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What do you do with these over winter, can you put them and put them into the greenhouse and will they grow over winter or keep til summer . First time growing. Thanks
Hi, great question. You can pot them up and pop them in the greenhouse but you will need to keep them watered and possibly move the pots outside for a time during the winter. Strawberries need a period of vernalization (exposing them to a period of cold during the winter for more successful flowering & fruiting next season). What I do, to keep things simple, is to plant them into a bed outside now, that way I don't need to worry about watering or moving pots. They'll be well settled in by winter. I'll then dig some up with a good root ball & re-plant into the tunnel in February and keep some outside. The ones grown in the tunnel will flower & fruit earlier so I'll get a longer season of homegrown strawberries. Hope this helps.
Hi Mike. I give a good deep watering every 2 or 3 days depending on the weather. If very sunny and hot, I might do every day. I would avoid more regular light watering as this will encourage shallow roots.
My problem this year has been mouldy strawberries. They are growing in my tunnel and I'm trying to be careful with watering but have lost a lot before they turn red. Any suggestions for next year?
Hi Karin. I would say this is down to airflow in the tunnel, I would keep all the doors open as much as possible in summer, even at night. Also keep your planting distances so there is plenty of room around the plants. How are other plants doing in your tunnel?
This is the main plant in my garden that really benefits from pruning. Removing lower leaves so fungal diseases doesn't take, and removing suckers, so the plant grow up instead of out. The key is supplementing your soil in the fall/spring. I just use compost, but I throw a handful of 10-10-10 in as well. If I have to feed during the season, I've already screwed up. Rotating crops is always good with tomatoes, because they are such heavy feeders. Last year I had problems with blossom end rot, and I think that was a cal-mag deficiency, because I'm just not getting enough from the compost pile I guess.
Absolutely, if you're growing in large garden beds with plenty of soil and adding plenty of organic matter, then there should rarely be a need for supplementary feeds or fertilisers. You are feeding the soil rather than feeding the plants. If you are growing in pots or containers, as in a small urban garden, then supplementary feeds will be necessary as the plant has a much smaller volume of soil/compost from which to draw nutrients.
Just a note, blossom end rot is more commonly caused by lack of water. it is true that it is a calcium deficiency but often shows itself because there isn't enough water to transport the calcium. I would try more heavy watering every 2 days to rule this out before getting upset with your compost pile! 😉
Any actual tips for growing? Mine are never bigger than a large coin. They get plenty of manure and regular watering. Only thing I can think of is the fact that they might get too much sun
Hi Donna, could I ask you to send in an email to support@quickcrop.com FAO Andrew & he will troubleshoot with you, just in case the problem isn't the wick. It could be that there is a blockage elsewhere. We do sell a service kit including a wick if that does turn out to be the issue. Thank you :)
Just looked at the plan in your email. Can I ask what you put beneath the gravel? I love the idea of gravel/stone around beds but loathe to put membrane under it😬
Andrew, if only we in the U.K. had some bloody melons to train! 😏 I planted 5 Honeydew and 5 Sugar Baby melons in a polytunnel. All honeydews slowly died, all but two Sugar Baby died and they are showing no interest in fruiting, let alone being trained! I wonder if there is something going on with these bagged composts, it can’t possible be me 😇
My two are growing nicely but I have planted mine in an unheated greenhouse 8 x 6 in South of England in Clover multipurpose compost containing peat. Maybe that's why.❤
@@vanessaeden8174 I only use ‘traditional’ peat compost too. My 15x8 polytunnel was (low) heated from February to around end of May and they still kicked the bucket. I suspect that it has something to do with compost. The old lady next door was unable to plant tomatoes so I planted a couple for her, I got two 30ltr pots and filled them with a new bag of compost (Lexington’s I think?) NEXT MORNING both were collapsed at the base of the supporting bamboo stick! Not sickly looking, not wilting, DEAD. * Upon opening the bag I had commented upon the strong farmyard smell of the compost. Despite washing my hands repeatedly the smell was still on my hands in the evening.
You're not the first to mention that this year. I had someone with a similar issue last week, also in the UK. Can I ask if they are growing in pots/containers or in beds? I'm guessing that you've grown them before so you know they need regular watering.
Hi, I dry onions in a bright dry place (just inside the dooor of the polytunnel) before plaiting for storage. Onions store better where it is warm and dry so the house is better than a cool, dark shed. Onions stored in a shed can rot due to sweating when warm air enters a shed after a cold night, this causes condensation to form on the onion skins.
I've grown then over the years and for the most part they did well...this year it was so late and rainy and cold I didn't get them in...but i must say they are a lovely bunch you have there...
These are pressure treated spruce. The boards are treated after cutting so even the ends are treated. The treatment used is certified by the soil association as safe for use with organic food crops.
Hi, no need to pinch out side shoots in bush tomatoes. Here are 2 more tomato videos from last week, one explains the difference between cordon and bush tomatoes ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GDYqlMolOKo.html and this one shows planting a cordon tomato ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kOeggWO4uoU.html
it doesn't feel like that long ago that I was watching Klaus show you guys how to tie up tomatoes with the string for the first time. only feels like a couple of years ago I look back and see it's 11 years ago wow how time passes.. love the videos guys keep it up
Can you please tell me how do I know which plants to prune? I bought some tomato plants, one says tumbling so I will put it in a hanging basket, but the others don’t give any information! And one says Money Maker! I would be grateful for any information you can provide, thank you 🙏
Hi, the tumbling tomato is most likely a bush tomato, probably Tumbling Tom so you won't need to prune it. They are well suited to baskets/containers but you will need to water very regularly as baskets tend to dry out very quickly. You'll also need to feed it with a liquid feed at least once a week once it starts to flower. Moneymaker is a salad tomato and you can grow it as a cordon tomato, training it up a string/bamboo cane & pruning out the suckers. Hope this helps :)
Hi, no these aren't bunching onions. It's just a different/handy way to plant onion seedlings. It means you can grow 4 seedlings in a cell and then plant them without disturbing the roots. They push away from each other as they grow. You end up with more medium sized onions rather. Which method you choose will depend on how you cook and whether you would like larger onions or more medium sized onions. Hope you're having a good season :)
You're absolutely right, they are wind pollinated when grown outside. We will have the doors open to allow for ventilation during the day but, when the time comes, we tap the stalks so that the pollen falls from the male flower (tassel) down onto the silks (female flower). We'll do this for a few days. Some people remove some tassels everyday and 'dust' the silks with them. Others will tap the stalks and catch the pollen in a leaf/paper and use a makeup brush to distribute the pollen onto the silks.
