Horizon's Gardening Topic

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  • Yes, when Little Wing was around, we used to talk a lot about this. All of us on the site at the time weren't keen on most of the nature programmes which seemed overly focussed on the big cats ripping to pieces other creatures and all the presenters loving every minute of it.X/

    Used to get a kestrel come and take out a starling or two, but don't seem to be getting any starlings now in my area, so no meal for them.

  • Cactus flowers are very pretty

    I remember buying a Christmas cactus from Tesco with lovely flowers. When it finished flowering we left it on the sill and were astonished when it flowered again at Easter. It did this for a few years, flowering at Christmas and Easter which was weird because the date of Easter always varies

    This went on for a number of years until we had gas central heating installed which killed it :(

  • Just about all my nasturtiums ( see post #1737) have died, victims of a blackfly infestation and caterpillars.;( The very few surviving ones do have some ladybird larvae on them so I hope they can munch away on the blackfly. I'm spending some time removing the dead and dying ones but keep getting covered in the sticky stuff these blighters coat everything with.:cursing:

  • Just about all my nasturtiums ( see post #1737) have died, victims of a blackfly infestation and caterpillars.;( The very few surviving ones do have some ladybird larvae on them so I hope they can munch away on the blackfly. I'm spending some time removing the dead and dying ones but keep getting covered in the sticky stuff these blighters coat everything with.:cursing:

    Where do blackfly live when there's nothing to munch? I gave up growing broad beans, the minute they flowered and the beans set in swarmed the perishers :(

  • I don't know what is wrong with our runner beans. They have flowered and beans have been set and are starting to grow but very slowly, along with some leaves dying off. They all look as if they are on the way out. Grown the same way as every year, no sign of any beasties

  • Where do blackfly live when there's nothing to munch?

    Blackfly Aphis fabae overwinters as eggs on shrubs such as common spindle (Euonymus europaeus), Viburnum and Philadelphus. Egg hatch occurs in spring as the winter host plant is coming into new leaf. Several generations of wingless aphids, which are all female and produce live young rather than eggs, develop on the spring foliage. By May, the foliage on the winter host plants has become older and tougher, which along with increasing day length induces a change in the aphids. A generation of female winged aphids develops that fly away in search of suitable summer host plants, such as beans, nasturtium, poppies and dahlia.

    I didn't know that so there's something I've found out today.

  • I've got several cacti that came from my mothers. These were very neglected so I re-potted with fresh gritty compost and they started to look much happier and now one has produced a big flower:

    Looking good, as least they're getting lots of heat at the moment.

    I don't know what is wrong with our runner beans. They have flowered and beans have been set and are starting to grow but very slowly, along with some leaves dying off. They all look as if they are on the way out. Grown the same way as every year, no sign of any beasties

    Have you tried a tomato feed??

  • Looking good, as least they're getting lots of heat at the moment.

    Have you tried a tomato feed??

    I find those liquid feeds not very effective, tend to scatter growmore and chicken manure

    Have soaked them and they have recovered so I'm guessing they just got too dry

  • First pickings from our runner beans tonight. Thought we had lost them but I think the very hot recent spell got to them so regular soaking brought them back

    Tons of young ones on them now, the neighbours will be happy

  • Been ages since I've grown any veg, let alone runner beans, but I must try at some point.

    After what turned out to be almost gale force winds yesterday, I was out in my gardens tidying up and then giving the lawns a mow and edge. Still windy, but nowhere near as bad as yesterday.

  • Been ages since I've grown any veg, let alone runner beans, but I must try at some point.

    After what turned out to be almost gale force winds yesterday, I was out in my gardens tidying up and then giving the lawns a mow and edge. Still windy, but nowhere near as bad as yesterday.

    We row them in big tubs just outside the back door so easy to water

  • If you buy a bag of spuds from a supermarket and fail to use them immediately they will start to sprout, I believe the tech term is "chit"

    Has anybody ever tried planting these, and if so did they grow?

  • Here's a cautionary tale for those who grow veg at home:

    If your courgette tastes bitter then don't eat it, apparently.

    It's not the seed but certain growing conditions cause excess cucurbitacins.

  • There is something very odd this year, our runner bean crop is pathetic as is a neighbours. Grown exactly the same way as they always are

    Yet in the greenhouse we have four tomato plants, spares from a neighbour, and they are thriving with first fruit formed. We gave up trying to grow them as we were never successful

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