Really liking the direction that you seem to be going in regarding soil health and making it much more accessible and natural for everyone, thank you for all your hard work and interest in these areas!
The best tomatoes I grew were in no dig raised beds in the greenhouse, with a thick woodchip mulch, from deciduous trees. Thinking of them as short lived perrenials makes so much sense.
I find on transplant from pot to soil/bed you want to not water at all for a few days and make sure they're planted into soil with some moisture (not bone dry) and the plant will send out more roots from the off to find said missing water...resulting in a much better root system. Might be wrong but just my experience...once established then keep em moist. Another great video Hue thanks for your time and efforts
Yes, agree totally. Australia's veg garden guru, the late Peter Cundall, loved to stress his toms to result in much stronger plants with greater and better yields.
This was so full of great info, I have a bunch of small pruned tree branches I didn’t know what to do with but chipping them up and using them as mulch makes so much sense!
I've just added rotted manure and gave everything a good watering after adding my JMS. I added a bit of everything to the brewing barrel comfrey, nettles , seaweed even biochar along with grass clippings and other things. I started it last year fingers crossed for this year's plants.
Huw wow. I'm a faithful follower and thankful for your passion in this life! You raise the bar continually higher and stay true to the importance of nature. I have Learned SO much from you as a new gardener. Keep it going and think about delivering to The Netherlands with your products!!
Many thanks! Years ago I had a cheap Black& Decker for breaking up branches up to ( hopefully 1” diameter) . I used it for fruit bush and blackberry which completes of thrush and blackbirds seemed to infest borders (but cats don’t like them ) so use was end of Season, beech hedge cutting, more often. Over the last 20 years things went to pot, or rather the council tip. However I still have my rusty Black & Decker and I’m just buying a small 6x8 greenhouse so I’ll take your advice for the veg that need shelter.
Growing in 5 gallon buckets and old storage bins. I hugel the bottom half with last years sticks, branches, and leaves. If it’s an old bed or I get it ready early in Spring, I leave the top covered with heavy leaf layer to keep the soil moist and alive. My tomatoes boom every year.
Your content is extremely helpful and informative, since watching your videos I have created my own vegetable garden 😊 Many thanks for making life a lot easier and enjoyable.
I've noticed that when I plant actual tomatoes, like fresh in slices with their pulp, it always results in lots of fungal growth and really robust sprouts and seedlings.
Using ramial wood chips really makes the most sense. Thank you for sharing this info. You’re the one to be willing to ‘discover’ a better way of getting things done to maximize the yield.💪🏾
The year my tomatoes performed beyond expectation was the year I hill-ed them. They were spectacular and delicious. Last year's summer was so dry, I couldn't keep up with watering those I grew in plant grow bags. Thank you for clarifying that I was planting too many (3) in my plant grow bags.
This is such a relevant video and brought up a point which gardening channels have missed. I’ve been treating my container soil by mixing in beneficial fungus suggest by a agriculture degree friend and the results are great
Mulching with some partially or well rotted ramial chips is a great idea, but when you go to mulch around the tomatoes i would think mulching the whole area would be better for the connection and re-establishment of the fungal network.
They year I began to build my organic garden, I had a mound of topsoil that taught me to appreciate the joys of "volunteers". I had an amazing amount of "tom thumb" tomatoes ~ I probably harvested more than a 10 litre bucket... thankfully my kids liked eating pasta with tomatoes sauce
Thank you Huw. I am growing Dwarf variety of tomatoes, and I definitely think I would like a polytunnel, as I want to grow more vine varieties, and grown in hydroponics and soil.
A fountain of knowledge. I've been watching you're amazing videos since you were starting and I live in Israel where it's quite hot and I tend to my garden for hours, daily, and always learn new things from you. I envy you so much for having such a large healthy plot and that your whole life is dedicated to your garden which I assume brings you infinite joy. Would be nice if you made more videos also about yourself to better connect with your audience. for example, your daily routine or other hobbies, and your area around the house. Aldo is very interesting to me is who eats all those plants and what types of cooking comes out of it! I love growing veggies so damn much and tracks great care making my own compost and bukashi and liquid fertilizer, but I also love growing other plants like flowers, moss, cactuses and lots of pineapples :)
Excellent video. Thanks for mentioning the difference of biological interaction between annuals, semi-, and long time perennials. That's some key info. Have went thru Nigel Palmer's book a couple of times now that you recommended awhile back. Amazing explanation of KNF. Working on a hybrid of that (+JADAM) and Back to Eden gardening with woodchips into an inexpensive year around fertility plan. We have a big lawn and lots of grass, thinking of partially composting woodchip and grass, then laying it down as mulch.
Hi! Thanks for great content! Your videos are very informative and wholesome. I was wondering about a technique you've showcased in one of your videos last year. I am talking about fermented plant juice from nettles. I haven't seen you mention it in recent videos. Do you still recommend this type of feed, or are Jadam feeds a better alternative in your experience?
This is very interesting. I make a lot of greek yogurt and have a lot of whey as a by product. I believe whey is essentially LAB. I think I will try using this when watering as well as in my compost pile. I'm also putting spent mushroom blocks in my raised beds and compost pile which are adding quite a bit of mycelia. I'm going to plant tomatoes into a mushroom block/straw layer in the raised beds. Time to make JMS also! So many experiments!
Wowee, Hugh! This is mindblowingly useful information - so much so that I’m going to have to sit and watch it again with a notebook and pen. Thank you for getting into the weeds (so to speak) on these subjects! I love it. ❤
There are two things I've done to really speed up the break down of wood chips, ramp up the amount of fungal growth in them, and make them usable as a mulch that will really feed the soil. Option 1: In a compost tumbler or pile of wood chips--add fish carcasses. Fish plus wood is a fungal miracle. Option 2: pee on wood chips in buckets. The urine soaks into the wood chips for a couple months growing bacteria and fungi like crazy and when you dump it out it will be about half broken down can be used as a mulch right away and will be pretty much gone in a couple more months.
I tried peeing into a bucket of woodchip (with no drainage holes) and it stunk to high heaven (ammonia smell). I though this couldn't be right. What am I doing wrong (or is this right)?
I grew my money maker and little yellow tomato varties in almost pure catle manure this year. They are also extreme heavy feeders i noticed. I would give them a little more space next time.
My tomatoes have never been a success on my west aspect balcony which only gets really sunny in summer and is covered too. I feed em as instructed, & look after them but I'm gonna try to grow deeper roots this year and water the pots from underneath. 🤞
With tomatoes, if you mound up the soil / mulch up the stem (especially if leaves are removed in this zone) the more roots the plant produces and the more productive it is.
You should grow goji berries there like perenial cold hardy tomatoes and there is Everglades tomato that I’ve heard reseeds like crazy and probably more cold hardy to.
I'm so glad I've found your channel!Your approach sings to me. Sorry if you have covered this. I'm just listening your video mentioning the importance of carbon based compost. What are your thoughts/experience with bio char?
Huw, what do you think about growing a crawling crowd such as cucumber, squash or melon etc to provide the cover on the soil to help retain moisture? Assuming there is sufficient compost already there for soil health, would you try this? Thank you.
My tomatoes that I planted in the earth went mental last Yr, they spread over the fence and into the neighbours back garden, right up until early December. 🍅👍
we are in the process of building our raised beds veg patch (ive watched so many of your videos i'm overloaded with information) we have a huge area saved for growing, could be .26 of an acre, we are not sure how much space we would need, want to grow every veg possible, as a plant based family of 6 we go through so much veg, would growing tomatoes be done better in a poly tunnel? if so how do the insects get to polinate them, or do you do it by hand?
Vermicompost made with shredded leaves is tomatoes best friend for myco inoclulation. Drenching the seedlings in a heavy slurry. Pour a bit into the hole. Cover with dirt & mulch. Most bagged, dried myco is a waste of time & money (dead by the time it reaches you) unless you special ordered it with express shipping. The fungi found in your area from treed & scrubbed areas (forest duff & leaves) is far superior.
I'm growing tomatoes in my first greenhouse this year, but it's on concrete. What do you think is best, make a shallow raised bed or use growbags? If I use growbags I feel I have lost control of the growing medium. What do you suggest?
Sooooooo interesting. Two years ago I had an incredible tomato harvest. I was pregnant, so I was not pruning or tending to the staking. The tomatoes grew into an enormous bramble a fruited like crazy. I assumed my deep planting of the seedling + the natural "pruning" were the key. But I also smothered them in woodchips from the local pile (everything had to be hand-watered, and again I was pregnant, so I wasn't keen on watering daily). The woodchips broke down quickly, and I had to reapply midseason. I interplanted the tomatoes with marigolds, basil, and some other herbs. No blight or other disease. The main issue was that I was a little too lazy with the watering, so when heavy rains came, some fruit did burst. I pruned those away and shoved them under the woodchip at the base of the plants. Anywho, I thought you'd think this was interesting given what you're trying! The woodchips were municipal, mainly downed tree limbs!
I had a stroke 2yrs ago, so my rewarding therepy is raised bed growing, nagged my 2 grandsons for their old sweaty sports bags (big rugby players )to grow spuds in grand. Now tjey dtead christmas as they know what they are getting. 😂😂
Have a look on real seeds for interesting, flavourful varieties. If in doubt, go for good old fashion gardeners delight. It might be a bit boring for some but it's my favourite standard cherry tomato, delicious with good yeilds. "Beefsteak" varieties usually have the absolute best flavour but they can be a bit harder to grow as inconsistent water can cause them to split. Also, overwatering any tomato can lead to bland tasting fruit, tomatoes never need as much water as you think.
Please tell me where I can get the blue container in which he makes his solutions. I’ve looked in the US and can’t seem to find these smaller versions!
i love tomatoes, im growing 48 verities and 100 plants. i do think tomatoes are so forgiving, as if you get them leggy you can bury them deep and they will grow more roots along the stem. just dont water the leaves!
Yes. Mold on soil is just fungi and they're doing their job of breaking down organic matter so that it's bio-available for plants. So are worms and orbitae mites! They're all there to do that job and so many of us think they're icky but they're the good guys.
Start small and learn as you go. I live in Florida and growing is so different from Michigan, where I grew up. I had very fertile soil and my machete was needed to keep plants under control. Here in Florida I grow in raised beds and large pots with great success. My upfront investment was big but now it's watering, staking and pruning and I have fresh fruit and veggies most of the year. Start seedlings and go for twice what you need and give away the extra.
I do not have a garden but I do use raised beds. I live in an concreet building and use them to grow my veggies and stuf. I've tried to add all kinds of food scrabs to it but now (after 8 years +-) it looks more like dirt then soil and it keeps pooring out from the bottem... What should I do? Take it all out and start over? I am using mulch for 3 years now and I have got musrooms growing so there is a good bit of fungy in there but the soil is just so sand like... My plants aren't producing like they did so they are probably missing something. Whats best? Keep mulching (I do not have money or space to make or buy compost) and hope for the best or get it all out and start over with the knowledge I got now?
With old raised beds I just keep adding compost. You'd have to find a way to buy them. Your local municipal usually should have a composting facility that makes and offers compost at an affordable price. Like $5 for 2cu cheap.
@@vironia I understand that but this bed is about 10 years old now, has never seen compost. All I did was add some scraps I had had. Probably not enough.. So I ask again, it is a raised bed, I messed it up, should I start over? Its a realy raised bed because it is not standing on the ground. It's about 5 cm from te floor. The floor is concete so I'm not getting help there. But dirt is seaping out of it. Like a powder so what should I do? Empty it and start over? Or try to ment it and make it better?
@@woutervandenbosch8161 I don't think you messed it up. It's just spent soil. I've actually had similar concrete raised beds - except it's over 40 years and my mom still uses it to grow healthy plants. My advice is the same - add LOTS of compost and some soil from your ground (just to kickstart the microbes and fungi for free). You need the organic matter to breathe some life into decade-old spent soil. Remember to mix it up with your old soil in the raised bed. However I think you're more worried about the powder substance? Now I can't see your raised bed so I can't be 100% certain but it's likely from your concrete degrading over time. If this concerns you so much, then just re-do the whole thing if that truly gives you peace of mind.
Is it a raised bad which has no bottom? I mean does it actually on the ground or like a pot? If it is a closed block, you should not put scraps in it. Better add up new compost. Scraps won't be composting but just rot - it is a different process you don't want in your raised beds.
@@linzertorte4003 in another life I already have... in that life I have at least 10 acres of land that is just personal crops to grow. I have zero pest issues and nothing is invasive. Also in said other life, I am like Huw where I can educate people how to grow their own food. What actually amazes me is how much this stuff isn't even touched on in school. They will beat math and engineering into your head (which I love), but basic life skills forget about it.
@@bradk8702 I've grown san marzano for years and years they are very prone to blossom end rot when in pots happened virtually every single time. I've never had it when growing in a greenhouse soil border
@@journeywithnichole in your case the nutrients from decomposition get washed away in the ground, I was thinking to rather leave all organic matter where the bed is,also when winter comes they die by themselves and it's important to leave plant stems during the winter,because many insects lay their eggs there. Composting piles make sense as for gathering food scraps mainly(because on the beds it looks ugly and smelly,also it's hard to spread nutrients evenly), but I don't understand why gather all organic matter from the garden and compost it in a pile...
Composting is a special type of decomposition that highly accelerates the process to make humus in 1-2 months instead of 12-18. For that you need mass, otherwise the heat needed cannot be generated.
Huw, I love your videos, and your general approach, but a honest observation: You're over complicating it. Either for yourself, but more importantly, for others.. Evidence: Charles Dowding. Good quality compost on top of the ground, once a year. Done. Excellent tomatoes. You know this very well. Simplify things. Please don't go down the path of unecessary complexity for the sake of your producing "unique content". That's not what the world needs. And you are better than that. Another observation: The gardening world is lacking instruction of tried and tested companion planting (i.e. with actual A/B tests), for various uses (pests, vigor etc - help us get away from plastic fleece and netting), on seed saving/breeding, deep understanding and application of permaculture principles (as opposed to "permaculture"). You are in the perfect position to fill that gap. Go deep on these things, the world needs it. You are already into this stuff, just go deep, keep it simple and accessible, show the real world results. That is a goldmine of unique content ideas right there, the world needs it, and I think you're audience will love it too.
I can't make every single video for beginners, I can only make videos I enjoy making because life is so stressful and I'm providing free info to you at the end of the day😂
But, this is how beginners learn. Some will grasp quickly and some won't, as in any learning situation. It's not a difficult lesson; just one with new words/concepts to learn. Lol, when I was raising my son, I never used baby words like "go bye bye" or "choo- choo" for trains. I thought it's just as easy to learn the proper word as the pretend word. It didn't matter if he mispronounced them for awhile.
@@jo-annjewett198 I think it’s also worth remembering that the tomatoes we have now are highly cultivated and very different to the original wild, perennial plants
Really liking the direction that you seem to be going in regarding soil health and making it much more accessible and natural for everyone, thank you for all your hard work and interest in these areas!
Thank you Nina that is so lovely for you to say!
The best tomatoes I grew were in no dig raised beds in the greenhouse, with a thick woodchip mulch, from deciduous trees. Thinking of them as short lived perrenials makes so much sense.
I find on transplant from pot to soil/bed you want to not water at all for a few days and make sure they're planted into soil with some moisture (not bone dry) and the plant will send out more roots from the off to find said missing water...resulting in a much better root system. Might be wrong but just my experience...once established then keep em moist. Another great video Hue thanks for your time and efforts
I completely agree with you there! Here's a video I did on it last year: ua-cam.com/video/BX6NcwH8eH4/v-deo.html
@@HuwRichards ace ill check that out later on. Got 6 baby Tommy plants ready to be planted out...waiting for that sunshine and warmth to arrive
Yes, agree totally. Australia's veg garden guru, the late Peter Cundall, loved to stress his toms to result in much stronger plants with greater and better yields.
I do that too, thanks for mentioning it!
This was so full of great info, I have a bunch of small pruned tree branches I didn’t know what to do with but chipping them up and using them as mulch makes so much sense!
I've just added rotted manure and gave everything a good watering after adding my JMS. I added a bit of everything to the brewing barrel comfrey, nettles , seaweed even biochar along with grass clippings and other things. I started it last year fingers crossed for this year's plants.
Huw wow. I'm a faithful follower and thankful for your passion in this life! You raise the bar continually higher and stay true to the importance of nature. I have Learned SO much from you as a new gardener. Keep it going and think about delivering to The Netherlands with your products!!
Awh thank you!! I am really pleased you are finding these videos helpful!
De kleine groei containers van Huw zijn verkrijgbaar bij the farmdream, een Nederlands bedrijfje met hele fijne items!
Many thanks! Years ago I had a cheap Black& Decker for breaking up branches up to ( hopefully 1” diameter) . I used it for fruit bush and blackberry which completes of thrush and blackbirds seemed to infest borders (but cats don’t like them ) so use was end of Season, beech hedge cutting, more often. Over the last 20 years things went to pot, or rather the council tip.
However I still have my rusty Black & Decker and I’m just buying a small 6x8 greenhouse so I’ll take your advice for the veg that need shelter.
Growing in 5 gallon buckets and old storage bins. I hugel the bottom half with last years sticks, branches, and leaves. If it’s an old bed or I get it ready early in Spring, I leave the top covered with heavy leaf layer to keep the soil moist and alive. My tomatoes boom every year.
In southern spain they water the tomatoes with brackish water, the salinity in the water increase the sugar content in the tomatoes
Your content is extremely helpful and informative, since watching your videos I have created my own vegetable garden 😊 Many thanks for making life a lot easier and enjoyable.
I've noticed that when I plant actual tomatoes, like fresh in slices with their pulp, it always results in lots of fungal growth and really robust sprouts and seedlings.
That makes so much sense as it's the natural way how tomatoes would sprout including the typical "rotting" fungal growths - genius thank you!!
I am so curious to try that. Noted!
Ooh, thank you for the tip. May I ask when do you plant them?
Using ramial wood chips really makes the most sense. Thank you for sharing this info. You’re the one to be willing to ‘discover’ a better way of getting things done to maximize the yield.💪🏾
Ah I was wondering what he was actually saying as I’d never heard of ramial wood chips
The year my tomatoes performed beyond expectation was the year I hill-ed them. They were spectacular and delicious. Last year's summer was so dry, I couldn't keep up with watering those I grew in plant grow bags. Thank you for clarifying that I was planting too many (3) in my plant grow bags.
This is such a relevant video and brought up a point which gardening channels have missed. I’ve been treating my container soil by mixing in beneficial fungus suggest by a agriculture degree friend and the results are great
Thanks! It's a different growing mistake than I've heard before! One more thing to add to my To Do list!
Mulching with some partially or well rotted ramial chips is a great idea, but when you go to mulch around the tomatoes i would think mulching the whole area would be better for the connection and re-establishment of the fungal network.
They year I began to build my organic garden, I had a mound of topsoil that taught me to appreciate the joys of "volunteers". I had an amazing amount of "tom thumb" tomatoes ~ I probably harvested more than a 10 litre bucket... thankfully my kids liked eating pasta with tomatoes sauce
Thank you Huw. I am growing Dwarf variety of tomatoes, and I definitely think I would like a polytunnel, as I want to grow more vine varieties, and grown in hydroponics and soil.
A fountain of knowledge.
I've been watching you're amazing videos since you were starting and I live in Israel where it's quite hot and I tend to my garden for hours, daily, and always learn new things from you.
I envy you so much for having such a large healthy plot and that your whole life is dedicated to your garden which I assume brings you infinite joy.
Would be nice if you made more videos also about yourself to better connect with your audience.
for example, your daily routine or other hobbies, and your area around the house. Aldo is very interesting to me is who eats all those plants and what types of cooking comes out of it!
I love growing veggies so damn much and tracks great care making my own compost and bukashi and liquid fertilizer, but I also love growing other plants like flowers, moss, cactuses and lots of pineapples :)
Excellent video. Thanks for mentioning the difference of biological interaction between annuals, semi-, and long time perennials. That's some key info.
Have went thru Nigel Palmer's book a couple of times now that you recommended awhile back. Amazing explanation of KNF. Working on a hybrid of that (+JADAM) and Back to Eden gardening with woodchips into an inexpensive year around fertility plan. We have a big lawn and lots of grass, thinking of partially composting woodchip and grass, then laying it down as mulch.
Hi! Thanks for great content! Your videos are very informative and wholesome.
I was wondering about a technique you've showcased in one of your videos last year. I am talking about fermented plant juice from nettles. I haven't seen you mention it in recent videos. Do you still recommend this type of feed, or are Jadam feeds a better alternative in your experience?
This is very interesting. I make a lot of greek yogurt and have a lot of whey as a by product. I believe whey is essentially LAB. I think I will try using this when watering as well as in my compost pile. I'm also putting spent mushroom blocks in my raised beds and compost pile which are adding quite a bit of mycelia. I'm going to plant tomatoes into a mushroom block/straw layer in the raised beds. Time to make JMS also! So many experiments!
I started to make yogurt recently and didn't want to throw out the whey. Great idea to add it to our compost and beds! Thanks ❤
Wowee, Hugh! This is mindblowingly useful information - so much so that I’m going to have to sit and watch it again with a notebook and pen. Thank you for getting into the weeds (so to speak) on these subjects! I love it. ❤
This completely brilliant. Your videos are incredibly helpful.
There are two things I've done to really speed up the break down of wood chips, ramp up the amount of fungal growth in them, and make them usable as a mulch that will really feed the soil.
Option 1: In a compost tumbler or pile of wood chips--add fish carcasses. Fish plus wood is a fungal miracle.
Option 2: pee on wood chips in buckets. The urine soaks into the wood chips for a couple months growing bacteria and fungi like crazy and when you dump it out it will be about half broken down can be used as a mulch right away and will be pretty much gone in a couple more months.
Interesting! Thank you!
I tried peeing into a bucket of woodchip (with no drainage holes) and it stunk to high heaven (ammonia smell). I though this couldn't be right. What am I doing wrong (or is this right)?
I grew my money maker and little yellow tomato varties in almost pure catle manure this year. They are also extreme heavy feeders i noticed. I would give them a little more space next time.
Great fertilizer for tomatoes. thanks for the info from your video ❤❤❤🎉🔔
Amazing video, my Minibel tomato plants are in pots in my living room and maybe I can't apply any of this.
Yes sir, Elliot Coleman stated the #1 thing growers need is long term fertility. Your going a bang-up job.
Im going to put my wood chips im a compost tea bath for a week this year to see if it helps.
Kinda like biochar
How about comfrey for the tomatoes? Can you use that on other veggies too?
My tomatoes have never been a success on my west aspect balcony which only gets really sunny in summer and is covered too. I feed em as instructed, & look after them but I'm gonna try to grow deeper roots this year and water the pots from underneath. 🤞
With tomatoes, if you mound up the soil / mulch up the stem (especially if leaves are removed in this zone) the more roots the plant produces and the more productive it is.
Thanks Huw. "Food for thought"
You should grow goji berries there like perenial cold hardy tomatoes and there is Everglades tomato that I’ve heard reseeds like crazy and probably more cold hardy to.
I'm so glad I've found your channel!Your approach sings to me. Sorry if you have covered this. I'm just listening your video mentioning the importance of carbon based compost. What are your thoughts/experience with bio char?
Such a beautiful garden! You remind me of a young Robert Smith, love the video ♡
underplanting with pumpkins, their mass of foliage create a great barrier to evaporation
I might just try that this year
Huw, what do you think about growing a crawling crowd such as cucumber, squash or melon etc to provide the cover on the soil to help retain moisture? Assuming there is sufficient compost already there for soil health, would you try this? Thank you.
Thank you for one more great video!!!What is your opinion about Bokashi?
Great video Huw! Dai Iawn! Food for thought here for my new tunnel. Thanks. Danny 🌱
Thanks for this wealth of information. Some really interesting thoughts Huw
My tomatoes that I planted in the earth went mental last Yr, they spread over the fence and into the neighbours back garden, right up until early December. 🍅👍
we are in the process of building our raised beds veg patch (ive watched so many of your videos i'm overloaded with information)
we have a huge area saved for growing, could be .26 of an acre, we are not sure how much space we would need, want to grow every veg possible, as a plant based family of 6 we go through so much veg, would growing tomatoes be done better in a poly tunnel? if so how do the insects get to polinate them, or do you do it by hand?
Vermicompost made with shredded leaves is tomatoes best friend for myco inoclulation. Drenching the seedlings in a heavy slurry. Pour a bit into the hole. Cover with dirt & mulch.
Most bagged, dried myco is a waste of time & money (dead by the time it reaches you) unless you special ordered it with express shipping.
The fungi found in your area from treed & scrubbed areas (forest duff & leaves) is far superior.
You really have lovely videos. Very visually interesting. I always enjoy your content.
Thank you! Such a lovely comment :)
I'm growing tomatoes in my first greenhouse this year, but it's on concrete. What do you think is best, make a shallow raised bed or use growbags? If I use growbags I feel I have lost control of the growing medium. What do you suggest?
Sooooooo interesting. Two years ago I had an incredible tomato harvest. I was pregnant, so I was not pruning or tending to the staking. The tomatoes grew into an enormous bramble a fruited like crazy. I assumed my deep planting of the seedling + the natural "pruning" were the key. But I also smothered them in woodchips from the local pile (everything had to be hand-watered, and again I was pregnant, so I wasn't keen on watering daily).
The woodchips broke down quickly, and I had to reapply midseason. I interplanted the tomatoes with marigolds, basil, and some other herbs. No blight or other disease. The main issue was that I was a little too lazy with the watering, so when heavy rains came, some fruit did burst. I pruned those away and shoved them under the woodchip at the base of the plants.
Anywho, I thought you'd think this was interesting given what you're trying! The woodchips were municipal, mainly downed tree limbs!
I had a stroke 2yrs ago, so my rewarding therepy is raised bed growing, nagged my 2 grandsons for their old sweaty sports bags (big rugby players )to grow spuds in grand. Now tjey dtead christmas as they know what they are getting. 😂😂
When Huw starts preaching his vast gardening knowledge his arms go into full Tai chi mode😁👍💪.
A hidden talent of mine that only appears in the garden;)
Surprised he doesn’t have a green glow 😂
@@HuwRichards Great video Huw as always Diolch 'n fawr👍.
OMG your On S4C !
Question: How do you know if you've made lab correctly? I've made it a few times but have no idea if it's correct.
Great video man! 🍅 really helpfull
Have you found electro culture yet? Really worth looking into ❤
What if I covered my raised beds in the poly tunnel with weed control matting is that any good
Any recommendations for breeds of tomatoes to grow in a greenhouse. I've grown some, in previous years that don't have much taste. 🙁
If you find a tasty tomato in the shop keep some seeds. I grow from packets and from tomatoes I've bought.
@@psisky thanks for the tip, about keeping seeds from shop bought tomatoes 🍅
Have a look on real seeds for interesting, flavourful varieties. If in doubt, go for good old fashion gardeners delight. It might be a bit boring for some but it's my favourite standard cherry tomato, delicious with good yeilds.
"Beefsteak" varieties usually have the absolute best flavour but they can be a bit harder to grow as inconsistent water can cause them to split.
Also, overwatering any tomato can lead to bland tasting fruit, tomatoes never need as much water as you think.
@@brewski535 thanks 👍
@@rob-oe4wr Supersweet 100 are very tasty if it's cherry tomatoes you're after.
Could I use willow stem shredding on the soil? I’m worried it will take root as willow stems do root so easily!
Please tell me where I can get the blue container in which he makes his solutions. I’ve looked in the US and can’t seem to find these smaller versions!
Alibaba has them in all sizes. www alibaba.com/product-detail/30L-50L-60L-120L-160L-200L_60808034678.html
i love tomatoes, im growing 48 verities and 100 plants. i do think tomatoes are so forgiving, as if you get them leggy you can bury them deep and they will grow more roots along the stem. just dont water the leaves!
So is white mould on top of the soil good for tomatoes then?
Yes. Mold on soil is just fungi and they're doing their job of breaking down organic matter so that it's bio-available for plants. So are worms and orbitae mites! They're all there to do that job and so many of us think they're icky but they're the good guys.
I think my brain's too slow for this level of gardening genius today. But I can still enjoy the pretty pictures.
Start small and learn as you go. I live in Florida and growing is so different from Michigan, where I grew up. I had very fertile soil and my machete was needed to keep plants under control. Here in Florida I grow in raised beds and large pots with great success. My upfront investment was big but now it's watering, staking and pruning and I have fresh fruit and veggies most of the year. Start seedlings and go for twice what you need and give away the extra.
@@bjbrown Thanks for the encouragement!
That's why I use to add finely chopped woodchips to my "premium tomato compost".
I grow tomatoes in 10 litre pots and I don’t feed often but have great success. My soil have red wriggles in.👍🏻🪱😊 I also mulch the pots.
Great informative video cheers👍
Anyone know when you buy that lactus bacillus?
When I pass on my gardening wisdom, I Always stress the importance of soil. You can't have good crops grown in crappy soil.
This is very Informative .
That's my goal☺️
every day we learn
Do you prefer growing tomatoes inside the poly tunnel or outside?
I do not have a garden but I do use raised beds. I live in an concreet building and use them to grow my veggies and stuf. I've tried to add all kinds of food scrabs to it but now (after 8 years +-) it looks more like dirt then soil and it keeps pooring out from the bottem...
What should I do?
Take it all out and start over?
I am using mulch for 3 years now and I have got musrooms growing so there is a good bit of fungy in there but the soil is just so sand like...
My plants aren't producing like they did so they are probably missing something.
Whats best? Keep mulching (I do not have money or space to make or buy compost) and hope for the best or get it all out and start over with the knowledge I got now?
With old raised beds I just keep adding compost. You'd have to find a way to buy them. Your local municipal usually should have a composting facility that makes and offers compost at an affordable price. Like $5 for 2cu cheap.
@@vironia I understand that but this bed is about 10 years old now, has never seen compost. All I did was add some scraps I had had. Probably not enough..
So I ask again, it is a raised bed, I messed it up, should I start over?
Its a realy raised bed because it is not standing on the ground. It's about 5 cm from te floor. The floor is concete so I'm not getting help there.
But dirt is seaping out of it. Like a powder so what should I do? Empty it and start over? Or try to ment it and make it better?
@@woutervandenbosch8161 I don't think you messed it up. It's just spent soil. I've actually had similar concrete raised beds - except it's over 40 years and my mom still uses it to grow healthy plants.
My advice is the same - add LOTS of compost and some soil from your ground (just to kickstart the microbes and fungi for free). You need the organic matter to breathe some life into decade-old spent soil. Remember to mix it up with your old soil in the raised bed.
However I think you're more worried about the powder substance? Now I can't see your raised bed so I can't be 100% certain but it's likely from your concrete degrading over time. If this concerns you so much, then just re-do the whole thing if that truly gives you peace of mind.
Is it a raised bad which has no bottom? I mean does it actually on the ground or like a pot? If it is a closed block, you should not put scraps in it. Better add up new compost. Scraps won't be composting but just rot - it is a different process you don't want in your raised beds.
Do cherry tomatoes require pruning?
How do we make the LAB liquid?
Thanks!
I read tomatoes will dies in 4-5 months,. So we have to keep growing a new tomatoes every month to maintain our stock??
Huw, they are side shoots not suckers, suckers grow from the base, root or rhizome of a plant 😉😁🌱☀️
Would used coffee be good for the tomato plants
Some leaf mould from a forest floor is packed with fungi and bacteria.
Diversity is key to health.
Diverse diet for body health
Diverse microbes for soil health
Diverse plant and animal species for ecosystem health.
Ect
Another Huw video and I'm on a work meeting....
Quit your job!!! Jk
@@linzertorte4003 in another life I already have... in that life I have at least 10 acres of land that is just personal crops to grow. I have zero pest issues and nothing is invasive.
Also in said other life, I am like Huw where I can educate people how to grow their own food. What actually amazes me is how much this stuff isn't even touched on in school. They will beat math and engineering into your head (which I love), but basic life skills forget about it.
What is JMS?
It's Korean organic liquids. Do a search, plenty on utube.
Jadam Microbial Solution
Another reason why no dig/till is the best way to garden. Digging year after year would destroy all these funghi connections
Interesting 🤗👍
This worries me cos I grow toms in pots in my tiny garden......so no chance for the micro-organisms rhizals to develop???????
Careful. I lost a whole season of potted San Marzanos to blossom end rot due to OVER watering.
Overwatering is completely different to retaining soil moisture
Were they in pots?
@@wales123100 Yes. In premium potting mix.
@@bradk8702 I've grown san marzano for years and years they are very prone to blossom end rot when in pots happened virtually every single time. I've never had it when growing in a greenhouse soil border
Very interesting, how do you make dam microbial leaf mold?.
Good 👍
Noob question, instead of composting why don't you spread the organic matter directly on the beds,instead of wasting time and labour for a pile?
That’s what I do. I dig deep on side of container, put my food scraps, & let the worms go to town. But of course I am mot experienced like Huw. 😂
@@journeywithnichole in your case the nutrients from decomposition get washed away in the ground, I was thinking to rather leave all organic matter where the bed is,also when winter comes they die by themselves and it's important to leave plant stems during the winter,because many insects lay their eggs there.
Composting piles make sense as for gathering food scraps mainly(because on the beds it looks ugly and smelly,also it's hard to spread nutrients evenly), but I don't understand why gather all organic matter from the garden and compost it in a pile...
Composting is a special type of decomposition that highly accelerates the process to make humus in 1-2 months instead of 12-18. For that you need mass, otherwise the heat needed cannot be generated.
I am using my banana water diluted on the potatoes
❤❤❤
Have you tried electroculture?
Huw, I love your videos, and your general approach, but a honest observation: You're over complicating it. Either for yourself, but more importantly, for others.. Evidence: Charles Dowding. Good quality compost on top of the ground, once a year. Done. Excellent tomatoes. You know this very well.
Simplify things. Please don't go down the path of unecessary complexity for the sake of your producing "unique content". That's not what the world needs. And you are better than that.
Another observation: The gardening world is lacking instruction of tried and tested companion planting (i.e. with actual A/B tests), for various uses (pests, vigor etc - help us get away from plastic fleece and netting), on seed saving/breeding, deep understanding and application of permaculture principles (as opposed to "permaculture"). You are in the perfect position to fill that gap. Go deep on these things, the world needs it. You are already into this stuff, just go deep, keep it simple and accessible, show the real world results. That is a goldmine of unique content ideas right there, the world needs it, and I think you're audience will love it too.
I appreciate your honesty and will discuss with my team your ideas. Some of which we have in motion anyway, but always lots of interesting things
sorry to say but too much data for beginners.
I'm not one but feel this could do with simplifying for thaoes who are
I can't make every single video for beginners, I can only make videos I enjoy making because life is so stressful and I'm providing free info to you at the end of the day😂
@@HuwRichardsChware Teg Huw just thought I'd mention it . Nice to have complexity as well
But, this is how beginners learn. Some will grasp quickly and some won't, as in any learning situation. It's not a difficult lesson; just one with new words/concepts to learn. Lol, when I was raising my son, I never used baby words like "go bye bye" or "choo- choo" for trains. I thought it's just as easy to learn the proper word as the pretend word. It didn't matter if he mispronounced them for awhile.
Gawd
A bit too technical for me to follow.
Didn't know tomatoes can be perennials, very embarassing 🙈
Yes but where I live once we have 90 plus degrees the pollen is sterile and disease takes over so regardless they won’t continue to grow.
@@jo-annjewett198 I think it’s also worth remembering that the tomatoes we have now are highly cultivated and very different to the original wild, perennial plants
Looking forward to your ramual woodchuck update
Huw Richards sounding as based as #VindanaShiva 😍🌱🪴🌻
This completely brilliant. Your videos are incredibly helpful.