John Savage wrote
Rod Speed wrote
John Savage wrote:

three times in hot weather at least,

I'm currently finding that twice a day keeps the soil moist.

EXposed to scorching heat, the roots can't draw sufficient water to
over- come losses. So the only way you can reduce the plant's stress
is to keep the leaves moist by periodic sprinkling from noon till 2,
or something like that, in addition to morning and evening watering.

The best of the tomatoes and potatoes seen to do fine without that mid day sprinkling.

Stawberrys too.

I prefer the iceberg style lettuce for cutting a wedge
of the heart when eating pizza and quiche etc.

There is no lettuce sweeter or better tasting, than the iceberg.

Yeah, main problem is that they are much harder in the stinking hot weather.

Havent tried growing them inside under the cooler yet tho.

I've since gone for bird netting because the blackbirds were
getting half the strawberrys. I do get lots of sparrows.

I've never lived where where there were blackbirds. It would be 12 or
so years since I've last seen a sparrow here in Sydney, probably a
combination of Indian Mynahs shouldering in and taking over their
nesting spots and the proliferation of urban currawongs predating
on nestling sparrows.

I dont see many of either. Quite a few pewees and another
backbird sized bird with speckled feathers and nothing
special beak color wise, dunno what this one is.

I have had a couple of the later inside the bird netting.
Damned near wrang their necks but decided that I'd see
if the fright would see them stay out of the nets in future.

For "always fresh" leaves you can buy a hydroponic lettuce from the
supermarket, then sit it in a bowl of water near a bright window and
pick off 3 or 4 leaves each day. Could even try planting it in wet
soil to see whether it won't grow a bit more while you're harvesting.

Didnt think of that, I'll try that. None of them in my supermarkets
have any roots tho, they are always cut off flush with the icebergs.

I've since found that the more exotic lettuces in woolys do have decent roots.

Probably your best bet. I see them in the gourmet or organic section.
No firm heart, partly wrapped in cellophane to keep the roots moist I think.

Yeah, thats what these are.

Alternative greens include nasturtium and water-cress (both a bit peppery),
mustard and cress (but attractive to aphids), celery (eat the tender leaves
of young plants), various sprouts you can grow in a bottle.

Yeah, noticed Woolys was flogging bags of 'beetroot shred' as 'aussie lettuce'

Maybe the native warrigal greens, but I haven't tried. Pig
weed is edible. None of these can compare with lettuce, though.

Havent been buying the non icebergs, have to have a closer look at those.

None are as sweet as a good iceberg.

Yeah dont mind that for the open salami sandwitches from the dome
of the newly baked bread tho. The mignonettes and cos were fine.

When you buy young lettuce without a heart, you can eat the lot;
whereas with the hearted ones I seem to end up discarding half
the plant by throwing away the bitter 'outside' leaves.

I dont mind bitter myself. In fact with the beer I brew a mate of mine
often comments that a particular brew is quite bitter and I do notice
that when he points that out, but still find it very drinkable.


The first punnet of Lettuce Combo that I stupidly let wilt very badly,
two days running, have come good, with lush new leaves. Not quite
as well developed as the second punnet a week later that I didnt let wilt,
but it looks like they will work fine. I havent been able to use any leaves
within a week yet like the woman at the nursery claimed, but it looks like
I might be able to next loaf of bread, 3 more days till then.

The second punnet is mostly under shadecloth and the first punnet isnt,
basically because I didnt by enough shade cloth to shade them both.

On the other hand it hasnt been quite as hot lately, hasnt been
over 40C for a while and its sposed to be in the low 30s max
in days. Its been mostly in the mid to higher 30s.

The pototoes are really bounding out of the ground, looks like I
will end up with a hell of a glut because I basically planted half
of the sprouted tubers I had instead of chucking them out.
The latest lot had green shoots in 5 days and the first lot
are quite decent plants now, 15 days from planting.

In article ,
ask@itshall said...
:
:"0tterbot" wrote in message news:Hdu6n.2876
:
: i haven't worked out yet whether seasol/poo stew is a huge help to lettuce
: or not, but it does seem to be anecdotally.
:
:I've always believed that Seasol has been of a lot of use in preventing
:transplant shock. It may just be co-incidence, but if I've ever forgotten
:to water seedligns in with seasol, they haven't got off to as good a start
:as if I do. I guess that would count as anecdotal evidence.

The above is my experience as well. Seasol (or similar) is magic stuff,
especially for minimising transplant shock. A few times now I've
transplanted seedlings, watered some with a seaweed extract, and a
couple without - just to see what (if any) difference it would make.
Invariably the seedlings watered with seaweed extract do better, often
with no noticeable transplant stress at all.

"Jeßus" wrote in message
...
In article ,
ask@itshall said...
:
:"0tterbot" wrote in message news:Hdu6n.2876
:
: i haven't worked out yet whether seasol/poo stew is a huge help to
lettuce
: or not, but it does seem to be anecdotally.
:
:I've always believed that Seasol has been of a lot of use in preventing
:transplant shock. It may just be co-incidence, but if I've ever
forgotten
:to water seedligns in with seasol, they haven't got off to as good a
start
:as if I do. I guess that would count as anecdotal evidence.

The above is my experience as well. Seasol (or similar) is magic stuff,
especially for minimising transplant shock. A few times now I've
transplanted seedlings, watered some with a seaweed extract, and a
couple without - just to see what (if any) difference it would make.
Invariably the seedlings watered with seaweed extract do better, often
with no noticeable transplant stress at all.

:-)) Well it's good to know that my experiences have been replicated by
someone else.

"Rod Speed" writes:
Stawberrys too.

Have you noticed how strawberries have maximum flavour if they have
not recently been wet? i.e., pick and just brush off any soil before
eating, rather than washing. And after wet weather, wait a day or two
if possible, before picking.

I dont see many of either. Quite a few pewees and another
backbird sized bird with speckled feathers and nothing
special beak color wise, dunno what this one is.

starling

Yeah, noticed Woolys was flogging bags of 'beetroot shred' as 'aussie lettuce'

I've never heard of that.

Maybe the native warrigal greens, but I haven't tried. Pig

Oops. Just read that warrigal greens *must* be cooked before eating, to
remove their oxalic acid and another nasty.

The pototoes are really bounding out of the ground, looks like I
will end up with a hell of a glut because I basically planted half
of the sprouted tubers I had instead of chucking them out.
The latest lot had green shoots in 5 days and the first lot
are quite decent plants now, 15 days from planting.

Yes, potatoes are like that, and are an excellent crop for a new garden
bed. Keep an eye on them, for if you didn't plant sufficiently deep the
tops of some spuds will show through and grow green. If you see this,
mound up the soil and cover with mulch. You can spread plenty of
straw and mulch over the whole bed, in any case. There is no need to
wait until all the plants have matured and died down, you can start
scratching around under the plants and collect small spuds as soon
as they reach suitable size. With butter and salt and pepper you will
be amazed at the flavour of home-grown potatoes. So long as the
soil drains well, you should have no problems. The only pest I've had
is a plague of ladybirds; they eat the green off the leaves and leave
them looking like lace. But I'd caution against killing any ladybird on
sight, as those with a certain number of spots are good guys, Wait
until you see them congregating on ruined leaves before you squash
them.

If you plant sprouted spuds in early spring, you can get two crops during
summer. Cover with a heap of loose straw to protect from late frosts,
but even if the emerging shoots do get frosted new ones will soon
emerge, so it's not all that much of a setback.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

John Savage wrote
Rod Speed writes

Stawberrys too.

Have you noticed how strawberries have maximum
flavour if they have not recently been wet?

No I havent.

i.e., pick and just brush off any soil before eating, rather than washing.

I dont wash them at all. I dont spray with anything, so havent need to wash them.

And after wet weather, wait a day or two if possible, before picking.

OK, I'll try that, thanks.

I dont see many of either. Quite a few pewees and another
backbird sized bird with speckled feathers and nothing
special beak color wise, dunno what this one is.

starling

Yeah, looks like it, tho I dont recall the yellow beak, maybe I didnt notice it when
I was deciding whether to wring its neck with the couple that got into the bird net.

The sparrows that get in are smart enough to get out again
by themselves when you show up, the starlings arent.

Yeah, noticed Woolys was flogging bags of 'beetroot shred' as 'aussie lettuce'

I've never heard of that.

Yeah, I hadnt noticed it before either. Dont normally buy
exotic lettuce tho tho I am happy to grow them myself.

Maybe the native warrigal greens, but I haven't tried.

Oops. Just read that warrigal greens *must* be cooked
before eating, to remove their oxalic acid and another nasty.

OK, I'll pass on that, I never cook lettuce greens at all.

The pototoes are really bounding out of the ground, looks like
I will end up with a hell of a glut because I basically planted
half of the sprouted tubers I had instead of chucking them out.
The latest lot had green shoots in 5 days and the first lot
are quite decent plants now, 15 days from planting.

Yes, potatoes are like that, and are an excellent crop for a new garden bed.

Yeah, noticed Pete Cundal said that and thats the reason I didnt
worry about the glut, I can always chuck what I cant give away etc.

Keep an eye on them, for if you didn't plant sufficiently deep
the tops of some spuds will show through and grow green.

Yeah, noticed that with just one small tuber.

If you see this, mound up the soil and cover with mulch. You can
spread plenty of straw and mulch over the whole bed, in any case.

Yeah, got plenty of that from the kikuyu that died off when I
didnt bother to water the backyard thru two droughts in a row.

There is no need to wait until all the plants have matured and
died down, you can start scratching around under the plants
and collect small spuds as soon as they reach suitable size.

Yeah, been doing that for a couple of weeks now with the original plants, waited
for a month after the flowers had gone and they're very eatable size now.

With butter and salt and pepper you will be
amazed at the flavour of home-grown potatoes.

Yeah, thats how I eat most of them, microwave with the skin on and butter just before eating.

So long as the soil drains well,

Yeah, its excellent draining. I get standing water at the end
of the watering with one of those Fiskars Aquapore hoses
and thats gone within 15 mins of so of turning the hose off.

you should have no problems. The only pest I've had is a plague of ladybirds;
they eat the green off the leaves and leave them looking like lace.

Havent had any pest at all. Pete says you can get potato moth
into the tubers if you leave them too long, but none of my potato
plants have died off yet so its much too early for that to happen yet.

But I'd caution against killing any ladybird on sight, as those with
a certain number of spots are good guys, Wait until you see
them congregating on ruined leaves before you squash them.

OK, havent had any pests at all yet apart from the birds with a new garden.

Have found a could of snails and I just chucked them over the fence.

If you plant sprouted spuds in early spring,

Thats what I did with the first ones.

you can get two crops during summer. Cover with a heap of loose straw
to protect from late frosts, but even if the emerging shoots do get frosted
new ones will soon emerge, so it's not all that much of a setback.

OK, thanks for that. I eat most of the potatoes in winter,
only once or twice a week in summer, most days in winter.

The latest lettuces are doing pretty well now, but its been a lot cooler
too so its not clear if its that or the shade cloth and extra watering.
We're bound to get another burst of over 40 this summer so time will tell.

The earlier planted lollo rossas have shown a bit more activity with the
cooler weather, but still arent big enough to eat any leaves of them yet.

Havent planted any more icebergs yet, plan to wait a bit longer with them.

Havent tried the seeds under plastic and masonite yet, waiting till the end
of Feb when it should cool off a bit with no real prospect of over 40C anymore.

"John Savage" wrote in message
...

Maybe the native warrigal greens, but I haven't tried. Pig

Oops. Just read that warrigal greens *must* be cooked before eating, to
remove their oxalic acid and another nasty.

fwiw i eat it raw sometimes & i'm not dead.

being a spinach-like thing (rather than a lettuce-like thing, for rod's
information) it tends to go better cooked, in cooked things, though. raw
it's sort of weirdly brittle & not so nice. the baby leaves are better raw,
the bigger ones are a bit ick.
kylie