What have you done in the garden today? Part 3

[ThreeRingCircus]

The old thread was filling up so I've created a new one!

Link to old thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/gardening/4823202-what-have-you-done-in-the-garden-today-part-2?reply=128367673

My Buff Beauty is a vigorous thing and repeat flowers very generously. Pretty sure it's the right thing.

My mum is a huge rose fan and taught me to take cuttings before I learned to read (granted, I'm dyslexic and read late!). I am really annoyed, therefore, that the one rose that refuses to propagate from cuttings is an unnamed one I inherited with my current garden. It's a lovely, quite vigorous and very floriferous yellow rose. I've tried everything to get a cutting, but none take.

I have several rubrifolia (glauca, I know, but rubrifolia is prettier) that are seedlings; they do well.

Weird. Mine definitely had a really short season. It was a corner bed with a tree peony which flowered briefly just before. They were huge plants and I kept thinking I should rip them out and get more from that corner. But I did love them both.

So confused because I’m always reading that yo7 can practically use hedge trimmers and still get good results.

I've read that too, but stick with what we were taught on the RHS course and find the roses look better. We were taught that there is a concentration of plant growth hormones at the stem nodes and to cut no more than 5mm above it or you risk die back and I've always stuck to that. Another advantage of pruning that way is that you can see where the new buds are emerging on the stem and cut each stem so that the new growth will encourage a balanced shape. It sounds fussy, doesn't it, but I suppose I am.

The RHS guidelines are here. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/roses/pruning-guide

That kind of fussiness is great to me

I don’t have the knowledge but am trying via IG clips

It isn't fussy to prune properly! I have seen so many bad prunings and was taught by professionals and still often can't decide on where to take a branch or stem back to. But yes always above a bud that is directed in the direction you want the next branch to grow in.

I cut them down to about knee height when they finish for the winter, but try to cut out rubbing branches, old branches and anything facing too inward. I don't measure from nodes or anything but also don't leave flat shredded cut ends.

One time me and Mr Veg were at the main garden we work in and the client jokingly said to me that he didn't see why I had to prune the roses so carefully and why couldn't I just use a hedge trimmer. Mr Veg said to him 'You can have it done professionally or the bum-crack gardener way' and it was never mentioned again. He's got a terrible gob on him that man, but he was absolutely right.

I pricked out my chilli seedlings at about midday. And they are all very cross with me for it... I've attached a picture. What have I done wrong?

Could it be any (all) of the following:

I took them outside to prick them out to avoid a mess. I'm in Scotland so it's not warm (albeit lovely blue skies). They were probably outside for 30 mins?

I planted them a bit deeper as they were very leggy (I know I can do this for tomatoes but perhaps doesn't apply to chilli plants)?

The compost (a mix of seed compost and mpc) was quite wet?.

They were happy and upright before I started, though a bit slow to develop their true leaves. But they were too big for the propegator so I thought I better move them. The jalapenos in particular had developed a considerable root already.

Help please!!

@Muststopeating they're having a proper sulk, aren't they! I'd think it's either because of root disturbance or being cold, possibly both. Was the compost they went into stored outside? Keep them warm until they hopefully perk up.

Just found the time to go through my seed packets and I am out of broad beans! This is vexing as I'd planned to plant some this weekend now that my compost has finally arrived.

Re seeds that are past their "sow by" date: can you use them or will they have gone off? I always assume it's just about rates of germination, but it would be good to know for sure. I have some that are a few years out of date.

@Vegemiteandhoneyontoast yes the compost was cold and outside. I have read about warming up your compost but I am not into that level of faffing, turns out it might be one of the faffs that's important. I've just put them over a radiator to warm up/dry out a bit and they are already looking a bit happier. Otherwise they didn't look like they were going to make it through the night. (Don't put my heating on if I'm a bit chilly but apparently it's a different story for the plants).

P.S. the comments up thread by pp about the daily state made me proper giggle! As did Mr Veg's "gob".

@Muststopeating I imagine the equivalent reaction of small seedlings being put into cold damp compost would be how you'd feel being taken from the warmth of a house and put into a bath of cold water 😂Plants will put up with a lot but chilli seedlings won't appreciate the damp chilliness. Glad the seedlings are looking happier though!

Re the old seeds, @GrouchyKiwi, set aside some pots or a patch of soil and sow them anyway, some are bound to germinate. If you sow them by types - salad stuff, beans etc - you might get a nice surprise.

Brown bin day, as it had a bit of room left I took a few minutes to lop bits off the poor old Sorbus. It's been badly shaded from behind and leans out too low over the lawn.

I keep a raised bed for old seeds, and just plant them all to see what grows.
Generally either none germinate or hundreds.

Thanks for advice re seeds. I'll put 'em in a special area and see what happens.

A gardener told me that if you are sowing seeds in open ground then sow them in straight lines. That way when they germinate you can see which ones you have planted ( and thin them out if required) and which ones are random chancer weed seeds hoping to pass unnoticed!

Depends on the seeds. Peas and beans last for years, Apiaceae, carrot family (parsnip, parsley, dill, fennel, coriander) have much shorter lives. IME it’s not a steady reduction in germination, they’re all ok until suddenly they’re not.

@Muststopeating You’re braver than me pricking out. I wait till there are two fully developed true leaves, you seem to be pricking out when the true leaves are just emerging, unless I was reading the photo wrong.

Interesting to know it seems to be the cold. When my seedlings flop, I cure it by watering, but if you were worried about the soil being too wet that obviously wasn’t going to be a solution for you. Your seedlings reminded me of seeing fields in Portugal with rows of newly planted cabbage seedlings flopped over. It certainly made me less panicky about floppy seedlings.

@MereDintofPandiculation I completely agree that I pricked them out too early (you've read the picture absolutely right). But they were so slow developing their true leaves and bending over in the propegator (although I probably should have just removed the lid). The root on the jalapenos was really impressive, I actually struggled to get them out.

I've almost certainly done it all wrong though as this is only my second year growing from seed and my first time growing chillies from seed.

I sat them on kitchen roll to soak up some excess water and warmed them up and look at them now...

Meanwhile I've sown basil, coriander and marigold as companions for my tomatoes (which I won't sow til mid/late March).

That's a bit of an improvement, isn't it!

There are some tables knocking around which show how long various seeds remain viable for. A suggestion I read (although I’ve never tried it) is to sow any dubious seeds on blotting/kitchen paper and then, if they germinate, transfer them to compost.

Blotting paper! Now there's a blast from the past.

Yes! I was wondering where one would get it, if one didn’t have an ancient sheet at the back of a drawer. We’re a household of fountain pen users and I’m far from certain we’ve got any.

Over half the cosmos I sowed on Sunday are up! That's encouraging after weirdly poor germination last year (from more than one pack of seeds).