Make sure your sunflowers get plenty of water in this hot weather. Ours are loving the sun, and we've been feeding them with our homemade nettle water fertilizer - we'll post about that soon.
Anyone out there made it past the 3 foot (91cm) mark yet?
Wednesday 21 June 2017
3 Feet High, and Rising!
OK so not quite 3 feet high, but we're getting close!
Make sure your sunflowers get plenty of water in this hot weather. Ours are loving the sun, and we've been feeding them with our homemade nettle water fertilizer - we'll post about that soon.
Anyone out there made it past the 3 foot (91cm) mark yet?
Make sure your sunflowers get plenty of water in this hot weather. Ours are loving the sun, and we've been feeding them with our homemade nettle water fertilizer - we'll post about that soon.
Anyone out there made it past the 3 foot (91cm) mark yet?
Tuesday 13 June 2017
Three weeks in...
MY, HOW YOU'VE GROWN!
Just a quick update - we've lost a few to slugs, but our sunflowers have now reached a staggering 43cm (17 inches)!
Even the smaller ones are at the 30cm (12 inches) mark - not bad for just over three weeks growth, lets hope they keep growing this fast!
Don't forget - we aren't entering the competition, we're just growing ours for the fun of it,
I'm sure there are plenty of you out there with taller sunflowers than us though - has anyone out there made it over the 60cm (2 foot) mark yet?
Just a quick update - we've lost a few to slugs, but our sunflowers have now reached a staggering 43cm (17 inches)!
Even the smaller ones are at the 30cm (12 inches) mark - not bad for just over three weeks growth, lets hope they keep growing this fast!
Don't forget - we aren't entering the competition, we're just growing ours for the fun of it,
I'm sure there are plenty of you out there with taller sunflowers than us though - has anyone out there made it over the 60cm (2 foot) mark yet?
Sunday 4 June 2017
Slugs!
Bear in mind that everything in the garden has a purpose. Even slugs contribute to the natural cycle by providing a food source for lots of garden visitors such as hedgehogs, frogs and birds. They also eat dead vegetation and help everything to rot down.
Having said that, it's still a real pain to wake up in the morning and find that your prize sunflowers have all been eaten by slugs, so measures must be taken!
Here are some of the more popular methods for dealing with these hungry beasts.
SAND/GRIT
A favourite of ours - slugs don't like to travel across sand or grit because it irritates their giant foot. We'll often use some sand around the plant with a very fine grit on top. The best we've used so far was a really fine grit that was somewhere between sand and gravel, very sharp and it worked wonders!
COMPANION PLANTS
We like to plant Nasturtiums, and sometimes Marigolds alongside our sunflowers in an attempt to lure slugs away. We make it easier for the slugs to reach these plants by not applying sand or grit - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Either way, Nasturtiums are a nice looking flower so it's all good!
WOOL PELLETS
Vitax 'Slug Gone' pellets are made of wool, with the idea being that the fibres irritate the slug and stop it from approaching your prize sunflowers. We've tried these in the past but unfortunately for us all they did was form a soggy, woolen mat that the slugs seemed to treat like a comfy carpet as they trundled on towards our seedlings.
They also made it impossible to know if you were watering correctly as everything underneath seemed to stay wet forever.
On the plus side - our ferns loved them, presumably because they helped maintain swamp like conditions!
BEER TRAPS
The idea behind the beer trap is simple - slugs love a good beer. Once they've been attracted to the beer trap they're unable to escape and drown.
You can make your own beer traps simply by burying a plastic cup in the ground and filling it with beer.
Make sure you empty and refill it regularly though, otherwise, the resulting 'brew' can get pretty nasty!
There are also a whole host of commercial beer traps available if you'd rather not dig holes for plastic cups all over your garden.
A note about beer traps - bear in mind that the beer trap can attract things other than slugs and are equally happy to drown that stag beetle population you've been trying to encourage. We're trying out different beer traps to try and avoid this but we're also looking at other methods to simply keep the slugs away rather than killing them.
HOMEMADE PEPPER SPRAY
Made from water, chopped peppers, garlic, and a tiny bit of washing up liquid this pepper spray should help convince slugs and other pests that your sunflowers aren't the snack they're looking for.
Spray on your plants to keep the slugs off - make sure you wear gloves when applying this and don't spray into the wind unless you want a dose of pepper spray to the face - ours is so potent I also wear a mask and goggles!
We'll post a full recipe for this shortly.
NEMATODES
If you want a more scientific approach and have the time and patience you can try Nematodes.
Nematodes are tiny organisms that attack slugs (and snails) but don't harm other wildlife. They come as a powder that you need to keep in the fridge until you're ready to apply, at which point you mix them with water. The suppliers recommend that you apply every 8 weeks or so, but a pack usually contains enough for several goes. We weren't convinced after our first attempt, however we have read good things about them, so might give them another try.
If Nematodes get into a pond they can kill water snails so remember this if you like your pond snails but want to try these on slugs.
CLOCHES
A cloche is a great way to prevent slugs and other pests getting to your sunflower seedlings - you can buy them or make your own using old plastic bottles.
They can make things a bit too wet though, as condensation builds up on the inside. When we use them, we tend to stick them over our best looking seedlings at night.
COPPER TAPE
Slugs are supposed to hate copper. Copper tape can be applied as a barrier to stop them traveling any further on their journey to eat your sunflowers. You should resist the temptation to connect the copper tape to the mains - no matter how much you hate slugs, don't do it!
If you've tried copper tape let us know!
HEDGEHOGS AND OTHER GARDEN VISITORS
Hedgehogs love to eat slugs and they're in serious decline in the UK so they need our help.
Encourage hedgehogs into your garden by making small gaps in or under fences and providing food and water each night. Hedgehogs will repay your kindness by helping to control the local slug population.
If you're worried about the food you leave out for hedgehogs being eaten by your neighbours' cats, it's easy to make a simple feeding station out of a wood if you have someone handy in the family but a crate, plastic tub, or just a paving slab propped up with some bricks work just as well.
If you have a pond make sure you have an emergency exit. A plank or log leading out of the water will help hedgehogs that fall into the pond to get back out again.
Frogs, toads, newts and slow worms also love to snack on slugs, and will often turn up in your garden even if you don't have a pond. You can help them along by providing plenty of hiding places like old logs, planks, plant pots etc. so that they can go about their business without being eaten by something bigger!
SLUG PELLETS
We try to avoid using traditional slug pellets or pesticides as we like to keep our gardening organic and whilst there's still some debate on the effect of slug pellets on hedgehogs and other wildlife, we'd rather not risk it.
There are plenty of great tips for slug control out on the web, the RHS has some great information and there are loads of other sites offering advice. One of our favourites is the Slug Off website, which even has an A-Z index of methods you can try.
Having said that, it's still a real pain to wake up in the morning and find that your prize sunflowers have all been eaten by slugs, so measures must be taken!
Here are some of the more popular methods for dealing with these hungry beasts.
SAND/GRIT
A favourite of ours - slugs don't like to travel across sand or grit because it irritates their giant foot. We'll often use some sand around the plant with a very fine grit on top. The best we've used so far was a really fine grit that was somewhere between sand and gravel, very sharp and it worked wonders!
We like to plant Nasturtiums, and sometimes Marigolds alongside our sunflowers in an attempt to lure slugs away. We make it easier for the slugs to reach these plants by not applying sand or grit - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Either way, Nasturtiums are a nice looking flower so it's all good!
WOOL PELLETS
Vitax 'Slug Gone' pellets are made of wool, with the idea being that the fibres irritate the slug and stop it from approaching your prize sunflowers. We've tried these in the past but unfortunately for us all they did was form a soggy, woolen mat that the slugs seemed to treat like a comfy carpet as they trundled on towards our seedlings.
They also made it impossible to know if you were watering correctly as everything underneath seemed to stay wet forever.
On the plus side - our ferns loved them, presumably because they helped maintain swamp like conditions!
BEER TRAPS
The idea behind the beer trap is simple - slugs love a good beer. Once they've been attracted to the beer trap they're unable to escape and drown.
You can make your own beer traps simply by burying a plastic cup in the ground and filling it with beer.
Make sure you empty and refill it regularly though, otherwise, the resulting 'brew' can get pretty nasty!
There are also a whole host of commercial beer traps available if you'd rather not dig holes for plastic cups all over your garden.
A note about beer traps - bear in mind that the beer trap can attract things other than slugs and are equally happy to drown that stag beetle population you've been trying to encourage. We're trying out different beer traps to try and avoid this but we're also looking at other methods to simply keep the slugs away rather than killing them.
HOMEMADE PEPPER SPRAY
Made from water, chopped peppers, garlic, and a tiny bit of washing up liquid this pepper spray should help convince slugs and other pests that your sunflowers aren't the snack they're looking for.
Spray on your plants to keep the slugs off - make sure you wear gloves when applying this and don't spray into the wind unless you want a dose of pepper spray to the face - ours is so potent I also wear a mask and goggles!
We'll post a full recipe for this shortly.
NEMATODES
If you want a more scientific approach and have the time and patience you can try Nematodes.
Nematodes are tiny organisms that attack slugs (and snails) but don't harm other wildlife. They come as a powder that you need to keep in the fridge until you're ready to apply, at which point you mix them with water. The suppliers recommend that you apply every 8 weeks or so, but a pack usually contains enough for several goes. We weren't convinced after our first attempt, however we have read good things about them, so might give them another try.
If Nematodes get into a pond they can kill water snails so remember this if you like your pond snails but want to try these on slugs.
CLOCHESA cloche is a great way to prevent slugs and other pests getting to your sunflower seedlings - you can buy them or make your own using old plastic bottles.
They can make things a bit too wet though, as condensation builds up on the inside. When we use them, we tend to stick them over our best looking seedlings at night.
COPPER TAPE
Slugs are supposed to hate copper. Copper tape can be applied as a barrier to stop them traveling any further on their journey to eat your sunflowers. You should resist the temptation to connect the copper tape to the mains - no matter how much you hate slugs, don't do it!
If you've tried copper tape let us know!
HEDGEHOGS AND OTHER GARDEN VISITORS
Hedgehogs love to eat slugs and they're in serious decline in the UK so they need our help.
Encourage hedgehogs into your garden by making small gaps in or under fences and providing food and water each night. Hedgehogs will repay your kindness by helping to control the local slug population.
If you're worried about the food you leave out for hedgehogs being eaten by your neighbours' cats, it's easy to make a simple feeding station out of a wood if you have someone handy in the family but a crate, plastic tub, or just a paving slab propped up with some bricks work just as well.
If you have a pond make sure you have an emergency exit. A plank or log leading out of the water will help hedgehogs that fall into the pond to get back out again.
Frogs, toads, newts and slow worms also love to snack on slugs, and will often turn up in your garden even if you don't have a pond. You can help them along by providing plenty of hiding places like old logs, planks, plant pots etc. so that they can go about their business without being eaten by something bigger!
SLUG PELLETS
We try to avoid using traditional slug pellets or pesticides as we like to keep our gardening organic and whilst there's still some debate on the effect of slug pellets on hedgehogs and other wildlife, we'd rather not risk it.
There are plenty of great tips for slug control out on the web, the RHS has some great information and there are loads of other sites offering advice. One of our favourites is the Slug Off website, which even has an A-Z index of methods you can try.
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