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July 2004
Tokely’s Topical Tips 

Andrew Tokely.Andrew Tokely joins Lesley Dolphin for Tokely's tips at about 11.30am on Friday mornings on the mid morning show on BBC Radio Suffolk.

Take a look at his Topical Tips for week commencing 9th July.

SEE ALSO

Every centimetre counts - growing Sunflowers for BBC Children in Need

Tokely's Topical Tips - 2004

Tokely's Topical Tips - 2003

Tokely's Topical Tips - 2002

Planet Suffolk

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Topical Tips: Week commencing 09/07/04
Runner bean white lady
Runner bean white lady

1. My early sown runner beans are growing away well, with plenty of flowers. Keep plants well watered at all times and feed once a week with high potash feed (tomato food). This will help boost your crop and help with bean set.

If you are experiencing a lot of bud drop this could be due to fluctuation of temperature, pollen beetles in the flowers or lack of water. I have found that watering beans with lime water helps bean set. Simply add 1 tablespoons of garden lime to one gallon of water. Then water this along the base of the plants.

Wallflower bedding mix
Wallflower bedding mix

2. If you didn't sow your wallflowers direct in the soil a few weeks ago, now is the time to sow them in trays in the glasshouse. You can also sow forget-me-not and bellis as well in trays in the greenhouse or cold frame. Once they germinate prick out into individual cell trays and grow them on. These will be ready for adding to autumn bedding displays later this year, to flower next spring.

Floribunda rose rhapsody in blue
Floribunda rose rhapsody in blue

3. As roses have been flowering for a number of weeks now, I have noticed quite a few flowers have started to fade. If yours are the same keep deadheading your plants to stop the development of rose hips. It also pays to give your bushes a high potash feed to encourage more flowers. This feed can be applied as a granular fertiliser sprinkled around the plants and watered in. Or you could use a liquid feed like tomato food.

Courgette gold rush
Courgette gold rush

4. Feed marrow's, courgettes and pumpkins once a week with high potash feed to encourage flowers and fruits. If you experience poor fruit set this could be due to changeable weather conditions or poor insect pollination. This can be simply rectified by pollinating by hand.

myositis
Myositis - forget me not

The easiest way is to pick off a male flower (no small fruit behind flower) and place in a female flower (one with small fruit behind flower) and gentle rub them together transferring pollen from one to the other. Fruits will soon develop after this, but hopefully soon there will be enough bees about to do this naturally and save you the job.

Bellis tasso mixed
Bellis tasso mixed

5. After the storms we had this week you may have some plants that will need tying up after the battering they received from the strong winds. Baskets may also need cleaning up if they were battered and bruised.


Begonia royal picotee
Begonia royal picotee

3. Begonias that were potted up earlier in the year, for glasshouse displays are flowering well. As flowers get larger they can become top heavy. So make sure you support the stems with split canes and ties, otherwise they may snap, which would be a shame at this stage.

Delphinium New Zealand hybrids
Delphinium New Zealand hybrids

4. Continue to deadhead and cutback delphiniums, lupins and other early flowering perennials as they finish flowering. This will encourage new growth and may reward you with a second flush of flowers this autumn.


Onion buffalo

5. Autumn sown or Japanese onions should be ready for lifting. Lift, clean up and tie bulbs into bunches in a dry airy shed or garage. Remember to use these first in the kitchen, throughout the next few months as these will not store over winter like autumn lifted onions.

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comments
 

e.g. Tom, Ipswich
hi can anyone tell me when should i plant my lilys i brought from the gfs

e.g. Tom, Ipswich
Please can you let me know what mimulus looks likeThanksJulie

Annette Kent
Should I dead head my anemone de caen? If so where do I cut the stem and how do I care for them?

david nottingham
how do i split begonia corms that have large growth

Beryl Kent
when should I plant my impatiens in the ground

gina burnley
please can you advise best way to hang flower pouches

chris, spain
whats the best way for growing corinander

PW Clacton
I want to put two small hardy plants,shrubs, on my parents Grave. What should I buy please?

leni norfolk
is it too late to plant grass seed

dawn george sevenoaks
do i need to protect my dipladenia plants from frost

Vimi Spain
Can you give me tips on how to care for Dipladenias, some say pinch out new shoots and some say don't.

tony sunbury
do i have to nip out the tops of my dianthus cuttings ?

Colleen Reading
Have grown yellow Verbascom from seed. When's the best time to plant out in the shubbery?

pete west mids
do i remove all stems & leaves on my newly planted rhubarb

Meryl Nottingham
what is the best compost to use when repotting hostas and when best time to repot

Diana O'Donnell, Hythe
I am disabled and unable to get to a garden centre. Where can I get a grease band on line please?

creina Spain
My arum lillies are not lasting very long before wilting and the foliage is going yellow. Am I watering too much. It has`been quite warm and they are on the irrigation line at 3 minutes per day. We have a very heavy clay soil which holds the moisture

Shaun, Oswestry
I have strawberry plants which have started to develop bblack patches and drying out leaves. Can you tell me what this is, and am I ok to use dithane fungicide on the plants?

karen Lincolnshire
how large do seedlings have to be to repot to a larger pot prior to going into the greenhouse and potting out after frosts? Very new to this, any advice would help! Have various seeds carnations, daisys etc just not sure how tall the seedlings should be?

diana chester
whn can i plant my nastertiums outside

Liz somerset
Can I put moss on my compost heap after I have scarified my lawn

graham, chester
our rubber plant is about 8 feet tall, we need to cut it back.Can we,if so when, by how much should we cut it down. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Regards Graham Futcher

Allan Derby
i am having trouble finding onion Beacon F1 seed?

Jenny, Peterborough
I am only a beginner gardener. I had some geraniums and begonias outside in pots, and on the advice of my garden centre brought them indoors when we started to get some frost. They are in the house as I don't have a greenhouse. They seemed to be OK until we turned the central heating on. I think I may have over-watered them to compensate. Very few flowers are left,just on one begonia, a lot of the geranium leaves have dries up, and several of the stalks have gone "mushy". Advice please - I was hoping they would look nice in the house through the winter, and I could put them out again in the Spring.

caroline ipswich
i have got a yellow zantedeschia in my back lounge at the moment and i have noticed just recently that a couple of the leaves are gone yellow please tell what to do,have i over watered it.

Mike N Wales
My rubber plant has grown long air roots, can I cut them off?

e.g. Tom, Ipswich
How do I look after banana plants

bethany leicester
is it possible to get seeds from trailing geranium plants if so, how?

Kate, Solihull
I have strawberry plants in pots, the leaves are growing too big, do I need to cut the old leaves off to make way for the new ones and do I need to do anything special to them over the winter. It is now autumn. Thanks.

Stan ,Manchester
My Hydrangea has very large blooms , but they are hidden inside masses of leaves

Helen, Surrey.
I planted two dwarf banana plants back in may and now need to move them. whats the best wat yo do it and at what time of the year?Thanks H

M Shaw Dorset
Arum lillies -should the dead flowers and seed heads be cut off

e.g. denise hampshire
do i have to trim the leaves from my courgettte plant there seems to be more leaf than fruit

Dianne - Co Durham
Most of my fuschias have leaves which have turned yellow and dropped, but a new set of buds are now ready to open. what could be the problem please?

Gordon----Plymouth
I have some pots 10"dia and 16" tall,i want to grow individual celery plants in each one, have you any advice please.

John - Antrim
When the flower heads on Arum lillies die back what should I do?

kirkbyken
any answers to these questions

Stewart /Wiltshire
Leaf Curl on Asters how do I treat

chrissie South Yorkshire
Im trying to save some overgrown shrubs either by cutting back or taking cuttings have found your site brilliant thanks!!!!

e.g. Tom, Ipswich
Can I cut the leaves off courgette plants

jack london
how do I get rid of japanese anemones?

connie london
i planted arum lily this year but so far nothing is showing. have i done the correct method

Nora, Cairneyhill
Should I dead head my anemone de caen? If so where do I cut the stem and how do I care for them?

e.g. Tom, Ipswich
Blackcurrant bush with red blistering on leaves nnd stunted growth. I. D. and treatment, please.

jo leicester
how do i get rid of black fly on nasturtiums? please help

Angie Cheshire
I have trasplanted a rhubarb crown (sept 2006) can I harvest the fruit this year?

sammy worcester
How do you get a wisteria tree ?

e.g. gabby, cheshire
can I use moss from the lawn in my compost bin? will it make good compost?

terry hull
i need to paint wooden garden furniture i have tried the shed and fence paint but was no good advise please

LAKOOKARACHA
Tell me if birds are affected by music.

george cambridge
Were can I get icarus sprout seeds?

Jane, Shropshire
I Googled for advice on how to treat chrysanthemum stools over the winter and found your advice most helpful, thanks :O)

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