +0000

The weather has been rubbish lately, and so has the frequency of my updates! I have had the last of my cucumbers now. The fact that they were in grow bags hindered them I think, most of the cucumbers were very yellow as the depth of soil could not hold much water. Will have to do that better next year.

The sunbeam squash plant has also gone now, leaving only a very trimmed courgette plant in the bigger wooden box. I never really used the produce from that plant all that much and I don’t think I will plant that one again next year. The courgettes were much more useful to me.

The tomatos are taking a long time to ripen, I hope they can turn red enough before the plants die!

Produce

Paul — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:39:14 +0000

I haven’t been able to get up into the gardens as much as I would have liked over recent weeks, but it has looked after itself quite well with all of the rain we had. We have been enjoying a lot of the fresh veg now coming from the plots. The biggest successes so far have been cucumber, runner beans, french beans, mange tout, courgettes, squash and potatos. The carrots have not been brilliant so we will do something better with those next year.

The greenhouse tomatos are now just starting to turn red, as are the outdoor ones. This will be the next load of produce to emerge I believe. We now tend to get about 3 good size cucumbers a week and around the same number of courgettes.

Some of my ideas for next year…

No potatos in the main bed – they overshadowed a lot of other plants like the carrots and made the plot hard to access.
Grow more onions, carrots – didn’t have enough of these this year.
Do not grow lettuce ‘salad bowl’ – they became covered with aphids and were not easy to prepare.
Come up with a better hydroponic solution to avoid mould – any ideas anyone?

Hydro-Disaster!

Paul — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 09:53:06 +0000

I knew things were too good to be true! I went out to the greenhouse to find some of the newly forming tomatos on the hydroponics system had dropped onto the floor with blackened sides to them. After some more investigation, the problems appeared to be more substantial. I had a look at the roots and found mould.

After some research on tomato diseases, I came to the conclusion the problem was FUSARIUM WILT due to the mould within the roots and instead of them being white, they had become brown and mulchy. I had to make the call and couldn’t risk the disease spreading around the greenhouse so I have aborted the hydroponics experiment for this year. I will come back with a better system next time!

On a better note – the peppers survived from the hydroponics and I have now replanted them into soil…

…and I have lots of tasty courgettes

Landscaped pond and tomatos a-plenty

Paul — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:24:21 +0000

This week saw the pond area finally finished. It’s such a nice place to sit and listen to the waterfall now. As our garden has 3 levels, we have decided to give each one its purpose. The bottom area is used for a table and chairs, the middle level is a decorative area and the top level for the vegetables and fruits.

Anyway, back to the main topic – the plants! All is still going well and the only problems we have had recently is maintaining the temperature as it’s been so hot recently. I think I’m going to have to be trading a few tomatos for a few of the plants we haven’t grown as we are going to have too many!

My main aubergene should start producing soon…

…and the cucumbers have some great yellow flowers on them.

The cucumber plants that sit on the lower shelf have had to be tied to the top shelf to support them

I’m hoping this plant will make me a nice bell pepper but it hasn’t been doing that well. It was one that survived through last year but I don’t think I pruned it back enough to stimulate new growth.