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Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 05 8:02 pm Post subject:
I think we'll also try a row in a piece of gutter as well this year.

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 05 10:01 pm Post subject:
Thanks for that Nanny...it's difficult when you consider that we pair with our limited experience, are about the most dedicated growers/cooks we know (in real life, not here )

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 05 11:34 pm Post subject:
Hm...So its not too early for peas then?.....The gutter idea.....How do you do this?....surely the gutter would be too shallow to support the pea plants?..Someone enlighten me, please?

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 05 8:51 am Post subject:

You sow the seeds in a length of guttering or half drainpipe, in some compost/soil etc. Put it somewhere semi sheltered to encourage germination.

When the seedlings are well up and looking strong, you clear out a row in your veg patch that is as near as you can get to the size and shape of your drainpipe.

Then you slide out the whole row in to the row in the veg patch - no pricking out or planting up or any such nonsense.

Voila, ready made veg patch, with seedlings grown protected from mice etc, possibly a little earlier than you would manage sowing straight in the ground, giving you a little more time to get your veg patch prepared.

I'm not sure of the exact compost you would use, sowing densities etc. If Nanny is about today perhaps she'll give more details, but if you're desperate to get going (have we got any drainpipe spare Treacodactyl???

) you might have a look on Google or better still the Telegraph, for "Sarah Raven", peas, and drainpipe (hmmm - if you do it on Google turn off the adult search first

). It's not like she invented it but she's very big on it and has done it a few times on Gardener's World and I'm sure also in her Telegraph columns.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 05 11:00 am Post subject:
bung them in loo rolls - takes up a lot less space, and you can sow in succession. (This is me hedging all my bets in case one lot fails - at least if i succession sow it will only be a little lot!)

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 05 11:32 am Post subject:
We first learned of the drainpipe trick from the great Geoff but have only just got round to it. They're coming up in the polytunnel now. Prehaps some fleece is in order tonight, though.

selfsufficientish

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 364
Location: Bristol

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 05 2:12 pm Post subject:

Another thing you can try is newspaper pots similar to the toilet roll idea really, only the paper rots down quicker than cardboard.

Incidently many herbs do not like to transpanted either, which would have been nice to have know before I planted my corriander last time. It bolted an went to seed in a matter of weeks. Parsley is another one ledgend had it that if you transplanted parsley bad luck would befall your household for the next year.

heres how to make newspaper pots https://www.selfsufficientish.com/newspaperpots.htm

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 05 4:58 pm Post subject:
Another parsley legend is that it only grows in a house where the woman wears the trousers, but that can't be true because I've never succeeded with it. Funnily enough, though, the old chap says it's definitely true

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 05 5:49 pm Post subject: peas

i have done the toilet roll thing and the gutter thing both equally well but the gutter thing i find easier because you draw the hoe down the length of the row to the right depth and then just slide the whole lot in at once and they are all in the right place, just a bit of tidying up

the down side is having several long pieces of guttering in the green house but i have always found that they germinate fairly quickly so it isn't too inconvenient...............i try to do successional sowings but don't always get to it, just using compost that i pick up from a garden center but always peat free....my own compost isn't good enough frankly and i just dig that in to the plots

i have given up trying to do things too early so won't put them in the greenhouse until sometime in march

by the way i use those victorian climbing peas from www.victoriana.ws and have had success, lots and lots of peas and i grow them like i would sweet peas or runnner beans

it works for me...........

Marigold123

Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 224

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 3:09 am Post subject:

I tried a 'no dig' vegetable plot once, where you are supposed to sow everything in specially airated cups, (polystyrene - or paper/card is obviously better), that have had special cuts made in the sides to offer better airation and encourage the roots to come to the edge of the pot.

This is supposed to help the roots to establish more quickly when you transplant them - you carefully unpot them and plant the whole root ball in a hole made with a bulb planter, much quicker than digging a hole, and the right size and shape. You leave a bigger distance between the groups of plants than you would between individual seedlings, 6 inches or so, I think, as you are planting in rough rows of groups, rather than straight lines.

It was quite successful, but I found that with the peas you had to be careful not to leave them in the pots too long, as if they grow too tall and start to produce tendrils you never seem to get as strong a plant after you've transplanted.

I've not used the guttering technique myself, but it's probably better than this method, for peas at least. I wonder whether it would be useful for other veg seedlings?

Guest

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 9:14 am Post subject:
I read somewhere that thte guttering should have holed drilled in the bottom for drainage, but not everyone seems to mention this. I should think that as the peas will germiante fairly quickly this might be unnecessary. I always sow my peas direct outside now, with much better results - stronger, healthier plants, more vigorous growth.

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 3:26 pm Post subject: peas

i wondered about the drainage................

never been a problem as i always elevate one end ever so slightly so that any excess water seems to drain away....

i have never used it for any other seedlings.i would imagine you could providing the plant didn't need to establish a really deep root system in a hurry

i do my broad beans in loo rolls and also my runner beans....i wonder if the runners could go in to guttering? i grow them onto frame work as well as the peas so in theory it could work i suppose

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 6:33 pm Post subject:
I would think the runners would not do well in the guttering - they are very deep rooted, and there just wouldn't be enough room.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 7:17 pm Post subject:
The idea of the guttering is to germinate the seeds and plant out quickly. If there are holes drilled in then any roots may hinder the planting out as the compost & seedlings are slid out in one go. Not tried it yet so do those that do drill holes in the guttering? I agree that it may not be very suitable for beans, but we tend to plant less bean plants than peas.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 05 2:01 pm Post subject:

selfsufficientish wrote:

Incidently many herbs do not like to transpanted either, which would have been nice to have know before I planted my corriander last time. It bolted an went to seed in a matter of weeks. Parsley is another one ledgend had it that if you transplanted parsley bad luck would befall your household for the next year.

Coriander does that anyway... which brings me to another top tip to share...

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