Phil the non-gardeners garden

[Rapscallion]

Thanks for coming back with such a detailed answer. The herbs i mentioned were just a couple of the seeds i purchased. I went a little ott when i was ordering my seeds.....
I have bought a book (The Herb Garden for Cooks), and it has a number of suggested herb pots and i have bought pretty much all the herbs in those pots with the intention copying the setups they have illustrated. I shall post the suggested pots in a post below, but I have got more than 20 different herb seeds coming my way....

For those that are best propagating, i could use the front room as that is rarely used and do the propagating there. I could also use the garage come shed, but that will be a little cooler.

Also the link to those pots i was looking at didn’t work on the previous post - heres a working link

Regarding the beans, I think i might try broad beans to go with the sugar snap peas and the mange tout. Are they easy to grow? The growing space is around 2m wide x 1.6 m high.

[mrbadexample]

Hi mrbadexample's - sorry but i didn’t make it to the market, but i checked on their twitter and they didnt mention they had any kumato's.

Thanks for looking!

[Zelenina]

I went a little ott when i was ordering my seeds.....

Hehe! That's normal for people who hang out here

Sounds like you're going to have some very tasty food

The front room will be better than the garage for the propagator, and will probably be fine for herbs. Try it and see how fast they come up. But some things might prefer even more warmth. I put mine in my boiler room, except for things like lettuce that don't like high temps. Some people put theirs on top of the fridge or a desktop computer to provide a little more heat.

Broad beans are easy enough to grow but not everyone likes eating them. If you want something that doesn't grow tall you might be better off with dwarf French beans or you can even get dwarf runners like Hestia. Or a few of each. They'll do ok in containers. And there's a shorter broad bean variety called Robin Hood that's recommended for containers too.

Zel don't need no links!! I found the same pots by goggling the words you used to describe them. Well, if you're following the advice from a book you'll probably do ok. Although I'm wondering if a book called "The Herb Garden for Gardeners" would have the same advice.

[Zelenina]

P.S. Today I noticed a whole lot of little dill seedlings that just sprang up in my garden. But I don't know if your weather is good enough for it yet. I inherited it from the previous owner and it reseeds itself every year. You can't have a proper Slovak garden without self-perpetuating dill. And horseradish.

[Rapscallion]

You mention not bothering with a propagator for some of the seeds - what soil should I pleasant them in, normal compost or seed compost?

For those I am growing in the propagator, once they have started to grow, can I then move them to the wilko greenhouse?

[Rapscallion]

Hi all - question regarding what pots to use as the seedlings grow.

I think i need to prick out the seedlings from the propagating tray into a 3" pot with John Innes #1.

Form there, what size pots shall i move them into?

I have been advised that the herbs will end up in 10" or 14" pots dependent on size, but what size pots shall i get to use between the 3" pot and the larger pots? Don’t want to get more than i need, but as i will likely be buying mail order it makes sense to get them all together.

Also, when shall i move the seedlings onto John Innes #2 and 3?

[Rapscallion]

Little bump. Hope to get what I need from the garden centre today. Can somebody take a look at the questions I posted on the last 2 posts?

[Martin H]

Hi Rap.

Second question first, because it's easier...
Traditional advice when potting on is to go to a size where you can get your finger down the side of the rootball to push the compost down. So when the roots have filled the 3 inch pot you'd move to something like a 4 1/2 or 5 inch pot. If you're sticking with the John Innes route, pot on to number 2 until you do the final pot in number 3.

As to the first question ... for seed sowing, I use John Innes Seed for delicate stuff but a decent multipurpose compost (like the Verve one from B and Q) for everything else. I put the compost through a riddle first to make sure there are no big lumps or twigs in it. I've found that most stuff doesn't care much about what compost you use; if it wants to grow then it does.

[BUFFS]

Absolutely agree with BM - these tomato houses and similar items are great. The only thing you will need to be aware of is that they will blow away if it is windy. I solve the problem by putting house bricks on the bottom poles and on the edges of the cover.

I had one of the 6 x 6 versions of the plastic tomato house/greenhouse, weighed down with 2 kerb stones, you know how heavy they are, and after a very windy night I came out to find just 2 kerb stones, we never did find any of that g/house and plants and the g/house is concreted down to make sure we don't lose it..

[TrysHard]

I find all seeds benefit from a propagator i.e being covered so they do not dry out - -

I use multipurpose compost for everything - I am sure it is too rich for some seedlings but I dn't like to faff - i do riddle for seed planting.

Just pot on one pot size up - most herbs will cope if they end up in a 6 inch pot but bigger is better as you need to water less often.

Oh and water from the bottom if you can it encourages root growth

PS. If I give any advice on propergating peas and beans ignore me as I am shite

[Rapscallion]

Thanks all. Went to the garden centre and they had barely any small pots so will be ordering from Amazon.

And ended up buying more seeds...... Lol.

[Rapscallion]

Lol. Fingers crossed mine may cope better as i have it in a corner against the garage and a fence. As long as i attach it well!

[Rapscallion]

Hi all, have pulled the summer salad and veg form my raised bed and the tomatoes will soon be gone from my Wilkos greenhouse. No idea what to plant out next, what suggestions do people have for autumn / winter crops in a raised bed or plastic greenhouse?
I also have a few containers i can use, some 12'' round and some oblong ones about 2' wide.

[Penellype]

Outdoors you can sow corn salad and oriental greens (mizuna, mibuna, namenia) for winter greens and salads. There is probably also time for some spring cabbage, but I would start these indoors to get them going before putting them outside. I'm also giving turnips and spinach a go in pots. In your greenhouse you could try winter lettuce (make sure its a winter variety as these are bred to grow in lower light levels) and pea shoots. You might also get a crop of small round carrots which grow quite fast.

You can plant over wintering varieties of broad beans, peas and onions now.

[Rapscallion]

Back in the garden the past few weeks. Ive planted 6 each of Cobra, Nomad and Sonesta beans. The cobra's have down well with all germinating and up to 3" high now. Three each of the Nomad and Sonesta have germinated so far.

Im hoping to plant them in pots, what size pots would you recommend and how many in a pot? Ive got two large pots left, about 50cm across, but will be heading to the garden centre and looking on gumtree for some more pots this weekend.

PS, also have an allotment with a spare space about 5mx4m that i would like to use for beans and peas. What easy peas / beans would you recommend, have i still got time to grow them from seed, and how many plants would you put in an area that size?