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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Have I sold 16 people a pig in a poke?

536 replies

PiggyPokkyFool · 22/05/2019 10:31

Name changed as this is very outing.
The facts: Saw YouTube video about growing tomatoes from a slice of tomato, had some v tasty cherry ones from supermarket so planted 3 slices with low expectations. 3 weeks later, 54 seedlings, transferred to larger pots expecting to lose half, 52 survived - nearly all grew looking super healthy - had 49 tomato plants. Couldn't possibly use all so planted some, gave away some and had 28 tomato plants left. Got the bright idea of selling them on our local group for 50p each - sold all bar 3 which I offered some to my much older, much wiser chum and he said " Oh, no thanks as they are probably F1s so won't produce anything". Have I sold 16 people a pig in a poke? Never mind friends who think I am a great grower Blush

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BooseysMom · 14/09/2019 20:50

@buddinggrower.. My pumpkins have pot feet! Grin

Great idea of a rack for raspberries! They can be pretty cheap can't they? Def worth a try. Thanks for your help.

I highly recommend growing raspberries. We got one raspberry plant last year and it did quite well in our clay soil. It's on its second new growth and hopefully will fruit well again. We've added some home-made compost around the bottom of the plant

BobTheDuvet · 14/09/2019 23:33

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MereDintofPandiculation · 15/09/2019 09:57

One morning I came down to find the whole pot had turned over as one bent in the middle of the main stem.. Mine do that sometimes. They unbend OK if you lift them gently and tie them back into position. I grow mine in the greenhouse, and the parallel canes suspended longitudinally in the roof to drape bubble foam over for winter insulation come into their own in summer as supports for tomatoes and other climbing things.

Do you need a lot of space to get a good crop from raspberries? I've got a clump occupying less than a square metre and about a metre long row. I usually manage to freeze 1-4 plastic tubs of the sort take away Indian meals come in, though bear in mind the raspberries are fruiting at about the same time as the alpine strawberries and the start of the loganberry/tayberry season, so I'm not eating as many fresh raspberries as I would if raspberries were our only soft fruit. I usually pick every two days, then we have soft fruit on our breakfast oats, soft fruit with yogurt or ice cream with lunch, and then again for tea. And anything not eaten by the next picking goes into the deepfreeze.

MereDintofPandiculation · 15/09/2019 10:01

For anyone expecting to be in the same garden for a good number of years, I wholeheartedly recommend a mulberry. The fruit explodes in the mouth in a burst of juicy richness, quite unlike any of the other soft fruits, and you'll never get the fresh fruit in the shops because it has about a 24 hour shelf life. I notice that someone has developed a dwarf mulberry for container growth, which might be an alternative if you don't want to give over garden space to what can end up quite a large tree.

BooseysMom · 15/09/2019 15:08

@MereDintofPandiculation.. Thanks for the tip. I hadn't considered a mulberry, only blueberry in a pot. But i heard that they don't fruit that well. We are in our forever home at last and so a mulberry might be just the job! Do they mind clay soil?

buddinggrower · 15/09/2019 16:33

Some Mulberry's dont fruit, and some grow 80ft tall, and have shallow roots, and can run rampant over everything else. Have a very long growing season and take up to 10 years to fruit?

These are some of the downsides I've read about mulberries.

Finding the right one and having male and female could be an issue?

These might all be inaccurate, and some might be worth the trouble for the awesome fruits!

BobTheDuvet · 15/09/2019 19:30

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BobTheDuvet · 15/09/2019 19:33

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BobTheDuvet · 15/09/2019 19:54

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MereDintofPandiculation · 16/09/2019 10:26

Mulberries: you need to get the Black Mulberry (Morus nigra) for fruit, not the white mulberry (Morus alba) which is the one used for silkworms.

They're self fertile so no need to get male and female.

30ft is more typical - my 25 year old tree is probably about 20ft, and even elderly ones I've seen have been nowhere near 80ft. But their spread is quite large. No trouble with shallow roots or suckers. The RHS reckons they can be container grown for 10-15 years which would restrict growth (although half of that period would be non-fruiting) or they can be espaliered against a wall.

Clay soil is fine - mine is in clay which gets quite soggy in winter (even though the RHS says they need soil which is "moisture retentive but well drained")

The interesting article that Bob posted said that mulberries fruit in about 8 ears from a cutting. Bearing in mind that the tree that you buy will already be at least two years old, that would mean nearer 6 years for fruiting which has been my experience. I've grown them in two gardens, and both times I was surprised how quickly I got fruit (compared with the 10 years I was expecting) - just one or two the first year or fruiting, a few more the next, then abundant from the third. Once they get into fruiting they are very prolific - I already have a freezer drawer full, we've been eating the fresh ones with abandon, and we're only about half way through the cropping.

What I have found is 1) the blackbirds like them - though it doesn't really matter because there's more than enough for both of us 2) there is a total disconnect between the "fruit ripening" and "fruit dropping" mechanisms. Early in the season a lot of half ripe fruit is dropped, but there is also fully ripe fruit which hangs on until it rots. 3) picking is difficult - you dislodge too many half ripe fruit no matter how careful you are - hence the recommendation to harvest by placing a sheet underneath and letting them fall.

In terms of growth, they are the last tree to come into leaf, to the extent that you think you have lost it. They then hold on to their leaves quite late. The leaves turn an almost luminous yellow, so the tree looks like a yellow globe lit from within, then suddenly they drop the whole lot in one go.

buddinggrower · 16/09/2019 12:33

They sound fascinating mere

Yes, I read they have a very long growing season but are very productive.

BobTheDuvet · 16/09/2019 14:39

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PiggyPokkyFool · 18/09/2019 10:35

We have one at work and I have been desperate to try one but couldn't decide if it was ripe.
Lots of positive reports from my 'customers' of good tomato harvests though still a few reporting only green thus far so I am telling them to tie a red ribbon on as suggested by @BobTheDuvet upthread!
This mornings haul - note the runner beans of shame with finger for scale. I swear they were not there on Monday but of course they were and the Monday before that and they one before that.....
Cucamelons are the ones I could reach - I am small, DH is tall. Raspberries are much nicer looking in the flesh - they look a bit anemic in the pics...
Wonderful to see everyone's success - will pick the strawberries just before lunch to eat with my yogurt as I like them warm.

Have I sold 16 people a pig in a poke?
Have I sold 16 people a pig in a poke?
OP posts:
EssentialHummus · 18/09/2019 10:44

Lovely pics piggy! We're getting about 10 toms a day now of various sizes, and I've netted them as I've found a few nibbled (squirrels? foxes? who knows?).

BooseysMom · 18/09/2019 11:12

Very interesting and useful info re. Mulberries..thanks all Smile

@MereDintofPandiculation..thanks for the advice about clay soil.

@BobTheDuvet...i don't think my garden is big enough either tbh!.. by the sounds of it, they can spread quite far. I have a very small and annoying north-facing corner and it gets no sun whatsoever. I 'm after a medium-large shrub to go there. It will need to be ok with deep shade. I considered acer palmatum but I think they need some sun to thrive

PiggyPokkyFool · 18/09/2019 15:41

Started to freeze the raspberries in batches.
10 tomatoes a day is ideal really - fresh and gorgeous.
Our garden definitely isn't big enough for a mulberry tree though I now have a blackcurrant bush donated as unwanted from a neighbour's garden. I am the dustbin for the street!

Have I sold 16 people a pig in a poke?
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BooseysMom · 18/09/2019 19:52

I am the dustbin for the street! Grin Grin

EssentialHummus · 19/09/2019 09:12

Today’s haul. This is so lovely as earlier in the season we really got so little as to make me question why I was doing it, so it feels like a nice boost.

Have I sold 16 people a pig in a poke?
EssentialHummus · 19/09/2019 09:12

They’re now going to finish ripening alongside a banana to speed up the process.

buddinggrower · 19/09/2019 14:42

Wow at all the lovely produce!

So fresh and healthy.

I've been wild harvesting. So far, many blackberries, and juicy crisp apples, plums, and elderflower. Also, now sloes, will be going out to find a supply as I want to make bottles of sloe gin in time for Christmas.

NachoFries · 19/09/2019 17:43

Wow this all sounds amazing. I don’t think I can grow anything to save my life Blush

BobTheDuvet · 19/09/2019 19:28

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BobTheDuvet · 19/09/2019 19:29

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EssentialHummus · 19/09/2019 19:37

nacho it's all about enthusiastic amateurism here, have a go!

buddinggrower · 19/09/2019 23:23

Please tell us about rosehip syrup, have been wondering about harvesting wild rosehips too!

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