Sterile plants - grow from cuttings not seed
Posted by: Veggie - 14-08-2020, 07:21 PM - Replies (10)

Some plants cannot be propagated from seed as the seeds they produce are sterile. They can only be grown from cuttings from the parent plant. 
The most well known is Bocking 14 Comfrey, the one we all want to grow as it won't self seed everywhere like the other comfreys.

African Blue basil is another one - as I've just found when I searched for seeds!

Are there are any other sterile plants that you know of, please?

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  Wild/Perennial/Babington leeks
Posted by: Veggie - 14-08-2020, 10:56 AM - Replies (67)

   

They're forming bulbils in the flowerheads now. Each of these bulbils will grow another leek - but it takes a couple of years to grow large enough to grow its own bulbils. Once they're established they keep growing back every year.
Don't ask me what they taste like as I don't eat them - I grow them because I like having them in the garden; they're the county flower of Cardiff, they grow wild only in a few places around the coast of the UK- and because they're unusual. The bees love the flowers, as they do every allium head.

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  Self seeded apples - maybe?
Posted by: Veggie - 13-08-2020, 09:58 PM - Replies (3)

           

I have 4 little apple trees in the garden that I know I haven't planted (as even I wouldn't plant an apple tree that close to another one!). There's no sign of a graft on the trunks and one of the trees has the little clusters of "roots" on the main stem that are on an apple tree I've grown from a cutting on its own roots.

Since they're very close to other apple trees I think they may have grown from some fallen apples - as I'm very bad at clearing them up and usually leave the apples for wildlife. No flowers or fruit to help with checking their parentage. maybe next year?

Don't be fooled by the apples that look as if they're on the tree - they're on the nearest tree that could be the parent.

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  Anyone got a shilling?
Posted by: Admin - 13-08-2020, 09:21 PM - Replies (48)

Thunderstorm at 4 has left us without power and not expected back on until 05.30 tomorrow. Engineers think it’s a cable fault so currently digging somewhere.

I just think they need to put a shilling in the meter Smile

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  Beware Women in the Garden!
Posted by: Eyren - 13-08-2020, 01:40 PM - Replies (2)

While googling for something unrelated, I fell down an internet rabbit hole and found this fascinating article from English Heritage:

Weeding Women: Shaping England's Gardens

Evidently I had better not try to grow "gourds" (I think Pliny meant melons?) as they would be killed by my femininity!

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  Seed Guardians
Posted by: Veggie - 13-08-2020, 01:13 PM - Replies (6)

The Heritage Seed Library  (HSL) have Seed Guardians who grow a rare seed/plant specifically for seed saving - returning the seeds to the HSL  for its Seed Library and distribution to members.
There's a French organisation https://gardiensdesemences.com/seedguardians which is similar but there is more involvement with shops and restaurants to suggest varieties and sell the produce. 
Worth looking at this website as it lists the seeds chosen each year - some I recognise, many I don't but feel I would like to grow.

Some of the HSL seeds are named after the original grower or location - like Uncle Fred's Runner bean or Nameless Allotment lettuce!

My question is - do any of you grow and save seeds from the same plant every year because its a family heirloom or one that you've grown for many years that will have adapted to suit your growing conditions?

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  Weeds / Brambles etc...
Posted by: Broadway - 12-08-2020, 03:53 PM - Replies (7)

So last year when I cleared the plot i dumped everything at the end to rot down / die off etc.. So the question is what to do with it now, can I reuse or is there to big a danger of reintroducing the weeds.

Perhaps a silly question but heySmileSmile

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  How do you choose?
Posted by: Small chilli - 12-08-2020, 11:11 AM - Replies (20)

How do you choose what flowers / shrubs / trees to grow?  
I lean more towards bee & butterfly friendly. But then I also go with colour & shape. I’ve just learned that there’s a plant called angels fishing rod  Cool . I now MUST have one for my garden. That’s just the coolest name. So like with a lot of the veg I try for the first time, I’m drawn by the name as well Rolleyes .
I don’t do anything sensible like choose a plant for its size or suitable for the Mull climate or the location I want to grow it. 
Am I the only one that does this ?

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  Hybrid tomato
Posted by: Mikey - 12-08-2020, 09:04 AM - Replies (31)

Last year I had Sungold and a couple of Cuor Di Bue in one of my greenhouses. This year due to lack of access to compost I used the mulch layer from my tomato beds to start off other seedlings.

Stupidly I also did my new tomato seeds and ended up with 8-9 seedlings in a pot of 3. I left them grow on. 

This particular plant has a strong stem like CDB and potato like leaves, it has palm sized fruit but, lots of them on long hanging stems like Sungold. Green ribs and red fruit like CDB yet round fruit like Sungold. No idea what it tastes like yet will find out in a day or two



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  Think like a seed!
Posted by: Veggie - 11-08-2020, 01:53 PM - Replies (3)

I know that some of you mock me for talking to plants but, listen to this, it may make sense to you.Smile

These posts I read about plants bolting, its perfectly natural. What you call "bolting" is a plants' method of self preservation. All a seed wants to do is to grow and reproduce - to create seeds that will also be able to grow and reproduce. Its the natural lifecycle of all living things. Give a living thing the right conditions - water, light, food, space, shelter and it will flourish - whether its a plant or an animal.

As gardeners growing annual crops for food you have  a different agenda. You either want to stop the plant from seeding by nipping off the seedheads (think peas, beans, tomatoes here) - this make the plant try again to make seeds - or you want to stop it from seeding by harvesting it before its time (think biennial plants that set seed in their 2nd year). 

If you don't give your plants the conditions they need (like not enough water, room to grow, protection from its enemies) the plant will struggle and realise that the only way it can reproduce itself is to "go for it" whether the time is right or not - or to die.

As a gardener, you may be miffed when your onions/lettuce etc bolt, but ask yourself Why? Only you will know exactly what you've done or not done to cause this - planted too early or too late maybe. Or too closely,  too hot, too dry.

Next year, try it differently but not with the seeds from plants that have bolted - as they may have developed a weakness for "premature seeding" that you don't want in the next generation. Above all, don't worry about it, use it to your advantage. Set aside some of your best plants and let them produce seeds at the right time. Think of all the money you'll save. Smile

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