[chrissie B]

just wanted to get it right, in the summer discovered eel worm and after the good advice i put down lime and dug it in and left it empty all i need to know is how soon can i start planting and can i use manure on it as well , i will be wanting to plant , cabbage ,spring onions , caulis , peppers and chillies .
will these be OK in this area .
thanks
Chrissie b

[SkipRat]

I,d wait a couple of months before I add manure, your cabbages will love the lime.

[Rob the rake]

WRT eelworm, it may be useful to grow French marigolds as companion plants, a substance exuded from their roots has nematodicidal properties.

I don't know whether it's simply coincidence, but I've got into the habit of edging most of my beds with them, since reading years ago of their benefits as a beneficial insect attractor, and have (touch wood!) never suffered from nematode related maladies, even when those around me have been pulling their hair out because of it.

As an accidental benefit, I've noticed that slugs and snails adore them, so they are also worth growing next to plants attractive to molluscs, as a sacrificial crop.

I'll take a few pics in the Summer to show you just how many marigolds I grow, they usually outnumber the veg plants! The blaze of yellow and orange flowers looks fantastic in the fading light of evening, and if deadheaded regularly they last right up to the first frosts.

[Rob the rake]

As a postscript to my previous meanderings, it occurs to me that there may be advantages to making some sort of marigold preparation as a soil drench to control eelworm. Any thoughts on this?

[mushroom]

I think I'll be interplanting marigolds with my potatoes (newly de-weeded de-grassed bed), its kind of asking for eelworm, thanks for the tip

[Rob the rake]

I think I'll be interplanting marigolds with my potatoes (newly de-weeded de-grassed bed), its kind of asking for eelworm, thanks for the tip

Not sure what you mean here, Mushy. Are you getting confused with wireworm?

[gobs]

Also, interplanting potatoes with anything might be a bad idea and a trouble with earthing them up.

[chrissie B]

i should have mentiond that the lime went on at the end of october will i be ok for the mid to end of march as i want to get an early start
chrissie b

[mushroom]

Not sure what you mean here, Mushy. Are you getting confused with wireworm?

Yes.  :oops:

(it's late!)

[mushroom]

Also, interplanting potatoes with anything might be a bad idea and a trouble with earthing them up.

How long would it take the marigolds to do their job? I was hoping that by earthing-up time, the marigolds could be discarded

[gobs]

Also, interplanting potatoes with anything might be a bad idea and a trouble with earthing them up.

How long would it take the marigolds to do their job? I was hoping that by earthing-up time, the marigolds could be discarded

If only anybody knew for certain, what they do, when and how and if at all. But they don't hurt, that's for sure.

[Rob the rake]

Also, interplanting potatoes with anything might be a bad idea and a trouble with earthing them up.

How long would it take the marigolds to do their job? I was hoping that by earthing-up time, the marigolds could be discarded

If only anybody knew for certain, what they do, when and how and if at all. But they don't hurt, that's for sure.

Yes Gobs, I agree.

[WG.]

How long would it take the marigolds to do their job? I was hoping that by earthing-up time, the marigolds could be discarded

You can interplant with Tagetes Minuta which grows to 6ft tall so is not aptly named.

Otherwise, I'd suggest you plant in a way which leaves marigolds in place throughout, e.g. ends of rows, adjacent to outside rows of block.  Very large blocks could be divided.

[mushroom]

http://www.edirectory.co.uk/chilternseeds/pages/moreinfo.asp?pe=DBFBCJGFQ_+tagetes+minuta&cid=211

 :shock:  

[Rob the rake]

How long would it take the marigolds to do their job? I was hoping that by earthing-up time, the marigolds could be discarded

You can interplant with Tagetes Minuta which grows to 6ft tall so is not aptly named.

Otherwise, I'd suggest you plant in a way which leaves marigolds in place throughout, e.g. ends of rows, adjacent to outside rows of block.  Very large blocks could be divided.

That's exactly how I do it.