Growing your own - is it worth it?

[doversoul1]

umslopogaas
I am very glad to read your post. I have been trying to tell friends, family and neighbours that slug pellets are perfectly safe for birds because, a) they don’t recognise them as food, and b) they see slugs as they move, so they are not interested in dead / poisoned slugs. Moreover, I think (I hope) slug pellets are the most humane way of killing slugs.

I find that there is absolutely no point in trying to grow vegetables without using them. Just a few pellets save most of my plants.

[gurnemanz]

I took the 'risk' with my runners and have a wigwam of six plants which are looking very happy. Because I can't bear to throw away surplus seedlings, I put two more into deep pots (a bit like Greek wine jars) and planned to dwarf them. However, I was out at 7am this morning to inspect (with my Bucket of Death), and there was a huge snail wrapped lovingly round the remaining stump of one of them. Everything else rather slow here.

I have some climbing beans in pots on the kitchen window sill which are straining at the leash to get planted out but it has been a bit cold and windy recently so I'm delaying. I put the sticks in the other day and am ready to go if it warms up. Performing this task, a certain poem we learnt at school tends to come to mind:

"Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade."

Nine rows seems somewhat excessive.

[french frank]

And ff, you do a brilliant job of running this forum and this is not a personal attack, but it is an attack on a point of view that has upset me a lot over the years, and when I can fight back, I do.

:Well, as I said, I use pellets! But picking the beasts off and dropping them into a salt solution is cheaper (I have a small backyard) - though I smear vaseline round the top of the bucket and sprinkle ... pellets ... on it.

[french frank]

I have some climbing beans in pots on the kitchen window sill which are straining at the leash to get planted out but it has been a bit cold and windy recently so I'm delaying. I put the sticks in the other day and am ready to go if it warms up.

I was a bit twitchy about a couple of nights when the temperature went down to 6C (and the winds have been strong and chilly). The site is fairly protected on two sides so I thought it was worth a go. (If Liverpool can do it ...! )

[Don Petter]

I was a bit twitchy about a couple of nights when the temperature went down to 6C (and the winds have been strong and chilly). The site is fairly protected on two sides so I thought it was worth a go. (If Liverpool can do it ...! )

Not being a horticulturalist, I'm still a bit worried about your thwarted plan to dwarf two of your poor seedlings.

Were you going to sort of loom over them until they cringed into a small ball?

[french frank]

Were you going to sort of loom over them until they cringed into a small ball?

It's quite an accepted procedure. I would have had a smaller stake to support them and pinched the top out sooner so that it grows more like a bush bean (I think). But as one of them is now a stalk about 2 inches tall with no leaves or buds, it won't need a stake. And there won't be any beans

[Don Petter]

It's quite an accepted procedure. I would have had a smaller stake to support them and pinched the top out sooner so that it grows more like a bush bean (I think). But as one of them is now a stalk about 2 inches tall with no leaves or buds, it won't need a stake. And there won't be any beans

Ah! That sounds much more humane than using psychological pressure. Thanks, but sorry about the bean void.

[french frank]

more humane than using psychological pressure

Too time consuming - have to work on them for weeks. I need some pellets that deal with slugs and cats. I see a cat has managed to get into the broad bean enclosure. The least damage they do is to tread on things and break them, plants and flower pots. The little pots of Dettol™ which I have distributed around have polythene covering them, pierced to let the fumes out. But if I have any more trouble with them, I'll take the covers off and mark the pots FREE MILK - HELP YOURSELF

[umslopogaas]

ff, I've got some pellets that deal with dogs and cats. They are made of lead and measure 0.22" in diameter. They dont cost much, but the application apparatus is a bit more expensive. One application is usually sufficient.

[french frank]

ff, I've got some pellets that deal with dogs and cats. They are made of lead and measure 0.22" in diameter. They dont cost much, but the application apparatus is a bit more expensive. One application is usually sufficient.

Tuesday morning:

Is it worth growing your own?

No, it is heartache and pain. I may post a photo.

umslopogaas - the apparatus may be worth the price. Alternatively, I may change over to shrubs and bee-friendly flowers next year.

[Don Petter]

They say that cats don't like tiger poo. Might that be obtainable in Bristol?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Has anyone successfully grown sweet potatoes (as opposed to a sweet variety of potatoes)> We tried a few years ago, but the experiment failed.

[umslopogaas]

I havent tried to grow sweet potatoes (I worked for a decade in Papua New Guinea, where I ate enough of them to last me the rest of my life), but it should be possible. They are definitely not frost hardy and a problem in the UK could be that the frost-free growing season isnt long enough to allow decent sized tubers to develop. The trick might be to get them started in pots under glass so that they've made some growth by the time you plant them out. The RHS book talks about 'seed', by which I suppose they mean seed tubers, as with ordinary potatoes: the Papua New Guineans mostly used stem cuttings. Only plant breeders would be interested in true seeds, because they would not come true to variety. There are very many varieties with a wide range of colours and flavours.

[doversoul1]

Has anyone successfully grown sweet potatoes (as opposed to a sweet variety of potatoes)> We tried a few years ago, but the experiment failed.

Sweet potatoes are grown from cuttings in Japan (I vaguely remembered but have checked to make sure), and this also seems to be the RHS’s recommendation. Have you tried this method, E-A?

Sweet potatoes are best grown from cuttings, which are not, in fact, rooted and technically called 'slips'. You would normally buy them via mail order from late April onwards. When they arrive, pot them immediately into small pots of multi-purpose compost. Keep the compost moist, using tepid water. Cover the pots with a clear plastic bag or place them in an unheated propagator, until they root.http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-yo...sweet-potatoes

As umslopogaas says, I think the problem is that we don’t have warm/hot enough weather in autumn for the tuba to mature. This was the problem when I tried pumpkins/squashes years ago but they are now very much improved (to suit our climate, that is).

[umslopogaas]

Tee hee, I havent come across a potato tuba before: I guess the variety is called 'Tubby'?