Your comments and tips

13 Apr 13, Darren (Australia - temperate climate)

Hey Trudy, I am in the temperate zone also and have grown lettuce many ways. I have had some good fortune growing it in shallow pots as the roots don't go deep. Then on the hotter days I can move them to more shaded cooler areas.

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27 Dec 12, Wendy (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I live in Bowen Qld., we have lots of warm windy days here. Grow all my leafy green veges in shade house. Works well. Got a good crop now. Pick off them daily.

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29 May 12, i.bresca (Australia - temperate climate)

only a few of my first plantings took off but now seedlings everywhere....need to space and plant....help running out of room ! also advice on chilli plants...chilli not hot at all. i did buy mild but this is silly !

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02 May 12, alan (Australia - temperate climate)

put a couple of hand full of lime per square meter

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13 Mar 12, Russ (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi, I am trying to grow veg in old but clean broccoli boxes. They are not doing well at all, the Cos did not form a heart and went to seed. The Herbs are stunted. Collies and Broccoli are not doing much. I use good quality potting soil mixed with a bit of zoopoo. Water regularly and protected from the very hot sun when young. I just want to have the pleasure of growing a few veg. What am I doing wrong?

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11 May 12, Catherine (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi Russ - it's all about feeing the soil and creating humus, as small boxes provide limited access to nutrients (even using good quality potting mix) because they get eaten up so quickly by the hungry plants. a worm farm or compost are perfect so you can feed the soil regularly each week as natural fertiliser. also - are the boxes draining from the bottom? when you water, the nutrients run straight out the bottom and the plants cant access them. You can build really simple self watering containers in old broccoli boxes... punch a few holes along a horizontal line, about 1/4 from the bottom of the box. then fill to this line with pebbles or gravel - this creates a water table where water will sit and if too much water is added it spills out through the holes. put the soil on top with lots of compost and worm castings, plant your vegies, and then mulch on top. this system allows the roots to reach water at the bottom, but stops the soil from being water-logged. it also allows you to mulch and build humus within the soil without draining it all away. I even water at the edges of the box so that the water goes straight to the water area without disturbing the humus to stop any nutrients draining away. i hope this makes sense! I read Jackie French's Soil Food Web book which was also really helpful. good luck!

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22 Feb 12, Dean (Australia - temperate climate)

I have planted 2 sorts of lettuce (cos and great lakes) as a first crop in some new planter boxes I just built. I used an organic mix of soil with a layer of horse manure underneath. The lettuces have grown really well from seedlings, with watering every 2nd night, but now they are really to pick, they are "leathery" and bitter. We have had some hot days this summer and I haven't given them any extra shade, they have direct sun for first 3/4 of the day. Should I take them out and start again, or pick whats there and hope they come again? Do you only get 1 growth with lettuces if you cut them out whole, or should I keep picking the leaves? Any suggestions will help, thanks

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13 Jan 12, Narelle (Australia - temperate climate)

I cannot get lettuce seeds to germinate for love or money. I've even tried leaving them on top of the soil/potting mix/seed raising mix without success. I've tried them in a propagator and I've tried them in the open, I've tried them in every single season. What am I doing wrong?

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29 Jan 12, Kate (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Hi! I have found the perfect way to germinate vege & fruit seeds at 100% germination rate. This can be used for all seeds. You'll need: * papertowel - cut it so it can fold in half and fit into a ziplock bag * water * seeds * ziplock bag - wet a papertowel - wring it out so it is just damp - put seeds on one half of the papertowel - fold the papertowel in half so it covers the seeds - put the seeds/papertowel into your ziplock bag -lock the bag - write on the bag what seeds you have in it - now... hang your ziplock bag outside undercover (i use an underwear clothes hangy thing. I can hang upto 20 seed bags at once on the hangy thing. your seed will germinate in half the time of that it states on the packet. You will have to remove them and put them into seedling pots to grow bigger before transplanting them out. Good luck!

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30 Jan 13, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Hi Kate! What a great idea. My slight adaptation is I am not trying too raise great quantities so I put two sets in each ziplock bag and tuck a plastic marker tag inside each of sets saying what it is (with a Chinagraph pencil - they don't wash off) and the date when started. Regards, John

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