2023 - What I sowed today

A row of carrots, Autumn King 2, underneath the net.

What do you all use to mark your outdoor sowings? Last year, I mostly used little markers made from old yoghurt pots and similar, but my garden is quite exposed and the wind moved them around. I have some slate markers, but it's hard to write on them clearly, the chalk washes away quite quickly, and they snap very easily. I'm currently marking the corners of blocks where I've sown things using twigs, but as I get to the point where most areas have sowings, that's going to become less clear. Even now, it doesn't tell me what is sown in which block. Maybe I should draw a garden plan and mark sowings on there? But I can't do it outside in the wind and I may have forgotten where I sowed things by the time I get inside!

I use my phone and take a picture of the area and either take a photo straight after planting of the label/bag/seed packet... or edit the photo and write a note. Then sometime over the following few days draw it out in a book. I dont use any labels in the garden....except for dahlias...each one geta a tag around its stem.

Sowed more clary and cosmos to replace my failures (bloody compost!)
Trying these in my local garden centre stuff “Mother Earth”.
Running out of compost to try!

Sown pumpkin & 2 varieties of courgette

Carrots: Amsterdam Forcing, Volcano, Tendersweet & Charisma.

Sowed more clary and cosmos to replace my failures (bloody compost!)
Trying these in my local garden centre stuff  “Mother Earth”.
Running out of compost to try!

What issues are you having? Im definitely finding things trickier. Im getting lots of damping off. I try not to water too much but its either bone dry or soaking.

What issues are you having? Im definitely finding things trickier. Im getting lots of damping off. I try not to water too much but its either bone dry or soaking.

I find that often it's both. The top half of the container is bone dry, the bottom half is sodden. The water just doesn't seem to want to distribute itself through the compost the way it would with a peat based compost.

Also I've taken to sweetening the compost by seiving in a bit of BFB before use. It seems to help growth a bit, but not with the watering problem obviously.

Sorry to butt in, carry on.

Sowed more clary and cosmos to replace my failures (bloody compost!)
Trying these in my local garden centre stuff  “Mother Earth”.
Running out of compost to try!

I’ve always used Mother Earth. It’s pretty much the only one I can get on the island. I’ve always found it brilliant.

From https://icl-growingsolutions.com/ornamen...nt-issues/

"Substrate can become water-repellent, or hydrophobic, if it has been left to dry out during several irrigation cycles. Once a growing medium becomes water-repellent, it can be very difficult to get moisture levels in the pots and containers back up to an optimum: water will no longer easily infiltrate the substrate, leading to runoff and loss of (water-soluble) feed.

Water-repellency can become most apparent in peat-reduced and peat-free components of growing media. These new growing media often have a much lower water-holding capacity. You may need to water more frequently or use more each time."

They put a wetting agent in their professional peat-free to prevent it from drying out quickly. I've used unscented castile soap to re-wet dry compost in the past.

5 each broccoli autumn calabrese, purple sprouting, and wok bok.

Also some kohlrabi, turnips(snow & milan purple top), and some beets(boltardy & coloured mix)