How does your garden grow?

[Thedreamer]

Crushed egg shells can work  to keep the slugs away.

 

Also if you have bramble canes, they can work as well.

[Onoff]

Wood ash, scattered atop the soil in the runners pot seems to have worked. Looking at 4am this morning, it's been raining and there's slugs on the ground, no critters on the plants in the pots. 

 

(They seem to prefer the runners over the dwarf beans for some reason). 

 

Speaking with my brother and he reckoned nettle fertiliser takes about 6 weeks to brew then you dilute by 10x.

[recoveringbuilder]

We’re just planting out a wide border at the front of the house, lots of perennial plants and shrubs. Two days later the rabbits took a fancy to some of them, had a look online for ideas to stop them-hair was one of the suggestions. Dogs were needing a haircut anyway so I set about them and gathered up all the clippings, so far 🤞it seems to have worked!

[Onoff]

1 hour ago, recoveringbuilder said:

We’re just planting out a wide border at the front of the house, lots of perennial plants and shrubs. Two days later the rabbits took a fancy to some of them, had a look online for ideas to stop them-hair was one of the suggestions. Dogs were needing a haircut anyway so I set about them and gathered up all the clippings, so far 🤞it seems to have worked!

 

Lion / tiger poo is supposed to work well too.

 

I recall that freshly shed snake skins placed in the loft seemed to scare the mice away.

[Onoff]

I'm going to cheat. I feel the beans need a "boost":

 

 

Says 1/2 cap to 1L of water but how much then does each plant "get"? Maybe just 100ml each then the next?

 

 

On the good news front, since I added the ash layer to the runners in the pot, the slugs and snails seem to have reduced dramatically. Hopefully a feed will help the plants repair some of the damage.

The runners in the enclosure, with the ring fence of ash and beer traps, haven't been touched.

[Onoff]

Noticed the beans on the frame getting a bit holey. I refilled the beer traps last night.

 

Went out just now with the head torch. Must have picked up 50 slugs on and around them.

 

The ring of ash seemed to be being bypassed, maybe where I watered everything earlier it made it more passable.

 

Ah well, it was an interesting experiment whilst it lasted. At this rate I'll have nothing left.

[saveasteading]

29 minutes ago, Onoff said:

where I watered everything earlier it made it more passable.

It seems to me that ash works until wetted by either rain or watering. Then it somehow becomes just another slime-compatible surface.

[SteamyTea]

Got to near the top, so near enough down hill from here.

Just waiting for the flowers now.

 

[Onoff]

Nice, your foilaige is much denser than mine by the looks of it.

 

1100mm is my tallest plant here out of the 50.

 

 

48 out of 50 are climbing, some I helped along the way by pointing/twisting the stem at/around the coir rope. Two show no inclination to climb, if anything they're spreading sideways.

 

Presumably the tall one is trying to escape the slugs!

 

 

I've been reading human hair is supposed to deter slugs and snails. Pity I've just been clippered.

 

 

[SteamyTea]

The blooming race is now on.

 

[Onoff]

I'm going to snip of the coir rope tails at the bottom, pare into little  strands and pile at the base of each plant. 

[SteamyTea]

6 hours ago, Onoff said:

I'm going to snip of the coir rope tails at the bottom, pare into little  strands and pile at the base of each plant. 

Seem like English, but not got a clue what you are talking about.

I just water mine.

[Onoff]

[saveasteading]

I'm pleased for you...really.

returning home after a  week at the project , mine are alive and....well that is good enough for me.

The bean seeds I planted in the ground  2 weeks ago may soon pass the ones from 2 months ago.

The extreme heat stunted all desired growth, but the brambles are looking strong.

9 big fat snails more interested in grass clippings than beans in my torchlight inspection. No slugs...it is too dry.

 

[Onoff]

The above photo with the red flowers, was taking late last night whilst out slugging. This of the potted runners. There were 3 or 4 snails of various sizes in the pot. 2 on the soil, one climbing a cane and one munching on a leaf. No slugs oddly. Saying that they seem fairly healthy. This morning I noted one runner has grown so long it would likely be up near 2m had the canes been long enough. It's grown like the proverbial bean stalk and doubled back on itself.

 

 

SWMBO has just culled some bamboo so I might attempt to swap out the short sticks in the pot for these longer ones or transplant the whole lot into the ground and make a wigwam.

 

As for the trenched beans. I've been lining the inside of the sleeper frame with 300mm dpc. To keep moisture in what is in effect a raised bed and protect the sleepers which aren't in the best condition rot wise anyway. Yesterday I started digging over and levelling. Plan is to de-stone and sieve that chalky pile on the right. Both to fill the enclosure up and clear the ground to the right. This ready to maybe extend the veg patch.

 

With that dug over, moist soil last night I had maybe 4 slugs in the enclosure but none on the beans. There may be a reason for that.

 

For the past couple of nights I've been applying "garlic water". A couple of cloves chopped & crushed, a litre of boiling water in a jug then left to steep and cool. You're supposed to strain and use a plant sprayer. I just strained and used this watering can ended bottle as SWMBO didn't want her plant sprayer stinking of garlic. I just doused the rough periphery of the bean patch. It's possibly working, time will tell.

 

 

Last night the lawns looked like something from Tremors meets Riddick with the amount of slugs but the bean patch was pretty much devoid.

 

 

The 3D printed, PETG connectors are not fairing well, delaying the netting going on. The whole frame is leaning and I've had one corner connector break twice. ABS might have been better but we haven't cracked printing that yet. I'm thus now using scrap steel sheet, zintec where possible, to reinforce all the junctions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SteamyTea]

7 hours ago, Onoff said:

You win that one.

Unless when I get home mine are in full bloom.

 

 

[SteamyTea]

What we need is a 'standard bean'.

Then get every member on BH to plant some and record progress.

This could be used to track the climate differences across the country.

 

Or if that is just too much work, look for a pet dandelion and note the date it flowers.

[Pocster]

1 hour ago, Onoff said:

The above photo with the red flowers, was taking late last night whilst out dogging 

🙄🙄🙄

[SteamyTea]

8 minutes ago, pocster said:

night whilst out dogging 

Nought wrong with that.

 

 

[Onoff]

1 hour ago, SteamyTea said:

What we need is a 'standard bean'.

Then get every member on BH to plant some and record progress.

This could be used to track the climate differences across the country.

 

Or if that is just too much work, look for a pet dandelion and note the date it flowers.

 

Bit of a microclimate down here in this valley. Total sun trap in Summer when the Sun is high. A damp, frost pit in the winter when the Sun is low. Get a Northerly wind and it rips up it because of the orientation and can be horrendous.

[SteamyTea]

11 minutes ago, Onoff said:

Bit of a microclimate down here in this valley

200 m up a hill where I am. North winds are killers.

[saveasteading]

7 hours ago, Onoff said:

I've been applying "garlic water"

I had no slugs or snails on the veg area. That may be because they have all been cleared, out they prefer the grass to the bare earth, or because of the 3 garlic plants  I  have placed around the beds. The smell of the garlic is supposed to mask the succulent bean-sprout smell. There are never any varmints in the onion or garlic bed.

I have some old garlic from last year which failed quality control ('you can keep them: too small') , so may try your suggestion.

 

Keep us informed.

[Onoff]

Garlic water may be the future! 😂

 

No signs this morning.

 

Rinsed out an old de-icer spray last night, sprayed the plants and the ground around them. 

 

Only worry is whether the garlic mist will burn the leaves of the beans?

[saveasteading]

4 hours ago, Onoff said:

Only worry is whether the garlic mist will burn the leaves of the beans?

If that was the only worry we would all be much happier.

[Onoff]

The Range do nice canes @pocster:

 

https://www.therange.co.uk/garden/seeds-bulbs-and-propagation/plant-support-and-stakes/plastic-coated-garden-stake/#976180