Veggie Garden Beginners Thread

Page 3 / 16
soc_butterfly, Mar 4, 5:44pm
I'd put some thick layers of newspaper, it's biodegradable whereas weed mat will make the soil under it rot and stagnate.

ttaotua1, Mar 4, 7:26pm
Good point and thanks that helps so much. now what does one put for soil!

soc_butterfly, Mar 4, 8:27pm
Get some garden mix and compost.do about 25-30% compost only, or it'll be too strong and can kill (burn) young plants.then I'd add some all purpose slow release fertiliser to it and mix well and water well.Let it sit for a week or two, water it every other day.This 'weathers' it a bit before you plant into it.

Exciting!

ttaotua1, Mar 4, 10:29pm
and that is good info thanks. what to plant in winter :)

missmuppett, Mar 5, 4:08am
Hi everyone, just wanted to let you all know that we had leftover pasta for tea tonight with a freshly made salad all from my cos lettuces I have been growing - the salad was fantastic, a tad boring, cause it was only lettuce, tom and some red onion, but still MY VERY OWN LETTUCE - I am chuffed!Whatsmore, some of my chilli's are ripening up too. and I have 4 scallopini courgettes fully cranking now with little ones on them, and also 3 large yellow/green courgettes going for it too - lots more flowers cropping up too.I have a quiet weekend ahead and a tiny bit of spare $$ I might spend on some more seedlings or seeds to get going with. YAY! :D

love.a.bargain, Mar 5, 8:12pm
I thought the rule of thumb for Garlic was; plant on the shortest day and harvest on the longest day, or thereabouts.

chonnni, Mar 14, 8:12pm
thank you im here

chonnni, Mar 14, 8:14pm
ok ladies, how to grow swedes turnips, do i buy from seed! and waht other veges for planting right now, and do i buy seedlings or seeds!

chonnni, Mar 14, 9:22pm
will check out kings seeds website see if they run of the mill swedes and turnips

westydogs, Mar 14, 11:27pm
Love your thread, only read through two pages.I noticed a question about parsley seed.I am a home gardener who potters.I did some raised beds and putweed matting and hubby covered it with sand, doesn't stop the weeds as intended but they do pull out easily,but I let a fancy lettuce go to seed last year and the sand was covered with hundreds of them, they had self seeded, also the parsley did the same.Planted my brussel sprouts and cabbage and have made a tent for them to keep the white butterfly away, and it gives me great satisfaction seeing them flying around and not able to get in and gobble them up.

chonnni, Mar 15, 12:07am
any ideas about how to get seeds of mint or basil plants!
or is it best to leave as above and just let the seed drop off and turn to little seedlings and then transplant seedlings!

westydogs, Mar 15, 1:04am
Saw someone on NZ Gardener used this.Place support poles, I had some old ones I used can be wood or whatever, stakes.Add a small pot at the top so the netting doesn't fall through, then put bird netting over it, attach with whatever so they can't get in at the bottom, though I find at the bottom is not a problem.I have seven dogs and I have had my courgettes and cucumbers stolen in front of my eyes and eaten by the dogs.I now have a fence around the vege garden.

chonnni, Mar 16, 3:49pm
what type of pepper dpo you put in garden so cats stop weeing pooing!

chonnni, Mar 16, 10:24pm
ok well the pepper will have to be the one as I have 3 small children, so skewers is out of the question. Thanks though, just looking for seeds on kings seeds website for my winter stuff, is that the best way to plant!

soc_butterfly, Mar 16, 10:28pm
rule of thumb with seeds is to only bury them the depth of the seed, so cover with the amount of dirt that would be a seed size.other your seeds will rot down and never come up.

kbateman, Mar 17, 12:13am
Hi. Silly question. But what dose hybird seeds mean.
Thank you.

soc_butterfly, Mar 17, 1:23am
It's a seed produced by artificial cross pollination.It's done primarily for a better result, stronger, less vulnerable to diseases etc

chonnni, Mar 17, 6:50pm
ok if i have basil and mint that is seedng, like on top of the plant etc, how do I collect seeds! and how do i store them till i want to plant more!

chonnni, Mar 17, 7:47pm
thank you so much, alot of my plants go to seed always wonder why this happens but will get the basil and mint seeds sorted now thank you i love this thread

missmuppett, Mar 18, 2:49am
I picked my first crop of scallopini courgettes tonight - wahoooo! :)

soc_butterfly, Mar 18, 2:58am
HI NIKKI!

If those other things grew well there then it must be a nice sunny spot.

Chuck in some more compost, mix in well with some slow release fertiliser if you've got some and water well.I leave it to settle for a couple of days but not necessary if you want to plant right away.

I've got broccoli, lettuces, spring onions, carrots, rainbow beet, radishes (might be a little late), and baby beets!

Oh, register your email address on nzgardner.co.nz and yates.co.nz and you'll get regular emails with loads of information in them.

Have fun!

missmuppett, Mar 18, 9:21pm
Yeah now I am waiting to see how I will cook them. they are quite small and a funny shape - so not too sure!I also have some big long yellow and green courgettes coming along, so hmm. I will be eating a feast of courgettes coming up! haha :)I am going to spend some time this weekend digging out my front raised long bed and see what winter plantings I can do in terms of veges inbetween the Camelia's that are planted. Hmmm. wonder if that'll work!

soc_butterfly, Mar 19, 12:28am
I keep my spuds separate, other things can give them diseases.I use potato bags but others use tyres, or just a spare area in the garden.Most regular vege gardeners do a rotation of 3 areas, and never plant spuds in the same place the next year.hence rotation.

I plant spring onions with the carrots, the onions use what the carrots dont, and also the smell of the onions fool bugs that like carrots so they're a great companion plant (onions of any sort and also the garlic and chives family).

They say not to feed potatoes too much (or you can end up with a lot of leaf and not much spud underneath!), use a compost/soil mix to sow the seed spuds into and then just water regularly if needed.You can give them a potato feed or general fertilise once their leaves start coming through and remember to cover up around 3 times throughout the leaf growing process (have you done that before!).

I need to get my spuds in too!I want agrias this winter.love them roasted!

:)

missmuppett, Mar 19, 12:55am
Is now a good time to do some spuds!I love agria potatoes! :D

soc_butterfly, Mar 19, 4:21pm
Sorry must disagree with desp on the onion advice.Carrots and onions of any kind are companion plants from all the reading and experience I've found.The smell of the onions repel carrot pests.

http://www.gardenguides.com/410-good-amp-bad-companions-vegetables.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants