discover modern vegetable growing techniques

TGC was delighted to welcome Ray Broughton in May to give us a talk on modern vegetable growing techniques.

Ray is a distinguished horticulturist with over 40 years' experience in teaching, lecturing and examining. His extensive background includes serving as the Head of Horticulture at Sparsholt College and being awarded a Fellowship by the Chartered Institute of Horticulture in recognition of his significant contributions to horticultural education.

With so many accolades, Ray bears no airs and graces and gave us a thoroughly enjoyable, informative and inspiring talk on modern methods of growing vegetables, control of pests and diseases and using sustainable and organic methods as well as how to use fertilizers efficiently without harming the soil.

Ray reminded us that legally milk, vinegar and salt are not now approved as garden chemicals.

Ray then opened his Pandoras box and our “lesson” started with an exam on the recent botanical name changes happening with our flowers:

• Alyssum is now called Lobularia

• Nasturtiums are now called Tropaeolum manjus

• Mahonia is now called Berberis

• Hebe is now Veronica

• Rosemary is Salvia rosmarinus

After failing this “exam” dismally we moved on two companion plants we all love:

Ray confirmed that Nasturtiums (now known as Tropaeolum manjus) are actuallly not very good at all as “companion” plants, because they do indeed attract pests and diseases from not only your garden but all your Neighbours gardens, which then get passed onto your vegetable plants!  If you must have them, then grow them as far away from the vegy patch as possible!!.  He also noted that although some Nasturtiums are edible there is one species which is actually poisonous, so be sure you know which species you have before putting it in your salad!!

Marigolds (Tagetes) on the other hand, are indeed excellent companions for your veg, but DON’T deadhead them as it’s actually the dead flower head that gives off the gasses to keep off those pesky pests!! Instead, take the dead flower heads, put them in a dish and keep this next to your vegetables!

Ray then spoke of the many new inventions that are soon to be on the market, such as Fibre Pots with impregnated nutrients and water gel, so the pots are not only biodegradable but also help to feed and water those seeds and seedlings.

There are also major developments with vegetable seeds but beware this does mean they will be more expensive!  Ray asked us where we thought seeds came from, apparently there are only 3 areas, yet again we failed another exam, so were put out of our misery by Ray who identified the areas as Germany, Belgium and Ukraine due to their hot dry summers.

There is now a new Smart Seed, developed by Norwegians, the seed itself is coated with a germination enhancer as well as water and feed gel, thereby making it far more likely that they will not only germinate but also prosper!

When it comes to sowing seeds, we all know how hard it can be to actually see the seeds once they land on the soil, making correct distribution quite difficult, as is the case with jet black wheat seeds, they are simply dipped in corn flour and turned white thereby you can see where they land on the ground.  But of course, there inevitably will be that clump of seeds which all land in the same spot, what’s the best way to move them about?  Take a pen, rub it on your sleeve which produces static electricity, then hold the pen over the seed clump and it will pick up the seed, then lift one leg then the other, touch your arm and the “earthing” will let them fall down in a more general area!  Yes Ray of course demonstrated with a little leg lifting, but I think this one needs to be tried firsthand!!

Ray also advised not to store seedlings next to any equipment which are plasticised, for example hoses, as the vapours from the hoses could damage your seedlings.

Ray then went on to explain some of the fertilizers available on the market and which worked, and which didn’t.

Firstly, if you have alkaline soil, that is, if you can grow camelias and rhododendrons, DON’T use bonemeal as it is high in chalk and not good for these plants.

The best fertilizer you can use is Vitax Organic Potato Fertilizer – this has 13 nutrients all required by vegetables, not just potatoes!

The worst fertilizer is Grow More with a ration of 7-7-7 it’s the equivalent of a Coca Cola!!! Not good for man nor vegetable!!

Sulphate of Potash is excellent for Spring flowering plants and fruits, but it must be used the week AFTER Christmas as flowers are produced in January on these plants!!

The EU will shortly be making it mandatory for all fertilizers to be granular. However, granular fertilizers can take up to 3 weeks to start working, liquid fertilizers can begin their work in 3 hours!

Ray then showed us a slide of the humble thermometer, which most of us use in our gardens, homes and greenhouse, BUT he warned they generally give a FALSE reading so instead he suggested using a Temperature Integration Jar which can be made at home. To make one you will need: a 1 litre jar (an old coffee jar works well), cover this with foil and fill with 1 litre of water and rubbing alcohol, seal with beeswax, put a straw through the beeswax or modelling clay, push it down so it is just above the bottom of the jar. The hotter the weather outside the higher the water in the straw will rise.

Ray then went on to mention a new method of farming, called Vertical Farming units where plants are grown in rockwool making them grow super fast, to explain how it works a chemistry lesson would be required though. In London 2/3rds of salads for restaurants are grown using this method!

Now on to leggy tomatoes!!  Yes we have all had them, Ray asked us what we thought caused this and the majority of us said it was due to lack of light, but no, once again, a failure on the Exam!! The cause is down to the plants running out of carbon dioxide! We were then asked how much carbon dioxide was in the air, one of our members came very close to the correct answer, suggesting 0.03%, it’s actually 0.04% which is used up very quickly and thereby, to avoid leggy tomatoes we have to add more carbon dioxide.  How? By making a poo box, of course!!  It needs to be ready from February onwards. Use a plastic box (a 2 litre ice cream box is ideal, you have all Summer to eat that ice cream!). Fill up the now empty box with fresh lumpy manure, cover with cling film (make sure to use gloves!), tie the cling film down and put 6 holes in it.  Don’t worry, there’s no smell as methane is not produced. Now just simply leave this box in the room with your tomato seedlings and this will give them the added carbon dioxide they require.

Now we can’t have Ray doing a lecture without mentioning tomato ketchup, it does need to be Heinz!!  He also had a jar of HP sauce. Now the Heinz tomato ketchup is poured onto your dirty tools, secateurs, hedge trimmers, cutting blades. Leave the ketchup on for at 3 to 4 days, then wipe off, dry off and you will have lovely disinfected, cleaned and burr free tools to use! As for the HP sauce, it’s great with breakfast sausages but not recommended for tools.

When it comes to leeks, Ray recommended growing them in NHS quality waterpipe which is smooth on the inside (DON’T use drainage pipe!), battleship grey is a good colour for your NHS quality waterpipe. Put your leeks 6” into the ground, then cover with the waterpipe and leave 6” above. It’s an excellent preventive against leek moth!

Ray also showed his method of growing EXTREME carrots, he (and his wife) grow them in 60 gallon drums in tubes, using sewer pipe and John Innes No. 3. Ray did stress that carrots must germinate in GOOD quality soil.

Broad beans were next on the menu, should you get chocolate spots on them, don’t worry, it won’t effect the beans, but Bean Weavil IS a problem!

Ray suggested Fennel is great to grow as a deterrent against whitefly, aphids, black fly and numerous other beasties, it looks pretty too!

When it comes to Celery, Ray suggested getting the non self blanching which then must be covered in sewer pipe, with this method the more you cut the more you get!

Ray grows his onions for Shows, he grows them above the ground in John Innes No. 3 and surrounds them with white plastic.

As for green manures, Ray suggested silver clover which needs to be sown on Halloween and dug in on Christmas Eve!

Another good green manure is the cheapest rye grass you can find. Dig it in when it reaches 2” high.

The very best manure is Bullock manure from a castrated cow. But be sure to check that it doesn’t contain pesticides!

Lettuces seem to prefer being placed closer together, 4” apart is better than wider spacing, although it may make the plants grow smaller they do grow faster.

If you see Lettuce with orange dots, this is a danger sign, throw it away! and don’t use old lettuce, this too can make you ill.

If you plant potatoes in soil they are likely to get eaten. As an alternative, put them in the ground but use organic barley straw to cover them, top this up once a week, water the straw which ferments and you end up with clean potatoes and no slugs.

If you plant main crop potatoes in bags in Mid July, by mid November you can cut off their leaves, but keep watering and feeding the tubers below and by Christmas you will have some amazing potatoes!

When it comes to raised beds, the recommended height is 8”, however many people like using higher beds up to 72 cm high for wheelchair users.  For the higher raised beds DO NOT fill them with soil from top to bottom, instead use rubble or old pots to fill in the bottom then use good quality soil for the remaining 8”.  If the very high bed is filled from top to bottom with good quality soil this will lead to too much nutrients producing toxins which will leach out into the water and harm the plants, to alleviate this you can use pipes down to the bottom to help get rid of the noxious gasses.

When planting runner beans, lots of us use tepees to help them climb, but this isn’t a good method as they get too crowded at the top.

The red flowering runner bean is actually a cousin of the true white flowering runner bean, the red flowers can only be pollinated by insects, whereas the white flowering beans are wind pollinated and thereby will give you more beans!  White Princess and White Empress were recommended by Ray.

Beetroot season does NOT end in July, keep sowing them and you can get beets up to December!!

There are also some innovations with ventilated plastic coverings used in polytunnels, there is now a material called ventilated floating mulching, which has holes in it that close at night, when it gets cold.  This LBS polythene is so popular it is now sold out but will be available again come October.

Instead of wet compost teas, which no one quite knows the exact measurements for, Ray recommended a dry compost tea. You will need a 10” pot and put fleece at the bottom, then aquatic stone, fill this chock a block with cut up nettles, get them before they flower, then cover them with vermiculite on top, then fleece on top,  and more aquatic stone, cover with a pot to slightly smaller with a third of aquatic stone in pot, pour in water, leave for 3 days then once a week use and top up.

You can grow tomatoes and cucumbers in straw!

A humming line is a good deterrent for birds, but not for rabbits!

A rhubarb forcer is RUBBISH! The Victorians got it wrong. If you wish you can dig up your Rhubarb, leave it on the ground in temperature of –5, then plant it back into the ground in April.

When it comes to pests Colorado Beetle eats tomatoes! It devastates them!

Ladybirds DON’T eat aphids; they suck the juice out of them. 2 spotted ladybirds can kill 200 aphids a day! They are fat and don’t fly!

SB Plant invigorator and bug killer – uses a protein in milk. It’s excellent for black bean aphids on broad beans. In Mid-October look for deciduous shrubs growing close to your beans, the black bean fly lays her eggs in these bushes, use a power sprayer to spray the bush in October to kill the females.

Potato scab is found in the soil. Buy a copy of the Daily Mirror or the Sun Newspaper, cut it up into small squares and lay under your potatoes when planting, this will stop the scab and as these papers use no wax they rot away after 3 days.

Ground Sorrel is a bad weed, get rid of it!

For slugs – use sulphate of iron and spray it on soil, it’s a moss killer. Malt vinegar is also effective; use find grade vermiculate around the plants with malt vinegar on it.

For badgers use ladies' stockings, fill the foot with vermiculite, dunk it in malt vinegar and hang it up on the path badgers use, the fragrance “Brute” sprayed on the vermiculite is also a good deterrent.

Ray recommended Nettles over Comfrey for a compost and feed.

For combatting Horse tails an electric heat gun at least 700w is the only weapon to use!

New methods being used are electrolysis and dry ice, but these are not available for amateurs!

And that brought us to the end of the “lecture”, sadly we ran out of time to take Ray’s “Exam”, as we were already feeling well tested by all the facts, figures and fascinating information that Ray pulled out of his Pandoras Box for us. Now to start making use of all this new knowledge!!

Katrien Burrows