Gardening
 

For all that attempt such cold weather sports, then get enjoyment in summer from their efforts.

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/g...club-2013.html

O.K. it's Community, both Mick and myself would like to invite folk to grow two plants.

One is a Sunflower, the other is a pumpkin, the prize?

The satisfaction of trying.

Start date, well it doesn't matter, end date, well we throw that open to all we need to be around the time of each plant's maturity, what matters is we measure our plants on the same day and the largest/widest/tallest, is the winner.

Of course as with other years the odd piccy of what your growing how you're growing it, will be welcome, we've had good input over the years.

The Competition isn't just for AccyWebbers, if you know of a childrens group, school, allotment, in fact anyone that may want to join in, let them know they can.

Let's find out how many strange corners of Accrington can sprout life.
:D

Mick and I, are going to attempt with the following:-

Pumpkin = Big Max (cucurbita maxima)

Sunflower = Giant Single (really cheapo multi pack without any extra information).

Good luck to any that can be bothered.

Headaches for Mick and I when rules have to be invented.
:)

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I get much satisfaction from not trying, I hate gardening.:D But people are very strange,some actually get pleasure from it, So whatever floats yer boat.:)

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Totally agree Ollie I hate gardening but the missus loves it so let her get on with it

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I'm in,

they don't call me greenfingers for nothing

eat my bonemeal...:mosher:

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I am the kiss of death to plants.......goodness, even silk flowers die nicely for me.

Gardening isn't for me. Muck down your fingernails ugh(and I don't have nice hands or fingernails)...I don't like slugs or creepy crawlies either.

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I'll be growing my usual veggies, tried a sunflower a couple of years ago and all that grew was the stalk, haven't a clue what I did wrong

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seeing as i was attempting to sort out my garden again .... i'll have a go ... never grown pumpkins before ... sunflowers ...:D

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It's all over.

What you meant was.....sunflowers,....how big would you like?

:enough:

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them were from 2010 ... this was last years :D

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Game on

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I did not set one up for this year as there was not much interest last year
but we can give it another try
so as less has set it up I have joined too
lets see if we can get more members interested
with the competitions as well as the usual Q & A and threads on gardening
you can also add photos to show members how things are growing or not growing
good luck if you do enter the competitions

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seeds bought .... windowsill thingummyjig to start em off bought ... all i need now is my nephew to come home for easter hols and dig over a patch in the back garden either him or the spugster to come down ....:p

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the seeds have been planted ... now sat on the windowsills to get the sun ...

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the beginnings of sunflowers these are the red ones ...

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so folks .. wheres your sunflowers .... have just planted another lot ... and replanted mine into bigger pots .... oh and I have pumpkins .... well the beginnings of them .... theres 4 so far .. and another at least on the way ... :D:D:D

the first 3 and the last pic are the pumpkins ... 4 & 5 are sunflowers

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Mine went with the wind if you care to read my post in the community section for this year.
Sadly Mick has reported something similar, but I'll let him tell you about it when he's next on site.
:(

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Yep sadly my whole greenhouse and all the plants went to the four winds the other night
bits of green house all over yard plants no idea where they are
the green house is so bad its not repairable so that's the end of my entry into the sunflower competition

lost me peas sunflowers tomatoes herbs

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sorry about that mick but its not too late to set another lot off ... I just planted another lot of sunflowers .. giant ones this time yesterday ..

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I'm still in...

Come on you beauties

Well I hope I get more than one sunflower...

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Is it just the photo or are you using blue soil Steve R?

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(Steve taps the right side of his nose 3 times with his index finger)[COLOR="[/COLOR]
You were saying Mick? :D

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heres the update ... all the sunflowers and 4 of the pumpkins are all now planted outside .... now to see if they grow ....:D

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I wonder if theyre going to survive ...:confused:

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What a well thought out and attractive water feature, every garden should have one.

I'm wondering about my latest batch of seedlings, as you know my first lot were destroyed when my greenhouse took flight, these are now getting to be far too big to keep inside, they are growing rather stringy, but whilst that wind still blows things around my yard I can't think of putting them outside yet.
:(

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Just seen this thread, got to get some seeds out. Never grown either before, should be fun.

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I'm going to start my garden next week ... rule of thumb in this part of the world is: don't put out your plants until after the Victoria Day weekend.

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Come on my Sun....Flowers..:D:D

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pumpkins .....:( something has eaten the ones I planted outside ...

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sunflowers ... :D:D:D even the seeds I planted outside are coming up .... :D:D:D

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an update ... something eat the pumpkins I planted ... but its grown again .. so I now have 2 .. 1 in the ground and 1 in a pot ...:D

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the sunflowers are doing nicely as well .... :D

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Been a terrible season for me, only things I've got left are spuds, onions and strawberries.

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my strawberries, blueberries and lettuce .. the tomatoes you've already seen next to the pumpkin in the pot ... :D

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I do have another lot of tomatoes .. but theyre growing on the windowsill up in the bedroom ..

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Good growing weather for Sunflowers at the moment..

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Strawberries and cream for tea:D

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And the rest are going well too

no idea how a potato plant got in the pot on window sill though:D

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who else is growing a pumpkin?

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A bloke down the road has one !
Farmers grow quite a few

Hope this helps :D:D:D

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Gardening is like baking. I find it hard to imagine a baker or a gardener that I wouldn't find something decent in common with.

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really .... you don't know me then ....... :D:D:D

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oh yes we do:D:p

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Had an allotment at the top of Water Street just by the park gates. More correctly my mother did and she had green fingers (which I have inherited). Oh to be back there again: lupins, red hot pokers, monkshood. Of vegetables not too much success but the strawberries...mmm they must have been a Lancashire or Northern variety and supermarket red cardboard shapes couldn't touch them for flavour.
It might be anecdotal but my mum swears that when she started in the late 60's there weren't the deadly winds that do so much damage today.
We had some fruit trees planted from pips. I remember with amazement one winter either late January or early February and a small tree of ours was covered in the most beautiful pale peach coloured flowers - I could not believe my eyes - was it an almond tree - I don't know, but it never flowered again. Such is nature: powerful and not necessarily always predictable.
In the closing days of our tenure I planted a mulberry from seed and it thrived. It ended up taller than me and I am over 6'. Is it still there? It should be quite big by now but maybe the new allotment holder gave it the chop.
I planted hundreds of trees in Accrington, but that's another story.

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In response to post 43: Amazing! You haven't blamed blacks or muslims for spoiling it. Or maybe that's to come?

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You don`t belong in this country if you have green fingers, whites only!:rolleyes:

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Sunflowers are starting to bloom..

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Does anyone know how to help tomato plants that are losing leaves due to some type of fungus? We had a lot of rain earlier this month, and the leaves starting near the soil got spotted, then yellow, then withered and fell off. I pulled off all poorly looking leaves, but now I'm left with bare stalks half way up and plants with fruit and flowers on top! I am in Canada, but a tomato plant is the same in Accy too, I would think.

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Some tomato growers swear by removing lower leaves whether they've gone yellow or not, if the problem is serious then I would look it up in plant diseases, might be something missing in the feed, I always spray mine with a solution of Epsom salts when the flowers have set whether they need it or not.

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Retlaw is correct , they do remove the lower leaves .
When watering , do not overfeed them . Just put in as described on the packet of feed . Try to keep water off the lower leaves when watering . If they are in a greenhouse give them plenty of ventilation .

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Thank you Retlaw. I'll try that next year. I don't feed after planting as I add lots of composted manure to the beds. Last summer's crop was great - we had a hot, dry summer. This year, I'm not optimistic!

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Thank you david1. They're not in a green house, but I think lack of airflow may have contributed to my problems. I only have a tiny patch of ground, and there are other plants (ferns mostly) that surround it on two sides. Next year I'll take care of that, and take off the lower leaves.

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You should never plant tomato's in the same place in succesive years, they are prone to many of the diseases which attack potato's.
Also no matter what you dug into the soil tomato's need to be fed at least once a week after the flowers have set, the yellowing of leaves sounds like a magnesium deficiency. Its not to late to spray with a solution of epsom salts, that will make up some of the magnesium deficiency, cherry type tomato's are very prone to leaf yellowing

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Thank you Retlaw - I'll see what I can do to save them. And I'll rest the plot next year.

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my tomatoes and the pumpkins .... :D the tomatoes the ones on the left have been grown outside since beginning of may .. the ones on right have been outside a week - otherwise they were on the bedroom windowsill ..:p:p:p the pumpkin in the tub was the one that I grew on the bedroom windowsill .... and the one in the ground is the one that suddenly appeared after something (snails or slugs) had eat the others and that one ..

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Your tomatoes need watering Jen ..

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yeah I know ... will water them after 9pm .....

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and the midges are out and biting ... theyre all watered ...:D

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Midges watered as well?

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things are growing well:D

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I don't think they appreciated being zapped wi the hosepipe ..... :p

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just found out cats are the same :D:D:D

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Final picture of the Sunflowers, they are fully grown now.

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mine are still growing .. .but one has come out ...:D

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Send 'em back up to Jockland! Och weel, they'll no be happy aboot tha, all they watta & ney Whisky! ;)

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so what do I do with this pumpkin that's growing .. its flowered .. one website says take the flower off .. a couple of others don't mention it at all .. what do I do? any ideas ..

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Its natural for a plant to grow flowers, they are the germination process for next years seeds, what would have happened if you'd have been on holiday. Do you take the flowers off other plants, like your tomato's etc.

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Your local fairy Godmother should be able to help you there Shill! :D

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She's have more chance with her fairy godfather, how is Rindy these days?
;)

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Rindy is doing fine less ... i'll tell him you were asking about him ..:D

heres the pumpkins ..... its grown ... :eek: its now resting on another pot that the bulbs I planted didn't come up ... :p , second photo is the 2nd flower dying off and the pumpkin to be underneath, third photo is the 1st pumpkin I think the birds have been at it .. theres a nick in the stem and a nick on the pumpkin .. which I don't think its going to grow anymore, fourth is another flower .. I don't know how many more are going to bloom, and the fifth photo is the pumpkin I planted that was eaten and grew again .. :D

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the sunflowers ... :D ive used my nephew as a height guide .. he says hes 5ft 7in ...

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I found the tape measure .... :D the other end was under my foot ...

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Here is my first Sunflower more on the way
and some other growing stuff:D

By the way the raspberry's are not there now yum yum:D

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my sunflowers ....:p ive had to tie em to the fence .. they've outgrown the canes :p

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the pumpkin is growing ..... long .. its 4ft long

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Happy bee in No. 5!

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they've grown a bit more since the last time I had the tape measure out ... :p

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Really..:D:D

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they have .. I had to get the nephew to reach up ... while I took the photo .. I couldn't reach up enough and take the photo ... :p

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they've grown a bit more since as well .. even the nephew couldn't reach the top of the sunflower .. luckily the wind blew it a bit forward ....:p

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I've been casually following the goings-on on here but haven't attempted to plant anything myself. Reason being is that if I did, I'd probably use some seed like the neighbour used, so putting all yours to shame. ;) :D

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We've had some unseasonably cool nights the past week. Last night there was frost on the roof, so the more delicate plants in my garden aren't going to be around much longer! The begonias are my favourite, because of their vibrant colours. I found it frustrating trying to capture them, and it took several tries and a bit of Photoshop work to even approximate what nature does. Then I noticed a raindrop in the middle of one flower, and wished I had dave mac's expertise in capturing wet things! Ah well, more to learn.

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A macro setting on the camera will get the droplets better, a low angle and finding where the light makes them stand out more is the technique I use.

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I have to admit I've been quite lazy with my photography up until now - I've relied on automatic settings for just about everything, with predictably mediocre results. I'm not even sure my old Canon Power Shot can do proper micro. It does have a 'flower' setting which I've been using for close ups, but it is quite limited. Time to borrow Hubby's Rebel DSLR (I think it's a Canon) that he uses for his astro- photography. I might even have to read the manual!!!! Oh horrors. :)

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Never mind borrowing it, tell him you want one of your own for Xmas, birthday, or any other reason you can think of, if that doesn't work just charge it to his credit card.

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Great, that's right Dave, just encourage them, you've opened the flood gates now. So when next Mrs.Mac hammers YOUR card! :D

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She has a card of her own, so requires no encouragement at all.

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Mine has one of her own, its no safeguard at all in this house.:eek:

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Fortunately Hubby doesn't mind me borrowing his camera - he's even offered to come along on walks and coach me in using it. I think I'll read the manual first, though!
As to buying one, we'll have to see.
Incidentally, I have always had my own credit card - a must, I think :)

Re: Gardening
 

I'm old enough to remember that at one time a wife couldn't get credit without her husbands permission.
My wife went to Dixons after we'd discussed purchasing a microwave oven on credit.
She filled in the forms all going well, until the salesMAN said, 'all we need now is your husbands signature', I somehow have the impression from what she told me, that if he was going to walk again it would be as if he was astride a horse.

(We bought the microwave elsewhere).
:rolleyes:

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I look forward to the pictures that the camera produces, I thought the manual was just in the box to stop the camera rolling around.

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I have recently been reading the manual for the camera we`ve had for almost 4 years, wish i`d read it sooner, there are loads of settings that wish i`d known about.

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the pumpkins and the sunflowers ... .

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my homegrown pumpkin on Halloween .... :D

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looks more like a pomegranate:D:hidewall:
good try though well done

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Was it a Dwarf one? :D

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Looks like your soil could do with a dusting of lime. Lime unlocks the food in the soil, give it a coat of lime about 2 months before planting, then on the day of planting give the soil some blood fish & bone, and hoe it well in.
Then when flowers appear feed them tomato food once a week.
I expect 20 ft Sunfowers and 500 lb Pumkins next year.

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i tried ... the first time ive ever attempted to grow a pumpkin ... have had plenty of flowers but it just grew that one .. and ive still got flowers on the pumpkin ....

that's the one that grew in the container ... the one that grew in the ground plenty of leaves, plenty of flowers but no pumpkin .. and yes i did feed em wi tomato food ... i don't know if i'll grow pumpkin again next year .. but i will do my sunflowers again.:D

the sunflowers yesterday ... that last pic is the miniature ones that are still coming out ...

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We got a house plant of a friend as a pressie but what the hell is it and how do I look after it:confused::D

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House plants are very simple to look after, for the first month over water and ensure any feed you are giving it sticks to the leaves to act as a sunscreen thus preventing it from being able to use it's Chlorophyll to produce any of the sugars the plant may need.
Then for the next 2 months afterwards transfer to a dark area of your living room and leave it alone.
You should now check that the soil is completly dry and the leaves have turned a dark orangy brown. It is at this point you transfer the plant into a dark and humid dustbin having carefully removed the pot it came in so that you can use it to grow another plant that will be doomed to a similar fate.
:rolleyes:;)

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I think it is a type of bromeliad
How to Care for a Bromeliad: 7 Steps - wikiHow