Anyone growing tomatoes? (The Gardening thread)

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Euler
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Hosepipe ban announced for Hampshire and IOW.
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Derek27
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No worries where I am, it just rained. About 2 drops per square metre!
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ShaunWhite
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Automatic Watering systems.

I bought a Hozelock automatic watering timer (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1) for when I went away (not wasteful just a few bonsias) and from the condition of things when I got back it looks like the batteries lasted about 9 or 10 days :cry: They're either very hungery on the batteries or my Amazon brand rechargeable AAs were rubbish (very likely). Given that it's supposed to be automatic I'm suprised it didn't have a power socket you could plug a small solar panel into, or 4 batteries at least. Damage not too bad, two with very crispy leaves but enough green under the bark to come back, but disappointing really considering I went for a good brand that wasn't exactly a bargain. Verdict : Don't expect it to work for long. Should have bought it sooner and tested more.

On the other hand my timed watering pump (with a power socket) (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09 ... UTF8&psc=1) that I got for the chilli plants worked like a dream. If only I'd put more water in the bucket that is :lol: But they were only a bit droopy and came back to health after a drink. It's brilliant as you can have it running for just a few seconds... Tried them today, Jalapeños and Lemon Chillis and they're both ferociously hot :oops: I think the crop will last me all year, and next year!
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Derek27
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ShaunWhite wrote:
Sat Jul 30, 2022 11:20 pm
Automatic Watering systems.

I bought a Hozelock automatic watering timer (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1) for when I went away (not wasteful just a few bonsias) and from the condition of things when I got back it looks like the batteries lasted about 9 or 10 days :cry: They're either very hungery on the batteries or my Amazon brand rechargeable AAs were rubbish (very likely). Given that it's supposed to be automatic I'm suprised it didn't have a power socket you could plug a small solar panel into, or 4 batteries at least. Damage not too bad, two with very crispy leaves but enough green under the bark to come back, but disappointing really considering I went for a good brand that wasn't exactly a bargain. Verdict : Don't expect it to work for long. Should have bought it sooner and tested more.

On the other hand my timed watering pump (with a power socket) (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09 ... UTF8&psc=1) that I got for the chilli plants worked like a dream. If only I'd put more water in the bucket that is :lol: But they were only a bit droopy and came back to health after a drink. It's brilliant as you can have it running for just a few seconds... Tried them today, Jalapeños and Lemon Chillis and they're both ferociously hot :oops: I think the crop will last me all year, and next year!
I just get a member of the Homo Sapien species (sorry, I've been studying the evolution of Hominidae) to pop in and feed/spend some time with the Felidae species and water the Plantae. They're much more reliable. :)
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ShaunWhite
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Derek27 wrote:
Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:11 am
They're much more reliable. :)
Theoretically.
But with bonsai it's twice a day so that's a bit much to ask. And round here they're either 110 or people who want to be chatty but I'd rather avoid being overly friendly with. Then the others you'd rather not invite to snoop around your backyard when you're out :? ...... But that's a good idea really and I guess I could have taken the ones in shallow pots round to their place, the bigger ones or ones in deeper training pots are a bit more forgiving. I hadn't banked on the UK having more than the two hot days!

Your place is starting to sound like Kew Gardens!

I looked into growing tobacco once but the curing process takes years apparently.
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Derek27
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ShaunWhite wrote:
Sun Jul 31, 2022 2:24 am
Derek27 wrote:
Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:11 am
They're much more reliable. :)
Theoretically.
But with bonsai it's twice a day so that's a bit much to ask. And round here they're either 110 or people who want to be chatty but I'd rather avoid being overly friendly with. Then the others you'd rather not invite to snoop around your backyard when you're out :? ...... But that's a good idea really and I guess I could have taken the ones in shallow pots round to their place, the bigger ones or ones in deeper training pots are a bit more forgiving. I hadn't banked on the UK having more than the two hot days!

Your place is starting to sound like Kew Gardens!

I looked into growing tobacco once but the curing process takes years apparently.
I'm quite lucky. One of my neighbours has a mini Kew Gardens, it takes her an hour a day to water the plants, plus three little dogs she has to walk every day that bark and want to fight with any dog they encounter even if its ten times their size, and she's partially sighted, but she's still happy to look after my cat when I go away. :)
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Derek27
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Last day of the month and it's raining. I think we could hit 2mm for the month where I am. :)
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Derek27
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I had a brief idea of growing some cherries next year so I looked it up thinking they might be strawberry-like plants. 50-foot trees!
sniffer66
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Derek27 wrote:
Sun Aug 07, 2022 2:10 pm
I had a brief idea of growing some cherries next year so I looked it up thinking they might be strawberry-like plants. 50-foot trees!
They don't have to be. Neighbour had a tree with loads of fruit and was only about 15 feet high. Used to grow over our garden and he was happy for us to help ourselves :)
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ShaunWhite
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I think cherries are one of those where you need two (m & f?} and you can get dwarf varieties but I don't know if they taste very nice. They grow quick though which is good and you can prune them pretty hard and keep them small because they're good at budding back on old wood.

Was in the garden today and a biggish branch just fell off the pear tree, it's amazing how heavy they are if you hold them at one end and they're heavy with fruit. I don't like pears much so no great loss but it must be 40+yrs old. It's really wilting so I've given it 5mins of hosepipe and I'll skip my shower :)

Or you could keep your cherry really small Derek.... :)
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Derek27
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ShaunWhite wrote:
Sun Aug 07, 2022 5:57 pm
I think cherries are one of those where you need two (m & f?} and you can get dwarf varieties but I don't know if they taste very nice. They grow quick though which is good and you can prune them pretty hard and keep them small because they're good at budding back on old wood.

Was in the garden today and a biggish branch just fell off the pear tree, it's amazing how heavy they are if you hold them at one end and they're heavy with fruit. I don't like pears much so no great loss but it must be 40+yrs old. It's really wilting so I've given it 5mins of hosepipe and I'll skip my shower :)

Or you could keep your cherry really small Derek.... :) Screenshot_20220807-174557_Google.jpg
I've heard you can get self-pollinating varieties. But I'm more focused on getting my own end away to worry about cherry trees getting some of the other. ;)
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Derek27
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ShaunWhite wrote:
Thu May 05, 2022 5:26 pm
Skip to about 3:55. Basically just keep weakening it, or plant something even more vivourous you want next to it.. Don't bother digging it'll get worse.. It's poisonous don't touch it and let the cat lick you.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000knwy
It seems to work, I'm winning the war against horsetail weed. New shoots still pop up but they're getting fewer and fewer. :D
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Dublin_Flyer
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Spent yesterday mowing the lawn and rearranging the greenhouse. That means taking everything out, giving them a good soaking because I was away for a few days, then leaving the tomatoes outside because they're taking over. Fuck off tomatoes. Happily the chilli's are doing well, I've a jalapeno plant with about 30 or more just waiting to be picked and pickled! Even some of the super-hots have fruit developing already;lemon reaper, caramel reaper, red tiger, red bhutlah.
Any greens like cabbage/broccoli/cauliflower were pretty much wiped out by the slugs and snails from the wet start to the summer :cry:

The only ones that seem to be late showing are everything that my other half brought over. The chill's and okra and dwarf aubergines are growing great, really tall and bushy but no sign of fruit at all yet......who would have thought Zambian plants would be stunted in a tropical Dublin climate! :lol:

The roses in the front garden are blooming again after the last deadheading, fierce amount of greenfly on them though, they're gonna get it :x
The neighbours behind us might need to be prepared because all the ivy coming over the wall from their side is about to get my magical mix of washing up liquid, salt, and industrial grade 60% acetic acid as soon as the sun comes up. I don't have a time-lapse camera, but I'll try take regular pics of the progress/destruction :shock:

Note to Peter/Dallas/Admin, more smilies/emojis needed, especially the evil ones! ;) and the poop one of course
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Derek27
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I've abandoned my last pea plant, which is wilting to death. Like last year, my tomato plant has collapsed under the weight of tomatoes (48 at last count). I realise you're supposed to cut the top of the plant when the plant starts bearing fruit, but I never heard anyone say, even if the top shoot has tomatoes on it, sacrifice them!

I've tied string around my fence to support part of the plant but that's now cutting through the branches. If I can get just one Liz of tomatoes out of my plant I'll be a happy man - no posts to the rant thread for a month! :)

As always, the flowers are doing fine. If only you could eat them.
greenmark
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It's a long time since I've seen leaves dropping off trees due to drought. Hope all you horticulturists get through, perhaps we should start growing olives and lemons. :-) I'm not joking. We now grow wine grapes, citrus is the next step.
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