So I'm just a grape??

[gingerbilly]

I knew it....my doctor actually told me this last year.....so it looks like I'm going to be a little ginger grape amongst a load of other big red grapes......

Where's the compost heap?.....I know me place!

[veggiechicken]

Hello gingerbilly and welcome to the Grapevine. You're definitely a candidate for the Nutters Club if ever I saw one

[Aberdeenplotter]

I think we should change the subject. There is a tangentisation thread . btw, welcome

[Newton]

Sounds like a nutter to me.......welcome. A ginger grape! Not the only one Shirley!

[Bren In Pots]

Hello and welcome to the vine gingerbilly you do know there's no hope for you now you've joined

[Nicos]

Hi there - and welcome to the Vine!

Where abouts in the uK are you?

Perhaps you could add your rough location to your profile???

[bearded bloke]

Hello & welcome

[Hazel at the Hill]

Perhaps you could add your rough location to your profile???

That's a bit rude, Nicos - GB might live in a very nice area for all you know!!

[Feral007]

That's a bit rude, Nicos - GB might live in a very nice area for all you know!!

Exactly what I thought too Hazel

Is the norty step in the compost heap now?

[out in the cold]

Hi Gingerbilly.

Welcome to the nutters section. A nice man in a straightjacket will be along shortly...

Anyway, If you have ginger hair all over, you are more likely to be a gooseberry

[gingerbilly]

OK......thank you one and all.......at the moment I'm suffering at 4 degrees C along with the rest of the UK gardeners......

I'm slightly left (looking at the UK map) of central Canvey Island ....on the Thames......my soil is roughly heavy to extremely heavy salted CLAY (reclaimed from the Thames marshes in the 1600's according to local history).........with a very low water table and therefore everything veg is grown from my 2 raised beds (3.2 metre x 1.4 metre beds x 3)......although the front and back flower garden is OK with anything that likes salt.......(I've tried allotments!!)

Cant wait for your recommendations!!! as nothing grows ere other than marsh-marigolds at sea level!!!

What a very nice website and thank you for the welcome.

[Aberdeenplotter]

beetroot doesn't mind salt

[Moopmoop]

Neither do chips...

[out in the cold]

Kale, Asparagus and spinach do well in salty conditions according to this http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex4246

So does seaweed mind...

[out in the cold]

Just thinking... How high is your water table there?* Is your ground prone to drying out quickly? Do salty soils not only tend to cause major difficulties when they dehydrate?

Would adding moisture retainers help (wood mulch, straw etc)?


* missed that bit in your post, sorry. you said it was really low...

Would increasing the amount of water being delivered to the site help you reduce the effects of the salt?

Sorry, these are genuine questions. I am still a relative newbie and don't have the answers either, but working on the principle of it being the intensity / concentration of the salt which causes the plants problems, surely "watering it down" will help keep it under control