Interesting comment in Gardening Which (July/Aug) issue – if you find that you are getting too many boys and not enough girls it’s all down to watering. Courgettes, squashes, etc are thirsty plants and to perform well they need a lot of watering (and feeding too). If the conditions are dry the plant conserves energy and produces more male flowers. Too overcome the problem – mulch and increase the amount of watering during the growing season.
Category Archives: Hints
Some stuff that I have found useful…
Thyme Tea for Brassicas
Not difficult to make although you need a reasonable amount of thyme (so a healthy good size plant if you are to keep making it).
Add a small handful of thyme to 1 pint of warm water and leave it to steep overnight. Strain the thyme out and use the liquid to spray brassicas to keep the Cabbage White Butterflies away (if you have already got caterpillars the tea spray will bring them out of hiding so that you can remove them). Repeat as needed.
Cut Back Herbs in Summer
In June/July, once some of the perennials have started to go over or go up to seed, you may want to cut the herbs back to encourage a second growth.
Herbs such chives, fennel, lovage, marjoram, mint and lemon balm will benefit from a summer cut-back. Re-growth may not be as tall or prolific as the spring growth but it gives you fresh, new herbs for a little longer.
Ice Cubes Herbs
If you find some herbs such as fennel and coriander don’t store well as dried leaves, try freezing them to preserve your fresh herb flavours.
Freeze as ice cubes – literally cut the herb so that the pieces will fit in to the cubes, add water to cover and freeze. The cubes are great to add in to the cooking process but won’t provide herbs which can be used as a garnish. I don’t keep the cubes for more than few months.
Saving Hostas from Slugs
Home-made garlic spray can be used to deter slugs to keep hostas looking good. The recipe is very simple:
1 Bulb Garlic
1 Litre of water
Crush the garlic bulb, add to the water and boil for 5 minutes.
Cool, strain and store in the fridge.
To use: dilute 1 tbsp of the garlic solution per litre and spray the plants and surrounding soil.