Your Questions About Gardening

GardenersCardiff answers:

I prefer to start my own tomato plants and peppers indoors. I also start basil, lettuce, and some flower seeds indoors.

I used to start them in little peat pots but now I use jiffy pellets. I love the jiffy pellets because I get almost 100 percent germination. Then when the little seedlings are up I pop the planted pellet into 8 oz styrofoam cups. I use a pencil to punch three drain holes in the bottom of the cups. I label each cup with a ball point pen. Easy. Jiffy pellets cost me about 13 cents each.

I have two heat mats that I set the jiffy pellet tray on. I recycle meat trays this way. When the plants go into cups. I set the cups on the trays to keep them warm at night. Mytransplants are healthy and work well for me. They aren’t as good looking as some from the nursery that are started under perfect conditions. Give them about three weeks in the garden soil and they catch up.

I like starting plants because it allows me to control varieties. I made a lot mistakes before I got it right. The heat mats have made a huge difference in my success over the last three years.

Sometimes if the weather stays cold (like last year), I’ll transplantt tomatoes and pepper plants one more time into 20 oz. Styrofoam cups. This lets the root systems develop a little more. My target date for getting my tomato plants outdoors under frost protection is April 10th. (In southern AZ.)

GardenersCardiff answers:

There are a couple of methods that you can employ in addition to your filter/light system.

Firstly, good ‘housekeeping’ helps prevent the conditions required for Algae to grow, and includes preventing run-off water from entering your pond from surrounding soil. This water is likely to contain the nutrients needed for Algae to grow. Keeping debris in your pond to a minium will also prevent this from decomposing down to the same nutrients – though we’d hope that the water filter will process most of the fish waste, ensure that fallen leaves etc don’t get a chance to enter or remain for long enough to become a source for Algea’s nutrient requirements.

Light is also needed by Algae to grow, so if any shading is given, this will restrict growth too. If you have surface plants, these will also compete with Algae for the nutrients, as well as restrict light from entering the pond, otherwise, consider other physical barriers.

Secondly, you can add products that are fish safe that will control Algae, including blanket weed. It’s always best to manually remove blanket weed if you, perhaps be twirling it around sticks etc. Otherwise it will decay, and provide nutrients to fuel further growth. The best product that I have used, which is a natural mix of enzymes, minerals etc, is called Blanket Answer, made by Cloverleaf , available from many aquatic supplies retailers – http://www.swelluk.com/pond/pond-treatments-and-test-kits-35/algae-treatments-277/cloverleaf-blanket-answer-10310.html

Otherwise, you can add liquid extract of Barley straw, which goes to work immediately, and is faster and preferable to adding a bale of straw, in my opinion.

Other general Algae can also be controlled by additives, such as this, which I use, and is fish safe – http://www.koibitz.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=378

So, keep your pond’s well being managed, and feel free to use natural Algae controls, in order to get great looking water, safe fish, and an easier life.

Hope this helps. Good luck! Rob

GardenersCardiff answers:

Hi there Bex,

I have kids and pets and understand completely what you’re up against.
Realistically, you have two options. You can either remove what’s there, or cover up what’s there.

OR cover up what’s there whilst you work on clearing the rest one square at a time. Yep, sorry, that’s three I know!

I had a similar situation, the garden wasn’t massive, but a fair size and way too big for me to tackle on my own. I partitioned off an area big enough for the swing and sand pit, and then went round every carpet shop I could find and asked for any old carpet that was being thrown out after the shop had laid new. Of course, there will be some really manky old stuff, but if you explain it’s for children to play on while you sort out the garden they won’t think you’re just a fussy old bird. Don’t worry about asking for the old stuff; just remember that the shop has to pay to get rid of it, so, you’re actually saving them money.

I took all the carpet home, and yes it did take some days before I had enough. Depending on how bad the rubble/glass is, will depend on how many layers of carpet to put down, and obviously, any visble shards of glass poking anything like upwards will need to be picked out.
Of course, this option is not ideal, but if will mean that you and the children can go and sit outside, have a tea party, do some painting etc.

MEANWHILE, with the rest of the garden, I got some string, and I made the un-carpeted bit into a grid with squares about a meter x a meter. I then got some heavy duty gloves, a heavy duty door mat to kneel on and a hand pick and buckets. And went over the whole flipping lot.

Of course it was hard work, but by doing it one square at a time, I could pace myself, and I just set a target of one square a day. Depending on the ages of your children, you could maybe kit them out with gloves goggles and get them to help.
Of course, only you know how bad the situation is at your end, it maybe too dangerous for them.
If they are able to help, it will give them a massive sense of achievement knowing that they have helped clear their own play area.

The added benefit of clearing one square at a time is that is maybe perhaps easier to get rid of the debris in smaller amounts. Skips are very expensive.

These tasks always seem so huge and overwhelming when we first look at them, but by breaking it down into small pieces, we can achieve fantastic results.

You can cut away the carpet one meter at a time as you’re clearing as you go, and this makes it easier to dispose of the carpet too.

I make good use of old carpet for all sorts of things. A lot goes down in muddy gateways where I keep my horse to- it saves me so much time, fuss and money. Ok, so I don’t always like the patterns, but hey, once covered in mud, who can tell?