Hi,
Nothing seems to be doing well in my garden this year, (apart from the weeds). I have planted bedding plants, impatiens, begonias etc. They start well, but then just seem to die away. Could it be that my soil is getting tired. The soil is well drained. If I need to feed the soil, can anyone tell me the best stuff to use.
Regards.

"Greenveg" wrote


Hi,
Nothing seems to be doing well in my garden this year, (apart from the
weeds). I have planted bedding plants, impatiens, begonias etc. They
start well, but then just seem to die away. Could it be that my soil is
getting tired. The soil is well drained. If I need to feed the soil, can
anyone tell me the best stuff to use.

I'd use Growmore for a start, then follow up with watering on some seaweed
extract. Both of those you can buy in large amounts at a reduced price if
you look online.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

It may well simply be the dreadful weather. Not warm enough, too wet. It's nominally July, but in weather terms it's a rather wet April.

On Jul 5, 11:15*am, Greenveg
wrote:
Hi,
Nothing seems to be doing well in my garden this year, (apart from the
weeds). I *have planted bedding plants, impatiens, begonias etc. They
start well, but then just seem to die away. Could it be that my soil is
getting tired. The soil is well drained. If I need to feed the soil, can
anyone tell me the best stuff to use.
Regards.

--
Greenveg

It's cold & there are a lot of slugs about. Try slug pellets.

In article , Bob Hobden
writes
I have planted bedding plants, impatiens,


What kind of impatiens? Are you sure they didn't have the virus and just
simply stop thriving and die away?
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

I did hear a while ago that certain Impatiens were subject to a virus. Mine are Cranberry Mix, bought from Tesco. They hardly began to grow before they withered away.

I agree its this awful weather, my carnations have turned to mush.Its very depressing.

On Sat, 7 Jul 2012 11:54:03 +0000, Greenveg
wrote:


'Janet Tweedy[_2_ Wrote:
;963572']In article , Bob Hobden
writes--
I have planted bedding plants, impatiens,--


What kind of impatiens? Are you sure they didn't have the virus and just

simply stop thriving and die away?
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
'Dalmatian Telegraph - UK' (http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk)

I did hear a while ago that certain Impatiens were subject to a virus.
Mine are Cranberry Mix, bought from Tesco. They hardly began to grow
before they withered away.

The bulk of impatiens sold in supermarkets (and many garden centres)
will be the standard "walleriana" type that's been sold for years.
They are susceptible to impatiens downy mildew. Once this disease hits
your area, you're effectively stuck with it. It has been estimated
that the spores remain viable in the soil/compost for up to 5 years
and the mildew thrives in the wet we're getting now. There is no cure.

So if someone in an area where the mildew has struck grows the normal
impatiens then the spores can infect those plants and the 5 year cycle
starts again. The only way, if the experts are to be believed, to stop
this problem is for no-one to sell or buy or grow this type of
impatiens for, say ,6-7 years to be safe.

On the plus side, there is a resistant variety - New Guinea Impatiens
(some places sell a "Sunpatiens" which is also resistant but, IMO and
IME, inferior to the NGs which are much bigger plants). Although the
NGs cost more, I find they will fill the space formerly filled by 4-5
wallerianas so they don't work out more expensive, just don't plant
them so close together - give them space and you'll be rewarded.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay. We don't yet have a
"dah dah dah dah dee dee deeee" theme tune but we're working on it.

Can't tell astilbe from aranthus
But I can from an acanthus!

Thank you for the advice. If, like you say, the majority of wallerianas are sold in supermarkets and garden centrers, it's finding somewhere that sell the resistant ones.

On Sun, 8 Jul 2012 08:46:14 +0000, Greenveg
wrote:


Jake;963738 Wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jul 2012 11:54:03 +0000, Greenveg
wrote:


If, like you say, the majority of wallerianas
are sold in supermarkets and garden centrers, it's finding somewhere
that sell the resistant ones.

I buy New Guineas as large plug plants from Jersey Plants at a tenner
for 28 and grow them on. As a price comparison, JP sell wallerianas at
a tenner for 70. So as the NGs are bigger, they actually work out at
about the same price to cover a piece of ground or fill a basket/tub.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay. We don't yet have a
"dah dah dah dah dee dee deeee" theme tune but we're working on it.

Can't tell astilbe from aranthus
But I can from an acanthus!

On 08/07/2012 09:46, Greenveg wrote:
Jake;963738 Wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jul 2012 11:54:03 +0000, Greenveg
wrote:
-

'Janet Tweedy[_2_ Wrote: -
;963572']In article , Bob Hobden
writes--
I have planted bedding plants, impatiens,--


What kind of impatiens? Are you sure they didn't have the virus and
just

simply stop thriving and die away?
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
'Dalmatian Telegraph - UK' ('Dalmatian Telegraph - UK'
(http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk))-

I did hear a while ago that certain Impatiens were subject to a virus.
Mine are Cranberry Mix, bought from Tesco. They hardly began to grow
before they withered away.-

The bulk of impatiens sold in supermarkets (and many garden centres)
will be the standard "walleriana" type that's been sold for years.
They are susceptible to impatiens downy mildew. Once this disease hits
your area, you're effectively stuck with it. It has been estimated
that the spores remain viable in the soil/compost for up to 5 years
and the mildew thrives in the wet we're getting now. There is no cure.

So if someone in an area where the mildew has struck grows the normal
impatiens then the spores can infect those plants and the 5 year cycle
starts again. The only way, if the experts are to be believed, to stop
this problem is for no-one to sell or buy or grow this type of
impatiens for, say ,6-7 years to be safe.

On the plus side, there is a resistant variety - New Guinea Impatiens
(some places sell a "Sunpatiens" which is also resistant but, IMO and
IME, inferior to the NGs which are much bigger plants). Although the
NGs cost more, I find they will fill the space formerly filled by 4-5
wallerianas so they don't work out more expensive, just don't plant
them so close together - give them space and you'll be rewarded.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay. We don't yet have a
"dah dah dah dah dee dee deeee" theme tune but we're working on it.

Can't tell astilbe from aranthus
But I can from an acanthus!

Thank you for the advice. If, like you say, the majority of wallerianas
are sold in supermarkets and garden centrers, it's finding somewhere
that sell the resistant ones.




There are no resistant forms of I. Walleriania

Jake wrote:
And, FWIW, whilst I'm chucking bedding dahlias, asters and tuberous
begonias which are all rotting in the wet, the New Guineas, like my
fibrous begonias, are thriving.

The new guineas I bought from T+M as plugs have not thrived at all. :-(

On 8 Jul 2012 12:10:19 GMT, wrote:

Jake wrote:
And, FWIW, whilst I'm chucking bedding dahlias, asters and tuberous
begonias which are all rotting in the wet, the New Guineas, like my
fibrous begonias, are thriving.

The new guineas I bought from T+M as plugs have not thrived at all. :-(

Can't comment on T&M as I haven't bought from them this year. Jersey
Plants had significant delivery issues last year but they have been
sorted out now. They also seem to have beefed up their customer
service team. I've generally found JP's quality to be very good and,
to be fair, any problems are now resolved very, very quickly. I've
bought a lot of basket plant plugs from Dobies and this year I
"duplicated" a bit by buying more from JP. Must admit that the JP
plants are doing far better than the Dobies ones. So next year I'll
probably buy less from Dobies and more from JP.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay where sometimes
it's raining and sometimes it's not.