75 litres sieved Levington F1 (you're lucky if you end up with 60 litres after sieving all the sticks, tampons and other shite out)
25 Litres silver sand
12 ounces Vitax Q4 (or Tev 04)
12 ounces Calcified seaweed.
Note that he uses no vermiculite whatsoever. However, as he said if you have a mix that works for you then don't try and fix what aint broke, although by all means try a drum with a new mix for experimentaion purposes if you have the room. With this in mind I am going to use Dave Thornton's mix for the coming season as I had already decided to use this having seen his stunning carrots at Malvern (don't tell the big-headed twat I said that) but I am going to go back to boring the holes rather than coring the first few feet then boring. It is only in the last two years that i've cored and i've had terrible problems with fanging. Ian reckons that by boring you are creating extra pressure around the root and forcing it downwards. It's an interesting concept but it's a fact that when I used to bore I regularly produced carrots like these.....
But since i've been coring i've produced donkey fodder like this......Nuff said!
Dave Thornton's long carrot mix is:
4 buckets sieved multipurpose compost
1 bucket superfine vermiculite
1/2 bucket washed sand (I will use silver sand)
"a handful" of calcium carbonate of lime
"a handful" of Vitax Q4
"a handful" of seaweed meal (I will used calcified seaweed)
Plus a few pinches of phorate insecticide.
1 bucket superfine vermiculite
1/2 bucket washed sand (I will use silver sand)
"a handful" of calcium carbonate of lime
"a handful" of Vitax Q4
"a handful" of seaweed meal (I will used calcified seaweed)
Plus a few pinches of phorate insecticide.
In the meantime the first 8 Cedrico tomato seedlings, timed to grow my Llangollen entries, have been pricked out. It seems an awful way off just now to be thinking of trying to get an even matched set of 12 plus 4 for the Millenium collection class from these tiny little plants but that's the plan.
4 comments:
You can't buy Levingtons F1 where I live so I think I'll go with the same mix as you. Having said that I got best in show with the long carrot mix you gave me last year. Mmmmmm
Hi Simon
As I am watching who wins the carrot growing contest between the lot of you can you explain the difference between boring and coring your carrot beds to the knuckle heads out here. What is Dan doing on his video?
Dave
hi iam from the north east capital of leek growing in my corrot mix i only use fish blood and bone and do quit well you should cum up to our show at stanley and see the best of our pot leeks
Anonymous
My uncle lives in Murton and my first experience of veg shows was at a WMC in the village over 20 years ago. The pot leeks were amazing but I remember being most excited at a small table with all the other exhibits, some long carrots included. I've never grown pot leeks and never will i'm afraid.
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