The Official Garden Thread

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#2143020 11-Dec-2018 10:46

tdgeek:

Slugs. Do I put pellets say 5cm apart around the patch, or also around every plant? Workmate says slugs prefer pellets, then they die.

Get a small plastic container with lid, cut a hole on the side big enough for slugs to get in. Fill quarter of the container with the pellets and place them around the garden where you have leafy plants.

Seen plenty of dead slugs since i started doing that. Good thing is that rain does not wash the pellet away so this lasts much longer

tdgeek

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#2143062 11-Dec-2018 11:11

t0ny:

tdgeek:

Slugs. Do I put pellets say 5cm apart around the patch, or also around every plant? Workmate says slugs prefer pellets, then they die.

Get a small plastic container with lid, cut a hole on the side big enough for slugs to get in. Fill quarter of the container with the pellets and place them around the garden where you have leafy plants.

Seen plenty of dead slugs since i started doing that. Good thing is that rain does not wash the pellet away so this lasts much longer

Great idea, that's for that. Plus it gives me a feel for how its progressing.

Hammerer

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#2143213 11-Dec-2018 12:47

JayADee:
Kale chips are surprisingly delicious and very crunchy. You'd think they were potato chips except they're green.

Just in case anyone tries kale chips thinking the experience will be like potato chips - it's not.

I like and eat kale chips, mainly in salads for the texture. It's the only way we eat kale because it is the texture which is most attractive and not the flavour. Drying kale through frying/roasting actually reduces the flavour. So if you want to know what kale tastes like then cook it in water to accentuate the flavour in the same way you would for silverbeet and other green leafy vegetables.

In my household, kale chips have never managed to pass a blind taste test comparison with potato chips. I've only found two situations where this comparison might pass a blind taste test:

Eating potato skins.
Kale has more insoluble fibre than soluble fibre which is why it goes much more crunchy - I liken the texture to dried leaves or melted plastic wrap. Whereas potato flesh has a lower proportion of insoluble fibre and most of the crispness is due to hardening of starch. Even in potato chips, the higher starch content and soluble fibre contribute to a more crumbly consistency which makes them easier to eat than kale chips.
Where the oil and added seasonings dominate but even then the kale texture is quite distinctive due to the crisp curled outer edges of the leaves.

Hammerer

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#2143215 11-Dec-2018 12:51

We catch slugs in our worm farm which is right beside a retaining wall. When I feed the worms, I remove any slugs and snails in the worm farm and throw them on the lawn for the thrushes to make short work of. I can get a dozen each day which isn't as effective as slug bait.

The only question I have is whether I'm helping to spread parasites by doing this, e.g. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/dont-eat-slugs-snails-rat-lungworm-brain-parasite-health-science/

MikeAqua

7785 posts

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#2143340 11-Dec-2018 13:44

Slugs/snails getting into raised beds - tack a band of copper at least 25 mm wide around the edges - they don't like to cross it. BTW there is a snail/slug poison called trounce in which the active ingredient is EDTA, which is quite toxic to molluscs (including snails) but not to mammals, so it's kid and pet friendly.

Kale - I find Russian kale OK in a stir fry, while the leaves are young. Very small kale is OK in a salad.

I'm ambivalent at best on kale chips. I've had them in a few restaurants and cooked them once myself. They are OK, but certainly no substitute for real chips. May as well just have a salad.

Mike

pctek

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#2143519 11-Dec-2018 17:46

2) Ventilation in GlassHouses, what is everyone doing, it was about 38 degrees in there today,

Why have one? Glasshouses are really for cold countries.

pctek

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#2143520 11-Dec-2018 17:48

MikeAqua:

Slugs/snails getting into raised beds - tack a band of copper at least 25 mm wide around the edges - they don't like to cross it.

And why? I have seen snails happily walking (or sliming) across copper before.

One of those garden myths I think.

We use Tui Quash when necessary, but not often, mostly we find we can ignore them, haven't f=done much damage except when seedlings are in.

And kale....meh. Cow food, that became fashionable.

Personally I think it should have remained cow food.

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MikeB4

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#2143523 11-Dec-2018 17:55

pctek:

MikeAqua:

Slugs/snails getting into raised beds - tack a band of copper at least 25 mm wide around the edges - they don't like to cross it.

And why? I have seen snails happily walking (or sliming) across copper before.

One of those garden myths I think.

We use Tui Quash when necessary, but not often, mostly we find we can ignore them, haven't f=done much damage except when seedlings are in.

And kale....meh. Cow food, that became fashionable.

Personally I think it should have remained cow food.

Kale has been cultivated for human food for several millennia. It is high nutrients and is good for stomach health.

tdgeek

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#2143529 11-Dec-2018 18:13

On slugs, I saw this at lunch

https://www.google.com/search?q=garden+slugs&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-ab

Lots of ideas, I like the epsom salts one as that also helps the plants take up NPK easier.

MikeB4

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#2143547 11-Dec-2018 19:08

If you dont want chemicals around your vege garden a home prepared Slug and Snail defence can be as follows...

Cut a 2 litre Coke bottle (or similar) in half don't throw the top half away that has a use later. In the bottom half put some lettuce or cabbage leaves in the bottom half, lay it on its side in the garden and put some normal table salt inside the bottle across the entrance in front of the lettuce leaves. The snail enter the bottle try and cross the salt, the salt dries them out and kills then quickly.

Now the top half of the bottle push the cap end into the soil fill with water and use it as a slow irrigation system. Can be used in pots, tubs, gardens and glass houses. Usefull if you are going away for a few days.

blackjack17

1705 posts

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#2143565 11-Dec-2018 19:56

I wouldn't mind some other unusual salad plant tips if anyone has some, preferably dual purpose as decorative.

Pineapple sage flowers

Sheep's Sorrel (nightmare weed but very tasty)

Chive flowers

Onion weed

Oxalis leaves (once again nightmare weed but very tasty)

Beetroot leaves

Pea tendrils

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MikeAqua

7785 posts

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#2144668 13-Dec-2018 10:06

MikeB4:

Kale has been cultivated for human food for several millennia. It is high nutrients and is good for stomach health.

Evidence for gut health benefits of kale?

Gut health claims for foods are common but very rarely substantiated.

Mike

Fred99

13684 posts

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#2145216 14-Dec-2018 10:16

Can anybody recommend an automatic watering system controller which is reliable and easy to program?

All I want is for it to turn three zones on/off, for say 15 minutes, every third day.

nickb800

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#2145501 14-Dec-2018 18:55

I got a cheap Hunter timer off eBay which I'm happy with. Lots of diy/internet based options if you have the time

Fred99

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#2145667 15-Dec-2018 09:38

I didn't have the time - going away in a few days, so no time for delivery ex Amazon etc.
I bought an "Orbit" brand timer at Mitre 10. Only two outlet - 3 would have been better, but I set it up yesterday, and it worked as planned this morning. A bit expensive ($150). Reasonably easy to program - but you still need to rtfm.

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