How about a gardening thread?

[weetruffle]

	Quote:	meloncollie
	Very good point! The info desk is staffed by folks who really know their stuff. I often bring an infected leaf or a photo of a problem plant and ask what the experts might do. Free advice... but be warned, the garden center is the stuff of dreams. I rarely leave without a car full.

Oooh, I went there and it did terrible terrible things to my credit card!

[DantesDame]

Wbo's good with corn?

My plants are tall and strong and producing well, but the ears are small. Does this mean that I should just leave them on the plant longer? How long is "too long"? I read that they are ready when the silks have turned brown and the kernels are plump. This describes two ears I picked, but they weren't nearly as big as I hoped they'd be.



Thoughts?

[weetruffle]

Here's my courgettes. You can see that the bottom leaves kept dying so it's going up and up but the baby courgettes are just shrivelling....

[weetruffle]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	Wbo's good with corn? My plants are tall and strong and producing well, but the ears are small. Does this mean that I should just leave them on the plant longer? How long is "too long"? I read that they are ready when the silks have turned brown and the kernels are plump. This describes two ears I picked, but they weren't nearly as big as I hoped they'd be. Thoughts?

They look normal size though?

	Quote:	weetruffle
	Here's my courgettes. You can see that the bottom leaves kept dying so it's going up and up but the baby courgettes are just shrivelling....

Is it a climbing variety of courgettes or a standard one? They don't like climbing. I had a climbing one last year & it wasn't a happy soul. The slug guards are only for when the plant is young too. It can hinder the plant growing & spreading keeping them on once the plant is getting bigger. (That I have noticed from experience). Can you take off the slug guards, put a good dose of compost around & lay the plants down then make sure you water them well very morning?

[weetruffle]

I'll try that, thanks! I had no idea that there were climbers and non climbers! I'm so pleased I found this tread

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	weetruffle
	They look normal size though?

Yeah, maybe I'm just being greedy. They grow a lot bigger in Pennsylvania

[DantesDame]

So much rain! My tomatoes are splitting and my blackberries are mildewing But the corn and zucchini are still coming along!

The first sunflower of the season has been harvest - I have never seen one so big!



And more corn:

Meanwhile..... I was, and still am, for the past fortnight busy preserving, dehydrating, freezing, jam-making all the harvest, (from boyfriends and my 'allotment'), as well as the foraged goods so far, into stuff to keep.

I LOVE IT!!

[ladylou]

Hello everyone, I just harvested 2 bags of potatoes. One did well with nice size spuds, but the other bag had tiny pea sized spuds. Anyone know the reason for this and are they edible? I planted them back in May so thought they would be mature by know.. Did i dive in too early? Considering one bag gave a decent yield, I am left wondering..

[DantesDame]

And speaking of garden harvest questions... whats's up with my corn???

The plants themselves look great. Perhaps it is all of the stinkbugs that are crawling around on them? Anyway, all of the ears I've harvested after the above photos have produced corn that looks like this:



Even the one that looks "ok" was tasteless. Thoughts?

Planted some daffodil and crocus bulbs in late September following my MIL‘s advice. I believe it is the daffodils that are already sprouting leaves. Isn‘t this much too early? Will they all freeze to death in the winter? And does the same fate await my tulips that I planted last week?

[ladylou]

Hi all, no luck with my potatoes.. i am just giving up on the garden this year and cleared my vegetable patch except for the chives and rocket salad and did some pruning before winter.

@Dantesdame, i think the sweetness of corn has a lot to do with the variety. I bought it one year but misjudged the space it needed! I only got 2 small corns, one of which also had the rotten kernels that yours have.. no other real solution for you but maybe to try another variety. How much space did you give the corn and where did you plant it sun/shade wise. I would like to give it another go! Its a pretty plant
The stinkbugs are annoying on my raspberry patch, its a race to see who gets the berries first!!

@carlasmom with the bulbs, could it be you didn't plant them deep enough? Or maybe its just this sunny mild weather we are getting! I do recall this happening to me once, but I think they bloomed the following spring so i'd either dig them deeper or put more soil on top, or just let them do their thing and see what happens. I haven't been gardening so long, its all trial and error still!

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	ladylou
	Hi all, no luck with my potatoes..

Whereas I planted a single potato on a whim (It had sprouted in my kitchen) and I got this when I dug it up this fall:

	Quote:	ladylou
	@Dantesdame, i think the sweetness of corn has a lot to do with the variety. I bought it one year but misjudged the space it needed! I only got 2 small corns, one of which also had the rotten kernels that yours have.. no other real solution for you but maybe to try another variety. How much space did you give the corn and where did you plant it sun/shade wise. I would like to give it another go! Its a pretty plant

The seed packets are from the US, for the finest, sweetest sweet corn planting But clearly that did not work out. The plants were about 30cm apart, just as the packaging suggested. And they had full sun, all day, and I watered them when they needed it. Oh well, I will try something else next year

	Quote:	ladylou
	@carlasmom with the bulbs, could it be you didn't plant them deep enough? Or maybe its just this sunny mild weather we are getting! I do recall this happening to me once, but I think they bloomed the following spring so i'd either dig them deeper or put more soil on top, or just let them do their thing and see what happens. I haven't been gardening so long, its all trial and error still!

I have see spring bulbs poke out of the ground too early, but usually they don't get far and wait for a proper spring to come before coming up any further. This is my guess for carlasmom, but I am no bulb expert

[amogles]

Anybody have any experience with growing kiwifruits here?

I have a mature plant that is unfortunbately growing in a spot that has a lot of potential for other uses.

If I dig it up and transplant it, will it have a realistic chance of survival.

Or should I just bite the bullet, sacrifice it and start afresh with a little one?

[pilatus1]

	Quote:	amogles
	Anybody have any experience with growing kiwifruits here? I have a mature plant that is unfortunbately growing in a spot that has a lot of potential for other uses. If I dig it up and transplant it, will it have a realistic chance of survival. Or should I just bite the bullet, sacrifice it and start afresh with a little one?

They don't transplant well, it's likely not worth it.

Have you tried the mini-kiwis/ hardy kiwis? They're sweeter, have more flavor than fuzzy kiwis, and you can eat the skin (there's no fuzz). They're just not so common or well known because they don't ship/store well - you won't see them in food stores.

'Issai' is a cool plant - self-pollinating and it fruits within a few years:
http://www.heckenpflanzen.ch/fruchtg...kiwi-issai.php

[DantesDame]

This weather, coupled with my newly-acquired Arbeitslos status, has been fantastic for my garden!

I have been able to spend 3-4 hours a day there, just pottering around and (mostly) digging out the long-established weed beds thanks to the previous owner's neglect. I am already planning on what to plant next spring and how to best prepare the property for it!


Now if only my neighbor had offered to fix my mower after I let him borrow it

[Dan M]

What is the law regarding cross border garden shopping? Are there any agricultural rules about bringing plants across borders? Can I go to Annemasse, buy a couple of tomato plants, and bring them back to Switzerland?

[Belgianmum]

	Quote:	Dan M
	What is the law regarding cross border garden shopping? Are there any agricultural rules about bringing plants across borders? Can I go to Annemasse, buy a couple of tomato plants, and bring them back to Switzerland?

There are some plants that you are not allowed to bring into Switzerland but tomatoes are not one of them.
The rules vary depending on where you're bringing them from.


https://www.ezv.admin.ch/ezv/en/home...s--cites-.html

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	Dan M
	What is the law regarding cross border garden shopping? Are there any agricultural rules about bringing plants across borders? Can I go to Annemasse, buy a couple of tomato plants, and bring them back to Switzerland?

Belgianmum already answered you, and I'll confirm that the typical garden plants should pose no problems. In my case, I don't think the border guys expect anyone on a motorcycle to have plants in the panniers


Unrelated:
This is my garden a few days ago, when we had snow...all buttoned up for winter!