Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Welcome => Welcome to the Forums => Topic started by: KCWales on February 12, 2019, 18:44
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Hi Everyone, really pleased to join a forum for the very first time! Looking forward to learning loads from other forum members. I have a large plot, fast draining and pretty fertile. Would welcome ideas on how to surpress weeds without using plastic and how to use green manure in the most effective way. I’m not really sure how they work with crop rotation! Also any tips on how and when to get tomatoes, cucumbers etc off to a flying start in a cold greenhouse!
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Hello KCWells and welcome to you... you have chosen wisely in joining this forum, as it has so many helpful and friendly members, as well as a massive amount of helpful information hidden behind the button in the green strip at the top of the page
Quick answers (and I ma sure you will get lots)
1. You can suppress weeds with sheets of cardboard weighted down so they don't blow away
2. Green manure can fit into any part of a crop rotation as it suits you. Choose something suitable for the time in the year you are going to sow it
3.Tomatoes and cucumbers like warmth to germinate so get these going indoors, somewhere warm and bright
ut not too early, because they need a minimum temperature at night of 8-10 degC or they get too cold and stop growing, so work backwards from when this is likely in your area. I keep mine warm and well lit until mid-May so don't sow these ones until early April. Don't be fooled by the folk who have heated accommodation for their tomatoes, swing them this month!!
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Hi and welcome :)
I only tend to sow green manures in the autumn and then dig them in come spring. With rotation plans, if you choose mustard, you just have to remember is it a brassica and field beans/lupins count as a legume. Winter rye can be a bit of a beast to dig in, so I usually pick phacalia, which is easy to grow and not a thug :)
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Thanks very much for the advice so far. So if I use green manure which is a legume which plot do I sow it in during the autumn and what do I sow in that plot in the spring?
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Which rotation plan are you following? This article that John has written for the main site might be interesting reading for you. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and there are more articles as well.
https://www.allotment-garden.org/crop-rotation/three-year-crop-rotation-plan/
I grow Wizard field beans as an overwintering crop. They usually end up wherever the spuds came out from. They are finished by late spring, so get cleared apart from a few plants left for seed. Then I usually go for beetroot, chard and other bits and bobs . You could also follow with onion sets, courgettes or salad stuff :)
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Thanks - I am using a 4 year rotation -legumes, brassicas, roots, potatoes.
If I tried wizard beans how might that effect my rotation? Will have a look at John’s article - thanks
My soil is rather sandy so leeks and onions tend not to do very well, although I have mixed success with garlic.
I have struggled to find a good source of manure - I don’t want to buy bags from the nursery as that seems really expensive. Any tips would be helpful :)
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Hi KCW, and welcome to a great forum.
Have you checked local riding stables for manure, they're normally happy for you to take it away.
Also contact any local breweries and see if you can get the spent hops and barley. Both can be used as a mulch or composted first, then spread to add great organic matter to the soil.