Tomatoes, Rabbits and Runner Beans

[Lumpy]

I have just watched a programme called 'Garden Pantry' that I recorded off a well known saterlite provider.
The programme is Australian about growing and then using your produce and a couple of things were said I would like some feedback on -

When the presenter asked the lady grower if she sprayed milk and water over her toms to dter blight she said 'no'. However. she puts a small amount of powdered milk in the hole when she plants out her toms and the calcium within it helps them - could this technique help with blight?

The same gardener grpws potatoes and broad beans around the perimeter of her veggie patch as it helps deter rabbits because they don't like them - true or false.

She cuts her runners down to the ground at the end of the season and the following year they re-grow and will do so for several years - could this work here if they were well protected with cloche and fleece during our winter?

[Jungle Jane]

cuts her runners down to the ground at the end of the season and the following year they re-grow and will do so for several years - could this work here if they were well protected with cloche and fleece during our winter?

Yes! I cut my runner beans (celebration) down to the ground,they re-grew last year,I'm waiting to see if they grow this year-they'l be 3yrs old! When each plant re-grew,instead of one vine,there were 3 or 4 per plant & huge beans! Later to produce than my freshly sown celebration ones tho. We must've had a particularly warm winter because they only had about an inch or 2 of straw,but theyre in a sheltered area.

[Lumpy]

Thank you JJ.
I had never heard of doing that and thought that the climate differences would make it unworkable but....
I suppose the same technique as yours could be tried with french and broad beans as well as sugar snaps etc.

[WendyC]

Runner beans are really perennials which, due to their tender nature, we grow as annuals. Peas are definitely annuals. I don't know about broad beans or French beans.

[Zelenina]

When the presenter asked the lady grower if she sprayed milk and water over her toms to dter blight she said 'no'. However. she puts a small amount of powdered milk in the hole when she plants out her toms and the calcium within it helps them - could this technique help with blight?

A source of calcium in the planting hole could help to prevent blossom end rot in tomatoes. I've been thinking of trying eggshells for that purpose. But I think it's most unlikely to have any effect on blight.

I've heard of spraying the leaves of cucumbers and squashes with milk and water to prevent mildew, and it could work, though I haven't tried it. I'd be very doubtful of there being such an easy remedy for blight, but I'd love to be proven wrong.

The same gardener grpws potatoes and broad beans around the perimeter of her veggie patch as it helps deter rabbits because they don't like them - true or false.

I don't know. But I should think potato leaves would be poisonous to rabbits so they probably would avoid them. The only creatures I know of that really like eating them are Colorado beetles and Spanish slugs. I would somehow expect broad bean plants to be very palatable to rabbits, but I could be wrong.

She cuts her runners down to the ground at the end of the season and the following year they re-grow and will do so for several years - could this work here if they were well protected with cloche and fleece during our winter?

They are perennials, and I have some runner roots saved from last year which are sprouting now. But I dug them up and kept them indoors in a crate in a coolish place with a bit of damp compost over them. I think last winter here would have killed them outdoors, and two of them died anyway. But it could work outside if you have mild winters.

[Scarlet]

We must've had a particularly warm winter because they only had about an inch or 2 of straw,but theyre in a sheltered area.

We did have a very warm winter...I didn't have one frost all through winter or spring. My first frost "this year" was Sept 14 and my last frost was only last week...very different growing years. I sure I've a few cold nights left to go

Thank you JJ.
I had never heard of doing that and thought that the climate differences would make it unworkable but....
I suppose the same technique as yours could be tried with french and broad beans as well as sugar snaps etc.

Bren in pots digs hers up and stores in the GH I think?

[Kirk]

When the presenter asked the lady grower if she sprayed milk and water over her toms to dter blight she said 'no'. However. she puts a small amount of powdered milk in the hole when she plants out her toms and the calcium within it helps them - could this technique help with blight?

Does Australia have a problem with blight to the extent that we do.
Blight being fungal and prospers in wet conditions, not sure if wet and cold/cool. No mention of which bit of Australia so not easy to determine what the expected climate is where they were being grown.

If spraying with milk helps, no idea, then I cannot see powdered milk working the same way. I suspect there is very little milk in powdered milk. Fair bit of chemistry.

[Bren In Pots]

Bren in pots digs hers up and stores in the GH I think?

I over winter a few each year treating them like any other tubers heres the thread :-

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ans_78430.html

[Bren In Pots]

Here's how my runner beans look today.