Saying "Hi"

[Phyllis Smith]

Hi, folks, I'm Phyllis. I'm not a newbie gardener, but not extremely experienced either. Somewhere mid-point, I suppose! Hubby & I are growing veggies this summer (we hope!) in our Wirral garden. Some of what we're doing is on the patio in pots & growbags, some will be in former flower borders. We've started 6 nice courgette plants in 3 growbags--2 per bag. Now I've read on this site that growbags aren't the best. Good thing I have 5 more courgette seeds planted & in the propogator! We're experimenting with about 5 varieties of cucumbers, some of which will be raised in a greenhouse-type setting, some will be in the ground. We'll see how that goes, too. We have 3 or 4 varieties of tomatoes on the grow, most from seeds we've grown. I'm quite proud of those, because I'm in charge of the "nursery," which is what our sunny lounge is serving as these days.

Well, off and gardening again--have to research the nutritional needs of green beans, and how soon to plant out my brussel sprouts!

Cheerio!

[Nicos]

Hi there- and welcome to the Vine!

[Flummery]

Might have been me that said it! I find they are hard to water correctly. You need to make drainage holes in the bottom or they flood, and the sort of compost they use (often peat based) doesn't re-wet very successfully if it's dried out too well. Some people use them year on year so they must get results.

I find that courgettes need lots of water and are quite heavy feeders - I bang on plenty of home made compost when they get going. I've tried them in pots and in the ground and they always do better in the ground, if you can manage it.

Well done on the tomato plants - there's a real buzz feeling when you've grown them from seed. Just got my first green beans showing through the compost too.

Welcome to the Grapevine and happy growing!

[Jeanied]

Hi there Phyllis, welcome to the vine! Why don't you put your location on your profile so people can tailor their advice to gardening in the Wirral!
As for watering dried out compost - one drop of washing up liquid in the watering can full of water should do it.

[BigShot]

Hi Phyllis, I've just joined too but maybe this will help.
Growbag Pallets
It looks easy enough to make and could help stop growbags getting waterlogged.

[Bren In Pots]

Phyllis and Bigshot hello and welcome to the vine

[Jeanied]

Hi Bigshot - you at least deserve your own introduce yourself thread - where are you growing?

[Florence Fennel]

Hello and welcome to the Vine Phyllis - my, you must be very fond of courgettes to be growing so many!

[Bigmallly]

Hello & welcome to the vine Phyllis

[binley100]

Hello and welcome from me too

[ginger ninger]

Hello and welcome to the vine Phyllis, sound's as if you like courgette's ? I can't say as I blame ya...I could eat them every day.