SoilFixer SF60 OWSOE2 Update

Update on the SoilFixer SF60 Overwintering Spring Onions Experiment 2 - 9 Days from sowing

SF60 @ 20% added to the MPC in the bucket on the left and plain MPC (Multi Purpose Compost ) on the right

Both Buckets germinated at the same time, both buckets have 110 Mr Fothergills Evergreen Bunching sown on the left and 110 Suttons White Winter Hardy Lisbon on the right. 

In both buckets the Evergreen Bunching were the first to show on Day 6 with the White Lisbon starting a day later on day 7 but are appearing at a much slower rate of germination than the Evergreen Bunching.

Comfrey Pipe Upgrade & Pumpkins

Well you may recall that more than half of the rope from my comfrey pipe weight appeared to have been cut off and removed. I was speculating if it was vandalism or a plot holder?

Last visit there was practically no rope left and this time one could see where two attempts had been made to cut the rope, and the answer appears to be not vandalism but Rats !

So a visit to the old fashioned hardware store, thank god there is still one local, I pick up some bits, got out the trusty soldering iron and made holes in the pop bottle cap for and the plant saucer lid for the ring bolts attached a length of metal chain and I have now replaced the rope well the 100mm that was left still attached to the weight with this;

No more string for the rats to chew off the weight

Hopefully metal is not a tasty as nylon rope!

The self seeded pumpkin is growing at an alarming rate

It appears he is not on his own ! as I spotted this little fellow inside the foliage

In fact I found another three at varying degrees of development under those giant leafs 

Environmental Fair 2017

SoilFixer SF60 Potatoes in Buckets Results

The SoilFixer SF60 Potatoes in Buckets Experiment was planned way back at the end of 2016 when Tony Callaghan the Managing Director of SoilFixer asked me if I would be interested and like to trial some. 

Now if someone wants to provide me with free products to trial, it would be rude to refuse wouldn't it? As long as they understand that you will be impartial and give an honest review and opinion of the product when you blog about it then I'm happy to give anything gardening and allotment related a try. I especially like this kind of trial because the facts and results will speak for themselves. 

The SoilFixer SF60 Super Soil Improver arrived in a plastic bucket with a lid.

22/05/2016

I really wanted to start this test off early in the year but due to events outside my control I didn't manage to get the spuds in the Potato Pots until May

From left to right

1) My Own Compost & Coir 50:50
2) My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 5% by volume
3) My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 10% by volume
4) My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 20% by volume
5) My Own Compost & Coir with Potato Fertiliser
6) My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 5% by volume with Potato Fertilizer

04/06/2017

11/06/2017

25/06/2017

09/07/2017

23/07/2017

06/08/2017

In order to weigh the produce produced from two seed potatoes from each variation of the mix, I purchased a 40KG Digital Travel Portable Handheld Weighing Luggage Scales Suitcase Bag LCD for the princely sum of £3.58 inclusive of Postage off ebay so that I can weigh the spuds from the different buckets.   

40KG/10G Model - Max weight:40Kg/88Lb/1410oz

Automatically lock in readings when the data is stable.

Main body use ABS engineering plastic as main materials.

Stainless steel hanging hook. High strength compact firm hand strap KG / LB / OZ / Unit

I managed to pick up six of the Tesco “single use” 5p carrier bags as they are light and will all be the same weight, lucky the small local store still had some as Tesco stop selling them at the end of the month.

My Own Compost & Coir 50:50 CONTROL Mix

My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 5% by volume

My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 10% by volume

My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 20% by volume

My Own Compost & Coir with Potato Fertiliser

My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 5% by volume with Potato Fertilizer

Schedule of results by weight 

0.410kg - My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 10% by volume
0.465kg - My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 5% by volume with Potato Fertilizer
0.480kg - My Own Compost & Coir 50:50 CONTROL Mix
0.490kg - My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 5% by volume (2.08% increase over Control)
0.520kg - My Own Compost & Coir with Potato Fertiliser (8.33% Increase over Control)
0.665kg - My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 20% by volume (38.5% Increase Over Control)

I had expected that the running order at the top of the page would have been the order of results based on weight, I was so wrong. I'm surprised that the 10% by volume and the 5% by volume with fertilizer results are less than the control mix. It looks as if 5% by volume with Fertiliser is better than 10% by volume, however It does not make sense when the Control Mix with Fertiliser produced the second heaviest yield.

What can be said this that there is a 38.5% increase in Yield between the Control Mix and adding SoilFixer SF60@20% by volume   

Schedule of results by Number of edible potatoes 

15 - My Own Compost & Coir 50:50 

18 - My Own Compost & Coir with Potato Fertiliser (including the green one! )
23 - My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 10% by volume
24 - My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 5% by volume

27 - My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 5% by volume with Potato Fertilizer

30 - My Own Compost & Coir with SF60 @ 20% by volume

In terms of quantity of spuds there has been a 100% Increase between the Control Mix and adding Soilfixer SF60@20% by volume

Last year when SoilFixer did their own potato trials they found the extra leaf weight above ground was equal to extra potato weight below,. Where they had 20% more leaf also had 20% more potato crop weight. I didn't weigh the above ground leaf, but I did notice that bucket 4 with SF60 added at 20% by Volume did not dry out as fast as the first three buckets, and that if you inspect the photos above the foliage was higher and more lush and actually lasted longer than the first three buckets.

I could have let Buckets 4 - 6 go a little longer, but I wanted to give all the buckets the same amount of growing time so that the comparison as fair. 

These results are using my own compost without the assistance of the SoilFixer compost humification activator, next year I'm hoping to undertake the same experiment with compost made using the SoilFixer CHA and see what difference that makes when used in conjunction with SF60

I would like to thank Marshalls for providing the Potato Pots and spuds for the experiment / trial.

In the mean time I have some overwintering spring onion in flower buckets trials underway again this time comparing bought compost Vs the same compost with SF60@ 20% with three different varieties on onions.    

August Bank Holiday 50p Seed Sale

It's an annual event that lots of Allotment holders love and wait for, especially those of us that are Seedaholics and that is the Wyevale 50p seed sale.

Now I have to say that Wyevale appear to have got their act together and over the last two years are not over stocking seeds, which may be a good thing for them as obviously seeds are not bought from their suppliers on a sale or return basis, but is not so good for the Allotmenteers because there is not the choice nor the quantity to pick from.

Historically I have been to Wyevale when they have many large tables with packets on them and you can spend quite a time over buying seeds as they are only 50p a pack, they have a couple of years on them according to the use by date, and I'm still using some that were best before 2015, yes you just sow more as the germination rate declines.

Now five years in from getting my first allotment and with three tool boxes of seeds, including all those I get with the magazine which I have stopped subscribing too as the mags are just taking up room, they really don't have much in them that I don't have in the vast array of books that I have and I really don't need seeds for things I will not grow.

I have a different outlook on the 50p seed sale. I'm only going to pick up seed if I have a real need for them or it's a variety that I have not tried before. I hear a voice in the back of my head saying "Really!"  OK Ok I will try and not go overboard.

So if you are about to get an allotment, don't buy seeds at full price buy them in the Wyevale 50p seed sale, from Wilkinsons at the end of season or Lidl at the start of the season next year as they can be purchased at a fraction of the price from gardening centres.

There are a number of Facebook groups that just publish seed suppliers offers and flash sales some where you pay the post and packaging and the packs of seed at 1p per pack.

There are suppliers via ebay shops that again sell seeds at very reasonable rates, whatever you do shop around when you buy your seeds or take advantage of offers when they happen.

Lots of suppliers like Dobies, Marshalls, Mr Fothergills etc have 3 for 2 or 4 for 3 offers, free postage offers but these are normally fear close time limited offers.

I recently I bought a pack of Mr Fothergills Eiffel Spring Onions for my overwintering Onion in Buckets SoilFixer experiment with a RRP £2.35 in the half price sale as they only had 3 packs left at Wyevale and I didn't want to chance not getting them in the 50p sale, Today the Mr Fothergills web site is selling them off reduced by 57% but I would have to pay post and packaging unless its a weekend where they are offering free delivery. 

My Mr Fothergills Evergreen Bunching Spring Onions which normally retail at £1.99 a pack came with my Grow Your Own magazine subscription for free. And my Thompson & Morgan Lilia Onions with a RRP £1.99 but today on their web site are being sold at 99p a pack were purchased for 50p in last years Wyevale Seed Sale. 

So my job in the next couple of weeks is to do the annual audit of my seed stocks and make a list of what I have and what I need and hopefully be more focused in my seed acquisition and expenditure.

I nearly forgot to say, heritage seeds and seed saving circles are a great way to acquire seeds, I have shed loads of tomato seeds last count 75 varieties, I've managed to acquire a load of them from seed circles but this year I bought Rapunzel Tomatoes at a premium because at the time I could only find one supplier in the UK. A month after I bought them a source on ebay had them at half the price and I was a little gutted especially as they were expensive and the germination rate was extremely poor.  

Spring Onions in The Space Saver

It's so good seeing those little onions popping their heads out of the soil, you can make out the sowing grid even at this stage and in a few more days they will be unfolding and more will be showing, I'm hoping for a little forest within three weeks in all of the cut down flower buckets.

Don't you just love to watch vegetabes grow from seed?

SoilFixer SF60 Spring Onion Experiment 2

I have just sown another 220 Overwintering Spring Onions, 110 Mr Fothergills Evergreen Bunching and Suttons 110 White Winter Hardy Lisbon half in MPC and the other half in MPC and SoilFixer SF60 at 20% by volume with a little bit of Vermiculite added for good measure, as part of my ongoing trials of their product.

Just managed to get it done and in the Space Saver Greenhouse before the rain came.

There are other bloggers and facebook users undertaking SoilFixer SF60 Trials check out Notes from the Allotment and the SoilFixer Web Site for more information about their products.
 

SoilFixer SF60 Potatoes in Buckets

Looks Like the SoilFixer SF60 Potatoes in Buckets experiment is coming to an end, harvest and results next Sunday weather permitting. It's interesting that that Bucket 4 which is SF60 @ 20% by volume still has some green foliage. 

Three Runner Beans !

Yes that was my harvest this Sunday !


I can not believe that someone has been harvesting my runner beans for me and that its snail slugs or squirrels that are eating my beans.

There has been more than enough flowers and the bees are in there all the time

It appears that everyone is having a naff year with Sweetcorn all started off at the same time but the corns where they have formed are skinny, the plants are short and one half look to be a couple of weeks in front of the other half which is not going to help pollination.

Wood lice were munching their way into two of my beetroots but I managed to get enough to do a pickling run.

I know they went in later than usual but even the Marketmore cucumbers are not romping away this year. and the butternut squash in the background looks sad and yellow.

The only thing that is growing at a rate of knots is the green manure

The soil fixer experiment looks to be coming to an end and I will harvest next Sunday and share the results

All in all it's been a rough year growing wise, well as all gardeners say "There is always next year! "

SoilFixer Over Wintering Spring Onion Experiment

So following on from getting white rot on my onions on the allotment I have decided to sow two buckets one with Multi Purpose Compost and the other with MPC Plus SoilFixer SF60 at 20% by volume.

So first thing was to stick a copper band around the flower bucket as I don't want the slugs and snails eating my experiment over the winter. I don't know how the little buggers get into the greenhouse but they do manage it somehow.

The Compost was put into the flower bucket and the jig used to compress the compost and a dibber used in the holes to mark out the spacing for the Mr Fothergill's Eiffel Spring Onions. Looking at the back of the packs I have found some other onions that can be sown in August & September they are, Mr Fothergill's Evergreen Bunching and Suttons Ramrod so I may do a few more buckets using them.

I was quite impressed with how well the jig worked

A little time consuming but I do find this kind of thing fairly therapeutic  

Watered in and then placed in the space saver Greenhouse with the other Bucket

.

Viagra Based Fertiliser

I'm not using that Viagra based fertiliser again

Planning and Reviewing August in Previous Years

Reviewing the diary over the last four years for August

2013 - Built my first Comfrey Pipe after making it in buckets and experiencing the stench, harvesting spring onions, radishes, Wyevale seeds at 50%, trouble getting a fork in the ground used a pick axe. Central path of paving slabs from front garden went in on Mill Green. Wyevale 50p seed sale

2014 - Growing Marrows for the first time, harvesting, Onions, Spring Onions, Carrots, Wyevale 50p seed sale end of August.  

2015 -  Onion End Rot on Mill Green allotment, harvesting month, Digging up paths for compost bins, First Red Tomato 6th August, Sowing Beetroots, whitlow appeared on my finger just as I got my second plot at Spencer Road.   

2016 - End July/Early Aug end of season gardening sale at Wilko, First and last time trying to grow Celery and butternut squash, Pickling Beetroot, 17th August first ripe tomato, end of season Coir top up for next year.  

Below is the to do list in no particular order and catching up with what actually happened in July and what has slipped. Way too much has slipped.

Spencer Road

• As much infrastructure works as the weather will allow - Ongoing
• Raise the paving for the greenhouse- Ongoing
• Erect the greenhouse - Still waiting for the base to be completed
• Make Air Onion raised bed frame.- Still waiting to be made  
• Rhubarb Bed to be created - currently in flower buckets awaiting a permanent home 

Mill Green

• Tidy Up the Allotment - Ongoing and looking better
• Blue Hoop Pipe from Mill Green to Spencer Road - Not Yet but blue pipe obtained and just found white rot on the onions so they have been harvested, only spring, walking and tree onions still in.
• Install hoop eyes and training wires for trees - TBD
• Sow Carrot Bed - Scrap Carrots this year, too late
• Trim the grapevine Back - Decided to remove this year and put in raspberries instead.

Home

• Second sowing of sweetcorn in Space Saver Greenhouse  - Completed and planted on allotment

Reminders

• Purchase vent opener for new greenhouse.- Not Yet 

Spring Onions in Flower Buckets.

As I have white rot on both allotments I'm seriously thinking about growing onions in cut down flower buckets over winter, question is for spring onions what minimum depth of container would be best?

I've made a mock up out of a based of square flower bucket from another creative project that I had made. I have a few buckets where the tops have split or become brittle. But I can cut them down to any height really.

The bottom of the handle hole in the side is 100mm from the bottom.

The two holes on all sides at about 10mm up from the bottom so the bucket can hold some water in the bottom to encourage the roots to go down and find the moisture.

The flower buckets measure 240 x 220mm

So if spaced at 20mm centres in both directions

240 / 20 = 12 spaces = 11 seeds

220 / 20 = 11 spaces = 10 seeds

11 x 10 = 110 onions

There are about 10 onions in a bunch bought at the supermarket so that's 11 bunches which would last us about 22 days at our average rate of consumption, so that a bucket needs to be sown every three to four weeks







I got to thinking about how to make the setting out the seeds easier and decided to make a Jig. So I cut a bucket to the same size as the one above and marked out the sowing pattern on the bottom of the bucket.



Then I found my trusty soldering iron, warmed it up and then made the holes in the base of the bucket with it.

The template will be used to flatten the compost in the growing flower bucket and to create holes with a dibber for sowing the onion seeds.

I can then sow the seeds, lightly cover over and hopefully job done. Looking at the back of the seed packs I have, most spring onions can be sown until the end on June, but three varieties can be sown in August so I will try all three Lilia, Performer and Winter Hardy White Lisbon in this bucket and then sow another in three weeks time. 

Self Seeded Something

Something that I thought was a butternut squash started to grow where my spuds have been planted in Bed 4 Two weeks later it looks like this

In the morning the yellow flower was open and it was massive, but had closed up by time I went home at 1 in the afternoon.

I moved it off Bed 2 and dug out the spuds and covered the bed ready for winter, then put it back so it can wonder over the adjacent bed 2.

But what's growing does not look like a butternut squash, It's not peanut shaped I have no idea what it is. I posted a couple of photographs on the Grow Your Own Grapevine forum and it was suggested that it could be a pumpkin.  I did put a couple of pumpkins in the compost dalek last year so it could well be one, but having never actually grown one before I would not know  




Funny isn't it but there is always at least one potato that get a fork through it when you dig them up, at least it wasn't a big one

Estima Potatoes from Bed 2

The Parsnips have died or been eaten by slugs so I will sow Beetroots in the remaining space in the weed membrane in Bed 6.

There was some white rot on some of the North Holland Blood Red Spring onions so I ended up harvesting the lot.