VEGE PATCH. What's growing in yours?

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Just lots of nettle on this side of the patch. Threw some old beetroot seeds in a few weeks ago and they have sprouted but the nettle will outgrow them very quickly.
Can't be bothered weeding the nettle so I'll just till it back into the soil.
It's a b bastard of a plant and very weedy.
Think it got in via sheep manure.
Anyways...

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Nettle tea is good for the plants.... so they say.
highly nitritional (nitrogen)
2-3 weeks in a water bin to make the tea. :p
 
silver said:
Nettle tea is good for the plants.... so they say.
highly nitritional (nitrogen)
2-3 weeks in a water bin to make the tea. :p

Yeah mate can give them a real turbocharge. These days I take a 2 litre screw lid (milk bottle etc) put two or 3 midsize plants in and fill about 2/3 with water. In a week or two it will go a yellowy colour in the stems, just give it a good shake everyday.

When it smells worse than cow :poop: its ready to go, dilute to about 10 to one with water and straight on near the root zone.

The other alternative is to hang the plants until dry strip the leaves and sieve to powder.
 
silver said:
Nettle tea is good for the plants.... so they say.
highly nitritional (nitrogen)
2-3 weeks in a water bin to make the tea. :p

Its also supposed to be super nutritional and healthy for you. You can make a tea or cook it like a spinach.
It is also a sign of very fertile ground.

I just till it back into the soil as I will never get rid of it now. The way this is going my lawn will be a nettle lawn soon.. :lol: :(
 
silver said:
Nettle tea is good for the plants.... so they say.
highly nitritional (nitrogen)
2-3 weeks in a water bin to make the tea. :p
They say it is good for asthmatics too the tea. In the UK they have nettle eating comps. Had a mate there years ago that had a go at it. Said his mouth was numb for a couple hours. Apparently if its cooked enough that doesn't happen. He thinks he got stooged with some undercooked by some having a laugh.
 
I got no idea but I'm sure I will have a problem like this eventually.
Without Google I'm thinking diluted lemon juice sprayed onto the tomatoes to prevent infiltration lol
 
To start with kemjak feed all the bad ones to the chooks so none of them return next time as flutterbyes. I watched utube the other night and seen someone using a UV light to find the hornworms in their tomato bushes in the dark.... check to see if those nasties light up under UV.
I had heard that a spray made from Chillie and Garlic keeps biting and chewing pests at bay.... never had to use it myself though.

Otherwise your plants are looking great hey ! :D
 
Yes they are powering. Lots of home made spaghetti sauce in that lot. They cleaned up my boc choi now the tomatoes. Ill have a look tomorrow to see if I can sort them out. Thanks for the advice.
 
Hi Kemjak ,as silver said the chillie and garlic does work sometimes but you have to spray the plants before the bugs arrive ,it is a preventive measure not a cure

Pyrethrum sprays are organic if you can source them (the organic ones are hard to get and expensive) or you can use the synthetic ones you can get from bunnings,they are a contact spray witch means you have to spray the grub to kill it ,or you can source a systemic spray witch the plant will absorb the chemical and kill the grubs as they feed for a few days ( use as directed by the lable)

Not sure if the grub is a hornworm(hawk moth grub ) or a heliothis grub,without a close up of the grub it is hard to tell
If you don't want to use any sprays to control them then you can use the 2 brick meathod :lol:

I did not know that you can use a uv light to find the grubs silver ,learn something new every day :Y:
 
kemjak57 said:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...4736_cdab6019-f717-4dd7-8ce6-3c5195c10f01.jpg
Hello to the real gardeners here. Can anyone tell me how to get rid of these little buggas. They are really having a field day with the tomatos. Thanks for any suggestions

Hi kemjak67,
This is pretty good for caterpillars. But buy the powder form one as it is best value.

https://www.yates.com.au/product/garden-pest-control/yates-natures-way-caterpillar-killer-dipel

I use it once or twice during a season if I have a hive in the backyard as it is safe for bees.

If I don't have a hive I usually use the tomato dust which not only kills all bugs but also prevents a lot of plant disease. But I only use it a few times early on in the season as it is quite exxy and it is cumbersome trying to dust 40 or so plants that are over 5-6 feet tall.
The tomato dust will kill most bugs so it's up to you how you feel about it.

The running joke in our family is that my old man is still going (touch wood) as he would be in his patch every second day with tins of tomato dust' dusting like a madman and it has preserved him :lol: :lol: . He'd come out covered in it at times. The stuff works as I remember he would have tomatoes going till may-June down in Melbourne quite a few times.

In the end I allow for about 20% of the crop to go to waste due to disease or bugs as I just cannot keep up with the maintenance. Obviously less plants equals more time for preventative maintenance.
 

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