Veg4Show

Well I still haven't managed to get round to taking any pictures, sorry I will try this weekend.

I have been struggling to get my parsnip tunnel ready, mainly due to 4 foot of concrete that sits right under the tunnel which I found after taking off the first 2ft of topsoil. This is causing me a right headache as my pipes are a good 6-7 ft this year. This means I need at least an 8 ft bar to bore the holes.. not a problem you say, well it is when you have a polythene roof over your head, the bar has to go in and out dead straight to make the bore holes, with the pipe sitting 4 ft out of the ground that's a good 12ft of room needed. I'm working on a plan as I can not possibly dig any further after spending two weeks digging I have had enough. Telescopic bar comes to mind, which I will have to modify some how to ensure I don't have any ridge when it extends. I hope for next year I can get a 3 piece bar made up that unscrews and sits flush on each detachable section.

Other news, I have planted my sowing of celery "Evening star" this week, Monday to be precise which is about 12 days earlier than last year. I have most of my potatoes ready to go and will be planting 50 Winston and 50 Kestrel this year, sod the rest, 1 colour and 1 white is enough for me and this year I'm determined to get them right and keep the blight off.

Haven't posted in a while but to keep you up to date:

We are approaching February so its time to start thinking about sowing parsnips from Mid Feb to late march. I grow my parsnips under cover so I can plant earlier than most and get extra bulk and length. Don't be fooled tho that planting very early will result in bigger and better specimens, parsnips will lose quality, and skin condition.

I spent the weekend making my parsnip mixes up which sounds easy but man I hate sieving, especially moss peat, its so fibrous it clogs the sieve on each pass. Took me two days to get the job done. Don't panic I'm going to invest in an Scheppach RS400 Rotary Sieve for my potato mix. The mix is the same as last year, with a few modifications (I will post it here later).

I have been working on getting the tunnel ready for the parsnips and so far so good, I hope to finish it this weekend and show you some pictures. I will also be growing my long carrots back inside this year as they were pretty crap last year outside, mainly due to taking so long to germinate.

I have potted all my onions on, tho small at the moment I'm still sticking to natural daylight. I have also planted my marco onions for the smaller classes.

February is also when I need to start to think about my first sowing of celery. Last year my second sowing was too late, this I'm going to have to have a think about when I sow them, probably mid February I will start. If growing celery "Ideal" I would have sown it in January to get the bulk required.

The leeks yet again are doing pretty crap, and I have lost loads with the exact same symptoms as last year. I have ordered some Peter Clarke leeks as back ups. I'm thinking about throwing all the leeks away I got from Medwyns as they obviously have something wrong with them. The Peter Clarke leeks will be way behind but at least I will have something.

Will see how far I get this weekend and hopefully post up some pictures.

Here's a picture showing you the difference between growing leeks under ideal conditions, such as warming cables, artificial lights and heat. The leek on the right has been growing only on natural daylight with no bottom heat with an air temperature of 60f minimum 50f. The leek on the left has been potted up already due to rapid growth being in the grow room. Both leeks are bulbils and received at the same time, same variety "Pendle".



Leeks in the grow room have now all been potted up using added soil to the mixture at a rate of 3/1. I have lost 12 leeks which were all suspicious leeks when I received them having browning at the root plate. As I suspected they either rotted, wilted or didn't root. This is why I ordered 40 leeks this year in the hope I can at least grow on 20 good ones with any that look weak can be thrown away. Watering of course is vital and I tend to keep them slightly on the dry side rather than over water them.



The exhibition onions have all germinated and I have been pricking them out when I feel they are ready. My second sowing should be up in a few days time by which time my greenhouse will be pretty full as I have also been been sowing my hanging basket seeds and various other flowers.


Pricking out:

Managed to find time today to sow the first batch of Medwyns re-selected kelsae Exhibition onions. Only about 50 seed in the packet so I hope they germinate at 5 quid a packet. Again I used chestnut compound just to be on the safe side, and I have placed the trays on my warming cable beds. As soon as they germinate I will leave them in the main greenhouse with a minimum night temperature of 50f. I will leave one tray under lights as a test but I'm sure my light is to strong for onions, the rest will grow in natural daylight which will produce big bulbs anyway and is probably a safer bet for now. I will plant my next batch of onions in about 10 days time.

Spent Saturday cleaning all the pots for my shallots and preparing the compost. I have gone for 4lt pots and just a general multipurpose compost with added calcified seaweed. A small indent is made in each pot ensuring I don't compact the compost in anyway and the shallot is just placed on top. I suppose I have about 90 shallots this year in pots which are sitting in my smaller polytunnel, all I need do now is keep the frost off them with some fleece and keep an eye on pests and watering. Aphids can be a problem even in winter so you really need to keep your eye out for them.

My leeks have now rooted well and the roots can be seen in the pots, so they have got off to a good start. Bubils should be pearly white at the base and I'm always slightly concerned when I receive mine from Medwyns as most have a brown colour on them, but he knows what he's doing right?, so I hope I don't have any problems with them as they receive the most care and everything is so clean and sterilized the greenhouse stinks. I have now also removed the split canes and supports because at this young stage once rooted they don't need them and will actually grow straighter without them. Sometimes the support clips can actually hinder them to one side and I like to take them off at this stage because they won't fall over now and should grow naturally straight, The support clips are replaced once I pot them off into 3inch.

Christmas will soon be here and this is when I start to sow the first of my large exhibition onion seed. I have my own re-selection of kelsae onion, and Medwyns kelsae re-selection.

I will probably sow my first batch 20-21st December, if not then I normally sow them 26-27. It takes about 10 days for germination in the right conditions from which I will prick them out gentle at the crook or as some say the bent/loop stage. Many growers have a difference of opinion on this and over the years this changes with some people preferring to leave them until they have one true leaf. It really is preference and experience, If you feel confident you can prick them out at the crook stage with out damaging them, then I feel this is the best option as they have only one root which with some care wont be damaged. If you leave them longer they will have more roots and risk damaging the root system but the plant itself will be stronger. You can of course plant them in small individual cells or plugs and you won't need to disturb them at all. I tried this last year but I actually found the seedlings I pricked out grow faster than the ones in the cells, this is probably because I sowed them in seed base compost and pricked out into John Innes No.2, the onions in the cells of course spent longer in a weaker mix. I do honestly feel pricking them out at crook stage results in faster rooting, so I will stick to this.

Also time for shallots:

Shallots traditionally are planted on the shortest day of the year, so I will plant mine from the 20-23 December. Of course the weather is not right to plant them outside so they are planted in 4 litre pots and put inside one of the tunnels. You don't need to keep them warm just keep the frost off them, heat will just cause them to grow fast which is not what you want. I don't bother planting them in small pots and potting them up, waste of time if you ask me, has advantages but not enough to waste me hours and hours of time. All I do is plant them in Levingtion m2 or multipurpose with some added calcified seaweed, keeping them on the dry side until they really start to grow away. Normally there is no need to water for the first month or maybe two if you have sufficient moisture in the compost before you plant them. One vital tip is ensure you prepare your bulbs prior to planting, check them over for damage, rot, Disease, remove loose skins and any roots and do not under any circumstances push the bulbs into the compost, this causes the roots to grow upwards. Instead make an indent and place the bulb on top, remove any bulbs once rooted that look suspicious.