So Many Allotment Updates! | Sowing Cucumbers | Broad Beans | Dibbing Debate | Germination Solved?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- So much to jam pack into this one from just a quick visit to the plot after work. Sowing some bits, continuing the dibbing debate, appreciating my newly rebuilt greenhouse, new brassica defences and showing off a few bits I forgot to show last episode!
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The trick with clay soil is to work relentlessly for 20 years. And then move. Worked for me!
🤣🤣🤣
😂
Hahahahahhaa
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Ppppft 😂
I have clay soil here in Virginia that could be made into pots. I make a shallow trench with sloping sides. Then I go down the row laying the alliums the proper distance apart, leaning against one side of the furrow. Go back along the row, closing the trench ans straightening the onion. Each individual seedling is not possible for me at 85.
That soil needs some serious amending. I have always gardened on clay and it takes ridiculous amounts of compost, etc. The good thing about clay is that it generally has copious nutrients and has lovely water retention. Amend, amend, amend!
When I first got my allotment, the ground was hard just like yours so I dug it, it was hard work but I’ve never had to do it again. Once you start adding a bit of compost it gets better every year.
ours just seems to eat lots of compost and the year after there's no trace I've added anything lol, at home the soil is now much better but it's taken decades of additions
I was going to say this honestly. Really the best solution is to process/turn it once and amend it. Next year it will still be nice and fluffy and its just a case of topping it up every year or half a year.
I'm on heavy soil too. I don't use a dibber. I have a really narrow curved trowel that works pretty well in not digging too big a hole. It's not as quick as you'd like but not too bad. Works for me.
I heard the government have set up a task force and their best brains (😂) are on The Dibbergate Quest. Ergonomic, aesthetic, kinetic, economic experts will put their heads together and get it sorted. [Meanwhile the onions are wetting themselves laughing at the dozy humans😂].
JB the crucial beating heart of horticultural controversy😂
JB you should put lots of cardboard (kitchen scraps burring into the ground if you got them are awesome at bringing worms also ) on that bed before winter. Worms absolutely love cardboard and kitchen scraps. Worms will make that bed 100% better. I got clay soil also. In the winter you won't have to worry about slugs so worms will work for you.
I bought myself a builders hand held mortar pick. It is brilliant for digging up crocosmia, ferns etc.
But, I use it to dig holes for all planting in the garden, whether it is digging holes for roses or planting all my veg which are started in cells.
It has become my go tool every time I am in the garden.
I totally relate to the soil. Mine is rock hard in some places. The areas that I amended last year however are much softer this year but its still no prize soil. I gotta start muclhing/composting the whole garden and keep a couple inches down at all times to help the soil. Cause the dirt under a foot of potting soil in my raised beds is so soft and lovely now. So I know it has potential if I keep it covered with good stuff in a no dig style garden.
So feeling the pain of your clay soil, so an idea for a dipper....could you line one of your cells with cling film or tin foil then fill with something that would set hard, thinking a tiny amount of postcrete or similar, add a wooden dowl as its setting as a handle then when it sets lift out, peel off cling film and voila a perfect shaped dibber!!!????
Perhaps a solid metal dibber - pour molten metal into a sand hole made by a containerwise cell. Insert a corkscrew into the molten metal for a handle ...
(I've got a headache now)❤😂
We are in London on very heavy clay soil, I can always immediately tell where I’ve mulched enough and where I haven’t. It’s rock hard in the places where not enough mulch has been added and then lovely and soft where it has been. Going no dig was so much better for our soil though you could pretty much instantly see it drained better
Love this! I am slowly transitioning to no dig where I can for sure
Being really honest, JB. I wouldn't worry about putting bind weed in the compost heap. I think you need to keep that path between the two plots nice and short and keep on top of it. Any bits that get chopped up by the mower will be very small and compost quite quickly (especially in your hot composter). In my experience when you keep adding contents to your compost heap, like you are doing, you aren't giving any small pieces of bind weed a chance tk grow so they run out of energy and die. I never had problems with it and I added big clumps of it to mine. Give that bind weed as little chance of entering your plot. You don't want to give yourself a big problem donw the line. Enjoying your videos.
JB you make my day with all your tribulations and trials on the allotment!😂
We are on London clay... as a geologist I have to say adding so much organic matter in there will really loosen it so much! It's been 3 seasons and the soil is much much fluffier! It used to be so difficult! I have invested so much in soil. I think I grow soil not veg. Veg is a byproduct:
I’d just fill up the rest of the bed with compost to help the clay soil
Love those big cell trays too. I'll be using them for the squash and courgettes soon, but at the moment they're full of peas and ranunculus that are desperate to go out if the weather would just behave! Hope the toms recover. I had to resow Roma 🤷♀️🌱🍅
Our ranunculus were all getting super root bound so they've just been put out into the big bad world of the raised beds. Hopefully will be okay! They were in much smaller cells than the 15 sized beast though!
I should Resow roma actually instead of just showing everyone the failure, thank you for the reminder!
The little orchard looks really lovely. I can see why you enjoy spending time there.
Working on clay is it's own skill
The moat 😂😂
Note to self: don't drink hot tea when watching a video of J.B. That scene with the pea net was so hilarious, especially when you stuck your foot in that net. I nearly choked with laughter, especially as I had just taken a sip of tea. 😅
Hahahahahaha love it, funny thing is I found a little label which gave very clear instructions about how to unfurl it 😅 even has colour coded strings on the four corners!!
I'm so glad you found that label only after filming 😜
The plots looking good JB, Big Fella 🌱would be so impressed. So cold & wet here in Norwich! I’m desperate to get my polytunnel cover on (10m x 15m), treated myself to a proper one! I’m also giving climbing beans a go this year…I find you need to sow so many of the others for a decent crop. We also have clay soil but have managed to get my hand on some decent mushroom compost to top mulch the beds….bindweed, our site is covered. Took mine on 5yrs ago & now the adjoining plot…full of it!
Take a large auger bit and a cordless drill, and "dib" holes with it. Once you plant the onion, then maybe tip in some compost and water it in?
You could just fill the beds to the brim with nice fluffy compost and your dibbing problem will be no more. 👍
Yeah, if he won the lottery
I am on year two of my allotment plots in Essex and I know it's going to take time for the soil to improve. Clay is a nightmare!
Tried heavy watering of the bed, and then use a fence pin or crow bar 😅. That said the worm or whatever it was seemed happy in your “soil”.
I just make a drill from one side just depth needed. Place transplants against the edge of side without extra soil. Then use a hoe to pull extra soil around the transplant. No hands and knees needed.😊
The clay is a pain. I gave up and just did raised beds with garden soil delivered. A few the first year and a few more beds the next year to make it manageable. The trowel will be your bff for a bit 😂. Nice to see you’re treating yourself and the plot to new things like the staging, new netting, etc.
JB get yourself a garden auger drill bit. I too have soil just like yours and it is just amazing!!! I plant bulbs and my transplants, the bits come in different sizes so I matched the sizes to my most common transplant size. You will not regret the investment. 😊 good luck
That compaction is definately going to be a limiting factor JB, unless you add a ton of OM and fork it in it'll just reoccur if you do fork/decompact without add a ton of OM, a calcium soil soak mite help as you probably have high Mg keeping the soil tight. Rather than a hand bulb planter, a 2 or 3" bulb planting auger would be easier, drill it deeper than you need for a planting hole, fill the holes up with compost so you decompact in a kind of grid pattern over time, I've used this method to establish no-dig beds on tight clay, drilled a 2" auger grid pattern every 6" about a ft deep filling the holes with compost before laying down the cardboard with compost on top to establish the no-dig bed, worked really well. Mulching clay really helps too, try not to let the surface dry out. Spidermites (and most sap sucking pests) are attracted to plants with high nitrates (hydro nutrient salts, NPK ferts, fortified composts) if you have soil that's been conventionally farmed (i.e. with nutrient salts) soil soaking with LAB will convert the Nitrates to long chain amino acids more easily taken up by the plants.
Hi JB, have you thought about simply cutting your dibber down a bit? Yours seems quite pointy at the end. Ours is a bit fatter & works with the containerwise trays quite well (also on clay in Somerset)
Finally feel like I'm catching up after a good 3 hours at the plot in the sunshine 😅. Sowed my carrots and parsnips, planted out my spring onions and started getting my flowers out. Jo Devon 🙂
Sorry if people have mentioned this before, but the Charles Dowding dibber is quite a lot wider at the bottom than the one you have - it looks like it would be quite a good fit for the modules you have. It's quite a bit bigger than the Charles Dowding containerwise modules for some reason. It's a bit pricey but really good.
I think I would have gone with 3D printing or cutting a thicker stake down to size to make a homemade dibber (or just get one of those shoes haha). That comment you mentioned was hilarious 🤣I have the same "issue" with chili seeds (them being old). Mostly because I've bought too many varieties and don't have enough room to grow them all, so some just lie around and go old... "More tomatoes, what could go wrong? Still have lot of space." lol, famous last words for sure! 😄
Hi JB, love the allotment, it inspired me to get one this year. Why don't you just make a dibber, put a cement mix in the pot then put a stick or handled tool like a screwdriver or wrench, once it drys pull it out and you should be good to go.
Shorten the thin taper by at least half then add a small bluntish point to it you will now be using a thicker part of the dibber thus making larger holes
JB, all you need to do is…
Just kidding 😂 I know well the pain of heavy clay soil!
I’ve spent the past 5 years building up a couple of areas to improve the soil, but mostly I’ve just had to add raised beds.
Broad bean hummus is delicious! My first year with an allotment and that is the thing I’m most looking forward to! 😂
Great video as always JB. My teenage son has a 3D printer so I'm going to see if I can get some various sized dibbers from it. It'll probably cost me extra pocket money but it will be worth it and I won't have so many random Harry Potter wands for a while lying around!
The reason I have raised beds is my clay soil. Digging into it is awful and I always feel bad for the plants having to struggle into it.
I very much enjoyed your demo, the moat was funny and a well made point about clay soil. Jessie @plot37 has completely the opposite issue with her sandy soil.
Oh and thanks once again for the netting entertainment 😂 you are so brilliant at giving things a go on camera 🥰, this is so real life - been there done that 😄
Oh and controversially - broad beans - best veg of early summer IMO - it maybe a faff to double pod them, but once you have made broad bean hummus you may start planting more 🤩😋😃
Sylvagrow has been brilliant for me with no problems, the brassicas have grown very well in the compost.
I'm told that you need to till thesis and mix in soft sand. I have clay soil hear and procrastinating over digging the ground.
To dib or not to dib that is the question .....
Would working the soil surface with the Wolf multi tool tiller attachment help break down the clay soil prior to planting
You are so funny you really cheered the day 😂😂😁😁
The dibbing debate is fantastic, I couldn’t stop laughing on the last video. 😅
Me to. Although I did comment saying wiggle the digger 😂
In the end the answer is improve the soil. Sharp sand and compost.
For clay soils JB try growing a green manure end of season, there is a lot out there for clay soils....Steve Colwell
Have you considered misting to combat the spider mites? I have a liter, rechargable/ battery-operated, I fill with rain water (to avoid heavy minerals). Mist daily😊
Absolutely brilliant 😂...i feel your pain with heavy clay....not easy!
lol JB you have giggled and chuckled all the way through this video 😂😂 I now see what you mean about the issues re: dib-gate. Nightmare really int it? I really don’t think you will be able to do no dig in those raised beds at all chuck. Think you’ll need to get your fork in it and dig it over and add sand, compost and muck in by the spadeful. Sorry it 😊it turns out that even my spindle idea is pants for your soil lol stay cheerful chuck x.
I think you are going to have to build those beds up higher for a raised bed scenario. Get some fluffy soil going in there. Make your life easier in the long term.
Great video again, you certainly brighten my evening, the last two videos have made me laugh , you seem so excited and happy to be growing your plants.
As you gradually improve your soil the fibber will work, but at the moment I think you might be wise to just dig where you ate planting to make the job easier and plants happier!
My favourite thing to do in the garden is to dig or weed, which is lucky as no dig doesn’t always work.
We’ve had endless rain which has made my light soil too compact . Also we haven’t had as much hard frost as usual which breaks the soil up. Thanks
Spider mites are the thing that is literally destroying my joy of having indoor plants, you do everything you can to get rid, everything is going good then there they are again. The whole process of keep checking, treating, isolating , washing/wiping down all the leaves multiple times etc. etc... I just do not know how these people you see with their house floor to ceiling high with houseplants do it. It's been really quite disheartening.
In my little half wood / half perspex greenhouse, I had an explosion of red mites (glasshouse spider mites?) last year and so I have cleared everything out, swept, hoovered, wiped everything down, used a fumigation smoke candle thing - and I am still seeing them crawling about now. Hopefully I've reduced the numbers a bit but I'm going to do one of those garlic smoke fumers that Eli used as you can leave your plants in there and it's supposed to help invigorate them but also give them some defence against pests like mites, aphids, thrips etc.. that don't like garlic.
I've additionally ordered some spider mite predator sachets which you can hang from your plants that get them - I saw these being used on greenhouse plants at some stately home gardens we visited last year.
Containerwise cell trays are definitely going to be on my Christmas list this year. Everrrrytime I go out to any shop that sell gardening bits and even garden centres, I keep looking for if they sell any decent cell trays. Either they sell the real cheap flimsy ones or don't sell any at all. I really want some sturdy, quality ones that will just last years!
With the whole dibber debate thing - I know if would cost a substantial amount, but perhaps you could do just a bit at a time - that is toping up all your beds just with compost, be it homemade and/or bought stuff, then over time that should improve the ease of planting :)
My dibber has a metal point approx 2 inches long it cuts through any soil, once you have the hole what ever method you use put fill it with compost then plant. Think you must be the most cack handed person I have ever watched.😉😎
With you on the trays… slowly building up my collection … I keep all my seeds in the fridge aka if it’s good enough for Kew etc. re cowslips… maybe do the carol klein method… I do, and have great results with wild seed, nicotiana, foxgloves etc … 👌
I am guilty of two things with the seeds for sure
1) planting things that are 3 years out of date and
2) storing them where is convenient not where is best for their longevity. I shouldn't keep them in a greenhouse but it does make life easier for me!
@@JBNat I’m guilty of buying a tall fridge with two draws… one of course for seeds 🤣
I'm with you on clay soil, it's a nightmare. It also forms a crust like concrete.
I appreciate that you took the time to show us that you tested out the many different 'simplest' suggestions 😆
That heavy rocky clay...so relatable! I own a mattock purely because of the clay soil and rocks that make it difficult to dig a basic hole for plants 😅
I have soil. Just like yours. The pain is real. I make a hole, which is just big chucks coming out. Then when I go to fill back in a round the plant. I can’t. Cause it’s just big clumps. So I end up having to use compost and drag that around with me. You are right. There is no stress free way to do it 😂. We should start a we hate clay soil club 😊
Where do I sign up for that club? 😆
Love your love of gardening and the fun you bring to it! It would be best if you gave your employees a raise for the great work they have been doing on the plot. LOL
I'm in North Hampshire on clay, but i just lob a couple of bags of composted manure on each bed once a year and plant into that. I put my onions out last week and the dibber worked a treat. Mind you, it's taken six years of adding manure to get it like this!
Yes that's what I've started doing too :) it's why the beds are still so weed free, although their texture doesn't look so great at the moment.
Charles Dowding sells a dibber which seems to fit his cell sizes and it has measurments on it too but he does have the advantage of deep compost. You have done such a impressive job on your buildings. I look forward to your videos.
Love the way you giggle your way through gardening adversity! 😂😂😂
JB to help your dibber problem, have you tried raking compost into the areas where you are planting small plugs? By loosening up the soil with compost would ease dibbing. Just adding compost to the areas where small pugs need to go would be more cost manageable.
Just received a letter through the post today that I can have an allotment. I'm so excited het daunted at the same time. You have some great content. Making my way through it as we speak
What about using the bulb-planter and then just add a bit of compost in the hole with the seedling? More effort and a bit more cost, but you will in time get better soil from adding compost to the clay :) If you go no dig, you will have to add compost to the top of the bed every year anyway so you wont have the problem with hard clay soil for long.
Try a planting auger ataches to a drill
That was a fun update, enjoyed the section about dibbing!
I was waiting for you to fall over and get trapped in your netting there for a minute JB!
Neem cake is great for aphids it makes them infertile so they die off. I just sprinkle it on the ground around the plant. Or add it to the ground and mixing throughout before potting up.
I snap the tips of the broadbeans and toss in salads. I also like the recipe Jessie has posted. YUM
Boron is essential for plant cell growth and wood based compost can sometimes be low in boron
I seem to remember Steve GSU saying that Calsified Seaweed helped to break up heavy soils.I dont know if you ave tried it JB.
I was thinking about taking a hold of the container then shove a stick in for a handle.
Great video, soooo funny 😂😂
Hi JB, re your soil problem, sympathies. I think I would have been tempted to make the beds a bit higher and deeper and get some decent topsoil and compost added. ❤
Why did you not amend your soil first.I know if you are doing raised beds this might be a no no but you have to loosen the clay and amend it first.
One more dibbing idea : use a metal pipe same diameter as your plug. Use it like a bulb planter. Might work in your heavy soil
🐝Thanks for the great video🌻 Was it just clay it would not be a problem... But all those stones! hororrrr
I would use the dibber but I would use a hammer to make the hole the use a handful of bagged compost into the hole then push back the compost to take the onion
I've got a double ended dibber (ahem) with two different sizes but even that's useless on our clay it does compact too much, the metal pointy one works better but in practice I always return to using a trowel
Really good to know! Thank you
Hi JB, try using an Auger with your drill and fill the hole with compost.
You've nailed the next big gardening trend! NO DIB!
No dib 😂
I think you're going to need a bigger dibber - attached to a pneumatic drill 😆🤦 we're all rooting for you - literally 🌿🌿🌿
Remember Steve recommended calcified seaweed to help break up heavy clay soils, and add compost, manure etc 😉. Still remember him describing flocculation x.
You could make whole episodes on doing what people tell you to do 😂. Like the book Yes Man.
If you like no dig I'd get rid of some of that stoney soil and use it elsewhere and buy a bulk load of compost and fill the beds two or three inches. It's a big initial cost but subsequent years you should only need a couple of bags per bed each year to top it up. Also I'd fork the soil before adding the compost - loose compost acts as a cushion so once you've done the forking rain shouldn't compact the soil underneath as badly.
Hi jb I've chalky soil same problem also lumps of chalk everywhere I put compost down ect but it seems to evaporate, but your the king of peppers 🫑🌶👍
OMG, your soil! Holy bunny rabbits, JB, no wonder you can't grow carrots!
Your chuckle cracks me up 😂
Your masterpiece broad beans look better than mine. All my lower leaves got slug eaten. Also I've already got half a bed of autumn sown Aquadulce broad beans that are two feet tall and have been flowering for a couple of weeks. It's my first time growing broad beans and I'm slightly concerned I'm similar to you in that I don't like broad beans enough to grow loads. Think I'm going to have a glut that I won't know what to do with and I'm still yet to plant out the masterpiece tray. I still want to grow them though just to taste the difference between the two varieties.
Broad beans are horrible! They bring back bad memories of childhood, broad beans in some sort of white sauce. 🤢
Worst case scenario, broad beans are a great 'chop and drop' crop to build up the soil. That's my only reason for growing broad beans, but maybe I didn't realise that they might taste better if picked earlier? I've only had them when the broad beans huge and very stodgy tasting.
Try a HoriHori for planting in the clay. Maybe that makes it easier. 😅
Oh, haha, you already have one at home.
This winter just burie all your food scraps and shedded carboard on ur beds and then cover with a larger piece of card borad. Let the worms do the work. Did that with mine for about a year or two. Improved the soil quality loads.
I have fought for 2 years with spider mites with many chemical and natural stuff. It was always been back BUT. I used it once 5 years ago Spical Ulti-Mite Koppert (Neoseiulus californicus) and I have no more spider mites
Super Good work jB te moostiun te planting thans te video Top 🧤⛅👍🌱🌿🌷🏵️
compaction is your enemy ,, roots will struggle to get through a heavy compacted soil,,, you have to build up the layers
Why don’t you use a bulb planter it cuts a nice slug of soil out
JB I commented before basically saying the same thing you don't actually show us much of you doing anything on the allotment. 😅
Onion moat 😆
Hello JB see you are struggling with your planting , so did i with can i say worse soil than yours . This was grey clay , it took us around 5 years to tame it , hard work yes worth it yes . Can i give you a tip use an Auger bit with around the size you want to plant , attached to a cordless drill . Simple , then drop in some of your compost then start planting . I did start mine planting potato's for the first few year's it does break up the soil . Gardening is sometime's a labour of love as you know , it is about knowledge & knowing your soil . Steve was a past master , it would be ni on impossible to replicate his achievement's . My thought is there is never a problem only a solution . Look at at what you have achieved in what is a small space of time .If i can do it you CAN
Hey JB, entertaining as usual. But get a grip, 1st world problems! just pick a method and give the dibber a rest! All the best 😀
Could you get a a drill bit what takes a soil out
This episode had me in stitches, laughing with you through the pain that is clay soil, not laughing at you.
I was rather shocked to see my name pop up. Thank you. That Instagram reel was just so perfectly served up to me that I had to share it with you. I was expecting to see you demonstrate how effective one of Jess’ shoes could be though 😂😅😝
I have to say, I’ve found my super soft soil also behaving a bit weird. The constant rain and then suddenly drying in the strong wind and sun also seems to have given my beds a hard crust. Really odd.
I think it's quite common to get that kind of crust on anything which has been cultivated and left to the elements to be honest!
@@JBNat yeah. It surprised me but then I remembered how quickly the fields dried last year and did the same. There’s so much warmth in the sun that when the weather lets up it soon dries/bakes the surface
I think you need a rotavator. Churn it all up and add loads of compost
You would need a tonne or two of compost for each of these beds to make a proper difference I think! It was all dug and cultivated when I first took on the plot