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We won't waste water, will we?

18/4/2015

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This is a dry spring (so you've noticed?). We've got used to wet weather over the past couple of years, but it's not normal for this part of the UK and we often have long spells of dry weather.

It's tempting to reach for the hose. But about 95% of water hosed onto our allotments is totally wasted and, so far from not even doing any good, does actual harm.

This wouldn't matter if water was free. The fact that we don't pay for it by the gallon doesn't mean it doesn't cost us. THE BILL FOR THE WATER FOR THE ALLOTMENTS IS MORE THAN ALL THE MONEY WE PAY IN RENT. You noticed your rent went up this year. Want to know why? Wasted water is a huge part of the answer.
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No 'lovely weather for ducks' jokes this spring! It's back to normal with dry sunny weather for Kent.
So how is 95% of the water wasted? Because it never reaches the roots. Spraying water from a hose wets only the very surface, and in dry weather that just evaporates straight off. You might as well pour it down the drain for all the good it does.

But surely it can't do any harm? Wetting the surface of the soil creates a caked 'pan'. Seedlings find it hard to push through this and you will see poor germination. Wetting the surface draws the roots of established plants up to the top, rather than encouraging them to go deep and seek the water still in the lower levels of soil. Shallow roots don't anchor the plant well, they are less efficient at extracting valuable minerals (which you have washed out of the top of the soil) and they are vulnrable to drying out of you relax the watering regime for a moment. Too much water on the soil damages the structure, making it harder to cultivate and less hospitable to roots.

If we carry on wasting water the way we are, the council will inevitably be forced to bring in measures to restrict its use. This will affect everyone, but those who are currently using far more water than they need will of course feel it most.
Experienced gardeners like Tony Fagg, our longtime Show Secretary, do hardly any watering - only newly planted cabbages and suchlike. They know that the plants will root deep to find the water down there. If we get a real drought, put the water on in cans - without a sprinkler!!! Two cans full poured straight on the roots of a row of plants will deliver real water where it is needed, soaking in to the lower levels and lasting the plants for ages. To check this for yourself, try filling a 7 litre can from your hose. See how long it takes? See how little water your hose is actually delivering when you spray it around? Hmmmmmm.

For clever tips on making the most of water and saving yourself a lot of unnecessary work, go to our advice page USING WATER WISELY
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A possible break-through with leek rust?

14/11/2014

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We thought leeks like this were a thing of the past due to leek rust, but . . .
the answer might just be LIQUID SEAWEED
Forgive me if you already know this (and if so, why didn't you tell us?) . . .
Last year we fed our leeks with a liquid manure for high nitrates. Despite spacing them well apart and picking off affected leaves, the damage from rust was extreme.

Leek rust is always worst in wet years, and both last summer and this saw the heavy rain which spreads the spores.

Consulting an 'expert' at a Northern leek show, we were told to spray with dilute washing up liquid. However, I did notice that this expert's leeks were also badly affected by rust, so it couldn't be that effective!

After reading everything I could lay my hands on, we went for the following experimental policy:
  • Watering, whenever possible, in the morning (NOT the evening) so the leaves dried off and didn't sit damp.
  • No high-nitrate fertiliser, just balanced poultry manure when planting.
  • Regular feeding with seaweed extract (Maxicrop, available from the Trading Store) with a sprinkler so it coated the leaves as well as soaking the roots.

Result? The best leeks we've had in years and very much less rust!
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Weed-infested fruit bushes? Oh dear, never mind, it's easy to clean them up.

20/9/2014

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Autumn is coming, the leaves will soon be falling, but the weeds just keep on growing, eh? Never mind, if you have perennial weeds amongst your soft fruit, you can turn this to your advantage.

Nothing makes an allotment look scruffier than fruit bushes with couch grass, dandelions and dock growing under and between them. But these weeds don't just look unsightly, they are robbing your fruit of essential water and nutrients. Get rid of the weeds and the bushes will reward you with stronger growth and bumper crops.
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"I've tried!" we hear you wail - "I've dug them out but the roots are amongst the fruit and they just keep coming back!" The answer isn't hand-weeding (doomed to failure) but judicious use of the correct modern weedkiller. Glyphosate - available in many different brands but best-known as 'Round-Up' - only kills where it touches green leaf. This means you can wait till all the leaves have fallen, then water on your glyphosate all over the couch and dandelions. They will die and the bushes be unharmed.

For more about this solution to one of life's more annoying problems, click here.

Got a problem? Try our advice pages and see if we have the answer. Try the FRUIT & VEG A-Z, and the ADSVICE & INFORMATION pages for other topics. Doing well? Send us your tips for success! They will be included in our advice so we can all benefit.
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New plotholders get stuck in!

14/8/2014

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Many new plotholders have realised that the heavy rain we've had recently gives them a wonderful chance to steal a march on the seasons. Normally at this time of year the ground would be rock hard and there would be a two month wait before it was possible to achieve anything but a bit of weedkilling.

This year the ground is moist and in lovely condition. A very short spell of work with the fork will bring out most weeds by the root, and the warm weather means those weeds can quickly be on their way to becoming valuable compost.

Once a small area has been thoroughly cleared, crops of autumn carrots (Autumn King is the favourite), beetroot, spinach or its easier cousin chard, lettuce and herbs like parsley can all be sown and will germinate quickly. Cauliflowers and spring cabbage can be bought as plants to put in ready for crops early next year.

As all experienced gardeners know, weeds shouldn't be removed from the plot and every effort should be made to conserve topsoil. Some misguided new plotholders have even been seen to skim off their topsoil, complete with grass, and bag it up or dump it at the back of the plot! Weeds shouldn't be shaken free of soil and composted - don't believe what you may have read about seeds or roots not rotting down! Everything rots down, except perhaps the odd bits of polythene, baling twine and broken bucket which every new plotholder seems to inherit. See our tips for new plotholders for more useful labour-saving info by clicking here.
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Have you discovered the bulk bag trick?

24/6/2014

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HERE'S A CLEVER TRICK, USEFUL EITHER WHEN CLEARING A NEW ALLOTMENT (ESPECIALLY IF YOUR SOIL IS A BIT LUMPY AND HARD) OR IF YOU HAVE POOR DRAINAGE ON YOUR PLOT!!!

Use a bulk bag (the kind that come with builder's supplies in) Set it up in a difficult corner (but a sunny one) and use it as a compost heap. As you clear your plot, fill it with all your allotment and garden waste (anything can go in, even weeds, but not just grass clippings on their own) until the early part of the winter. At Christmas, cover the top with old compost sacks to keep everything snug and stop anything growing.

In the spring, level off the contents and firm them well down. Cover with a 6" thick layer of soil or bagged compost, and fold down the outside to just above the level of the soil inside. Plant 4 courgette, squash or cucumber plants at the corners. They will root into your compost heap, spill attractively down the edges, and be at a comfortable height to pick. By the autumn, when you take the plants out, the compost inside will have rotted down quite a lot.

Once cleaned of the courgette and squash plants, fold the top down further to take account of the rotting down, and add a little more soil or bagged compost on top, and mix in some general purpose fertiliser like pelleted chicken manure. Sow with winter salads, spring onions and maybe some herbs. In March add some more lettuce seeds and some radishes.

Meanwhile, on a sunny windowsill, have some climbing french beans or runner beans growing on in little pots. In late May, take out the last of the overwintering and spring salads and tidy the soil up. Add some more fertiliser, slot canes into the perimeter, tie them in the middle to make a wigwam, and plant out your beans. They will love the moist, squishy compost and give you a good crop.


Once the beans have finished, tip out all the contents and use to mulch or dig into your soil!

FOR MORE EXPERT TIPS FROM EXPERIENCED ALLOTMENTEERS, GO TO OUR ADVICE AND INFO SECTION (CLICK HERE)
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