As a farmer's son, I was used to this scheme: manure, cultivate, plough, rotivate and plant. Still I think for big farms this is the way to go because of the heavy weights of equipment on the soil. In the beginning I did the same in my private garden... Since I discovered your insights, vegetables grew better thanks to the No Dig method. I thought I knew a lot about vegetable growing, now I know lots more thanks to buying your books! You have been an inspiration for me and I'm sharing your insights with other farmers and their sons and daughters. God bless you, always relaxing to watch and listen to your vids. You most have been already more forgotten than we will ever know...
Nikki Cooper it is free, but I have bought all of his books I could get my hands on as my way to support. Going to Home Acres for a class is a bucket list item.
You are such an excellent teacher! When you were explaining how the beans needed heat for photosynthesis, something just clicked in my brain and I felt myself become a better gardener :) Thank you!
Dear Charles I can listen to you talking the history of the plants all day!! This video format you have chosen is highly informative in nearly every word. Please continue this type of problem discussing. Thank you!!
The nitrogen sequestration by the decomposition of woodchip, also means that it is excellent as a weed-suppressant mulch, as the weeds that do germinate starve for lack of nitrogen.
I never comment but i always watch. I just want to say I ❤ this channel so much. You have helped me in my small garden so much. Here in South Carolina USA. Im excited to start a greens garden this fall and keep it going through winter.
Watching on Dec 27 2023 . Very encouraging. Am using more wood chips, however I tilled one bed 3 by 15 ft with 2-3 inches of 4 month old woodchips and rabbit manure. Only finding out about no-till, no-dig. So I'm gonna plant some type of peas as a cover crop on that bed. My experiment started.
Fun to “wander” through the garden with you Charles and learn. I’m sure you’ve set some gardener minds at ease now they know why their plants look as they do. Thanks!
Thanks so much for making these videos. I took my first allotment late march and now have a fully loaded, mostly no dig, plot. I have already reaped many harvests and have all sorts growing in there. Your a great teacher. Happy gardening
I spent 30 plus years turning the soil. What a fool I was. Many terrible back aches. Wish I had found Charles Dowding's teaching methods all those years ago. Sure has made gardening much more enjoyable now. What a difference its made in my planting and quality of my flowers and produce.
Thank You for all the invaluable information! I've taken over the garden duties this is my 2nd year....still very much in the learning process. LOVE that your garden is large enough to have 'test' subjects to see how the plant does in different mediums ....Then explain what's happening to us newbies or maybe even not so newbies. Very Good to know about the Yellow Squash plants just being more yellow than their counterpart...the green ones. ALL of them including Cucumbers and Pumpkins are on the yellow side at the moment. I had them going in a sandy soil and NONE were happy about it. It was early enough in the season and I made a quick change to where, how and in what I planted them in. Hopefully I will see a positive change in the coming weeks.Thank You again.
Another great video! My wife and I are only in our third year of growing vegetables; Thanks to your videos and books we have learned so much and couldn't be happier with our veg patch! We grow most of the veg in our front garden, so many people stop and say how beautiful and healthy the garden looks. We wouldn't be able to achieve this without you sharing your knowledge and wisdom! Thankyou!
WOW... your brave standing that high up on a ladder with nobody holding it... I love Gardening and hope to share my gardening tips like you do on my own channel, I have learned so much from your videos and watch often.
Thank you! Been having issues with struggling zucchini plants, so I actually started some more to plant in a different location. I now know exactly WHY they basically stopped growing...👍
I was so shocked when you said cold weather in JUNE! My Florida mind cannot even comprehend such a location. I actually really enjoy cooler temps and wish we had more of it here, lol.
What a wonderful video! Looking forward to part 2! The video was so well put together, with a true walk through the garden telling a story of pretty much every kind of issue we can encounter in a garden! Thank you for doing this!
the comparison dig vs no dig raised my curiosity, now I want to further explore what happens in the soil when we dig vs when we don't; love the videos; As a beginner gardener I find them so helpful.
Very helpful video, thank you so much! I have found that planting Nasturtiums next to plants that are sensitive to aphids (especially with tomatoes and roses) draws the aphids to the Nasturtium.
Damn I put a new bed on top of a wood chip path. That says a lot my cucumbers look poor. Also the forked beds is an interesting comparison too. Thanks Charles
Thank you, Mr Dowding, for the master class (and reassurance). We are just establishing our annual vegetable gardens, and trying to incorporate no-dig technique a la Dowding. We'll see!
Thank you so very much for this excellent video. I am a new gardener and this has answered many questions for me, which I could not find the answers to previously. I have learned a lot.
This is another excellent topic to have covered; in your own very unique manner, you have taught us how to understand the Nature of things and be accepting of her. As an urban citizen wearing fancy clothes to my now quieter life on the farm, and after ten years of farming, I have found your wisdom and have only begun really learning. Namaste in Indian culture is not a casual Hi or Bye, it denotes deep respect. So Namaste to you!
Mr. Dowding, thank you so very much for all the things you covered in this video. I have answers to many issues I have seen this year. Well, at least good leads to consider moving forward.
Wow!!! SOoOoO helpful to me at this very moment. I've been using composted manure and wood chips and sometimes sand mixed with soil for almost all of my garden - with mostly great success.... BUT recently I had to completely re-make a bed i which everything was anemic. Now I think the culprit was a high mixture of incompletely composted wood chips - at the feet of the plants. Ah Hah!!!! Thank you once again for your delightful and useful videos.
I'd never heard of no dog til I stumbled onto this channel. You downplay your trials but, at least based on your videos, consistently the no dog wins. That's enough evidence for me. You got a convert my friend
Yes! Lol, I felt so sorry for the two little sweet plants stuggling to fulfill their purpose! I have had very tiny zuchinni prduce a tiny litle squash. I had planted a forgotten, leggy seedling, and it did its best! I ate that tiny squash with gratefulness to the plant's heroic effort!
Wonderful thank you Charles. Some of your books seem to spend more time at my place than in our local library :). I particularly like your plain english explanations and demonstrations of "No Dig", especially for a garden novice. Being in New Zealand (-2 this morning) helps me look forard to spring and the warmer weather. Thanks again for sharing, love your work. Cheers James
Great video. Very informative. I remember the first time I planted "icicle" tomatoes....the fruits are long and narrow. The plants were very droopy, and I kept thinking they needed water. But no matter how much I watered them, they still drooped. Finally I realized that was its natural growth pattern....the fruits are long and "droopy," and the plant grows that way too. Similar to the way you'll have yellow leaves on a yellow courgette. Or, for example, habaneros vs. long cayenne peppers. Habaneros are short and squat, as so is the plant, while cayenne are long and slim, and the plant grows long, slender, tall branches.
End of June and heat-loving plants still can't thrive -- that's tough, makes me appreciate the Zone I'm in. Charles, I don't know what spurred you to put this video together, but it's certainly very informative, as others have indicated, and I've fwd this vid to someone who's had a bad year and I hope it can help them. Thank you.
Looking forward to part 2 ! You really helped me with the tip, not to include woody soil for growing! Tomorrow I wanted to use it, so this video came just in time :D
I applied raw manure just before planting a newly made border (foolishly in hindsight) because the 'soil' was just dust and although it is now beautifully crumbly and rich, all my plants got severe chlorosis. Thanks to this I added iron liquid feed and fertiliser and they all recovered within a few weeks and are doing brilliantly. I would never have realised adding manure would actually take nutrients away without watching this.
I Love the content always and will stay tuned for the next one. Great camera work to your son or the person behind it. :) Thank you for your willingness to share and educate us, they do helps us novices in the garden of edibles. I so appreciate you and your works Mr Dowding! ;)
Thanks Charles - I had a variety of these problems too, due to early dry, then cold and wet with even a late frost or two and then dry again, now hot. Poor plants didn't know whether to run and hide or give up. However, with careful covering and then lots of watering with a couple of liquid seaweed feeds, everything is now looking really good. British gardeners must be the most patient and determined people!
Very helpful. The variants between growth of the squashes is interesting but possibly beyond the extremes that most of us experience. The common problems are being exacerbated by the very cool June that we experienced. For us - the lessons (re)learned are not to plant out until the beds have had time to truly warm up and if necessary - to fleece.
I agree. The ones I put out about two weeks before the bad weather romped away. The ones I put out just before the 3 weeks of cold rain did nothing for 4 weeks.
Thank you Charles. I've been putting many of your techniques to use this year, and have been seeing loads of promise in a first time garden spot. Have had a very wet and cold spring here in northern Minnesota, so it was slow to start.
I never have thought in my life that I’d be interested in compost making and gardening videos 😆. I love watching your videos since my young daughter bought a property with endless possibilities for garden building which I thought I’d like to participate helping her making garden bed . So we may try out dig or no dig beds😁Thank you for sharing your precious ideas. Your such a noble gardener 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Thank you Mr. Dowding! I thought I was doing a good thing by layering wood chips in my no-dig garden rows. Looks like they'll be composting just fine, but they are sapping the nutrients away from my plants which are extremely slow growing. My first garden... I guess I'll know better next year. Thank you for explaining. Very much appreciated! Cheers!
Our spring has been abysmal. Cold and windy. I have only cold frames. So, I’ve been transferring my seedlings inside to a heated garage during cold nights and days and back outside during warm days for weeks. Sometimes I think I am insane. Every year I start the same countless numbers of plants , hoping for a different outcome of weather. But as much as I grumble about the it, wire worms and animal destruction of my plants....etc., I do it all over again the next year (grumbling included!!!😖. ) There’s just something uplifting and encouraging about putting little seeds in soil and finally seeing huge plants emerge; not to mention the taste of homegrown organic produce. One of the highlights of my gardening season is the humongous compost pile that I have cultivated, and the lovely friable soil that I get from it! As I watch the many vlogs that you and other devoted gardeners supply, it adds to the excitement and opportunity to improve upon what I have already tried at and failed. No dig gardening is definitely an epiphany!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig lol yes I guess that was a bit of a mixed musing; I’ve come to the conclusion that gardening and having children are somewhat similar. You swear after the first, you’ll never do it again. But low and behold, along comes the day when you’ve forgotten any hardship involved and repeat the process; hopefully just that bit more wiser!!😉😂
Sometimes when I’m having a problem with lettuces growing poorly I buy a seaweed from Asian stores used to make dashi, kombu. You have to be careful where you buy it so read the labels but adding it to a compost pile where you need more nutrients seems to help.
Thanks Charles these demo of your are very helpful recently someone was suggesting that you can plant every thing in woodchip. WRONG, he then said he did not like to grow squash, I know why for the very same reason you have pointed out. His brassica came to nothing in that woodchip condition however woodchip is great as a heavy mulch around fruit trees because they favour a fungal soil. I have discovered slugs hates lead mould If I put in a new plant I water it at the roots then I add a handful of leaf mould, no slug visits.
Lovely Charles (and Edward?). There is a theory, from hydroponics, I think, that the discoloration of the older leaves is a sign of the plant's redirecting the mobile nutrients within it to the growing point or reproductive parts of itself. Although this is a sign of needed nutrients, it makes me think that one might try keeping the discolored leaves on the plant if, in fact, the plant is using the older leaves as a bank for the mobile nutrients. For this reason I have waited until the leaves turn all the way brown and separate themselves from the plant. Although, this is hard for tidy gardeners. Maybe another gardening experiment is needed, LOL.
Thanks, Charles for yet another informative video. I support your view that the unusually cold weather this June in the UK was very unhelpful for runner beans. My old dad used to tell me not to rush as they would be better when the soil was warm. I put mine in as plants first week of June as I usually do (I am in the east of England) and for 3 weeks they stood doing nothing but going yellow. We had very variable temperatures and at night, sometimes going down to 7 deg.c. The end of June came and the weather was much warmer and more stable at night and the plants have shot up and are now well up the canes and looking much better. By the way, last year I had the opposite problem, with hot sticky nights and although I sprayed them with cold water in the evenings they did not set well. I am trying a new variety this year called Moonlight which is supposed to be resistant to hot weather non-setting, so I'll see whether it was worth the switch. Thanks again for all you do for us, your generosity in sharing your knowledge is appreciated. Regards. Graham.
Dang! I was looking forward to you going over to the sweet corn to tell us about it. It sure doesn't like cool weather over here. Nor does the field corn farmers raise. Soybeans are tougher than nails here. They grow then they can wait and take off again. They will even sit and wait for rain. Then take off again. The yields can be very surprising sometimes. Thanks for the such great videos.
Thanks Charles for your clear explanation. You do it so well. For our summerseason I will concentrate more on the green courgettes. Didn't know that the yellow ones produce less. Thought it was me. Enjoyed your video massively!
Another fantastic informative video as always. I had a few issues with slow growth as I’d used fresh compost and I was bemused as to why there was no vigorous growth as I’d expected. Live and learn, and learn from your channel. Onwards and upwards for better results next year!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig hopefully Im doing a test I've replanted a pumpkin into a bag of verve compost and hoping it picks up .if you want to see the troubles I've had with it just check my pumpkin grow off videos .I will add there not up to your quality but I'm still new 😁
Another excellent video. That said, I bury wood under all my no-dig beds, but more to act as a sponge to hold water and improve soil structure over a long period since wood does not provide much in the way of nutrients. I'll plant those beds day-one. To combat the way wood steals nitrogen, I supplement the plantings with a liquid kelp fertilizer every other Saturday for the first year. Tilling blood meal into the soil works too, but that draws coyote and raccoons where I live, and they make a mess of things.
Another brilliant tutorial. Thanks to Charles and his YT channel I am well on the way to hopefully getting myself a great variety of home grown produce. He also has a brilliant website that he doesn't always mention,, well worth a visit.
I love you Charles and your garden and the works! thanks for being our example. i did the same as you..i have pumpkibs..cucumber and watermelon my leftover compostpile from last year ..they love it!
As a farmer's son, I was used to this scheme: manure, cultivate, plough, rotivate and plant. Still I think for big farms this is the way to go because of the heavy weights of equipment on the soil. In the beginning I did the same in my private garden... Since I discovered your insights, vegetables grew better thanks to the No Dig method. I thought I knew a lot about vegetable growing, now I know lots more thanks to buying your books! You have been an inspiration for me and I'm sharing your insights with other farmers and their sons and daughters. God bless you, always relaxing to watch and listen to your vids. You most have been already more forgotten than we will ever know...
Thanks for sharing this Frederik, I am happy you like the books and are sharing these time saving ideas.
Here we all are, watching an invaluable gardening class taught by a master gardener. Thank you, Charles!!
Right? Who are these 41 bafoons that gave a thumbs down? I just found this channel but I plan on binging.
Check out Castle Hill.. Cliff is a great teacher as well!!
Colleen Wnek and it’s FREE! How crazy is that!
LEGEND!! All his videos are International Treasure! Haha
Nikki Cooper it is free, but I have bought all of his books I could get my hands on as my way to support. Going to Home Acres for a class is a bucket list item.
Man I love watching these. Nothing else on UA-cam gets me more excited than a new video notification for Charles’ videos.
You are such an excellent teacher! When you were explaining how the beans needed heat for photosynthesis, something just clicked in my brain and I felt myself become a better gardener :) Thank you!
Ah great!
Dear Charles I can listen to you talking the history of the plants all day!! This video format you have chosen is highly informative in nearly every word. Please continue this type of problem discussing. Thank you!!
Thanks Petara, for your nice feedback
The nitrogen sequestration by the decomposition of woodchip, also means that it is excellent as a weed-suppressant mulch, as the weeds that do germinate starve for lack of nitrogen.
Working my way through the videos on this channel. Absolutely first class advice, photography and presentation. Can’t thank you enough.
Great to hear Michael
I never comment but i always watch. I just want to say I ❤ this channel so much. You have helped me in my small garden so much. Here in South Carolina USA. Im excited to start a greens garden this fall and keep it going through winter.
Thanks Dawn and I wish you a leafy winter!
Charles, you are an inspiration as a gardener as well as a tutor. Always testing for better results and putting garden myths to the test.
Many thanks Linn
Watching on Dec 27 2023 . Very encouraging. Am using more wood chips, however I tilled one bed 3 by 15 ft with 2-3 inches of 4 month old woodchips and rabbit manure. Only finding out about no-till, no-dig. So I'm gonna plant some type of peas as a cover crop on that bed. My experiment started.
Best of luck Wayne
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you Charles..
I have been gardening over 40 years and I learn something new all the time these are excellent videos
Cheers Samuel
Fun to “wander” through the garden with you Charles and learn. I’m sure you’ve set some gardener minds at ease now they know why their plants look as they do. Thanks!
Thanks so much for making these videos. I took my first allotment late march and now have a fully loaded, mostly no dig, plot. I have already reaped many harvests and have all sorts growing in there. Your a great teacher. Happy gardening
Thanks for sharing Sarah, really good to hear, for a first allotment
Something about YOU makes me happy. Just love your personality and the way you talk, you radiate joy and wisdom.
Thank you so much 🤗
Very helpful. Everyone looks at me kind of funny when I tell them I never turn my beds. Now I have more proof no dig is the way to go.
I spent 30 plus years turning the soil. What a fool I was. Many terrible back aches. Wish I had found Charles Dowding's teaching methods all those years ago. Sure has made gardening much more enjoyable now. What a difference its made in my planting and quality of my flowers and produce.
Thank You for all the invaluable information! I've taken over the garden duties this is my 2nd year....still very much in the learning process. LOVE that your garden is large enough to have 'test' subjects to see how the plant does in different mediums ....Then explain what's happening to us newbies or maybe even not so newbies. Very Good to know about the Yellow Squash plants just being more yellow than their counterpart...the green ones. ALL of them including Cucumbers and Pumpkins are on the yellow side at the moment. I had them going in a sandy soil and NONE were happy about it. It was early enough in the season and I made a quick change to where, how and in what I planted them in. Hopefully I will see a positive change in the coming weeks.Thank You again.
Another great video! My wife and I are only in our third year of growing vegetables; Thanks to your videos and books we have learned so much and couldn't be happier with our veg patch! We grow most of the veg in our front garden, so many people stop and say how beautiful and healthy the garden looks. We wouldn't be able to achieve this without you sharing your knowledge and wisdom! Thankyou!
Ah super this makes me happy
You guys are so lucky. I had to make so many mistakes to learn.
Every time watch your videos I learn something new. Thank you.
WOW... your brave standing that high up on a ladder with nobody holding it... I love Gardening and hope to share my gardening tips like you do on my own channel, I have learned so much from your videos and watch often.
This is beautifully presented! I'm appreciating plants more - their life cycle & coping mechanisms! 💜
Thank you Sir Charles & Edward!
Thank you! Been having issues with struggling zucchini plants, so I actually started some more to plant in a different location. I now know exactly WHY they basically stopped growing...👍
Charles, I say again... your videos are amazing. Thanks for share!
We just had nothing but hot weather.... I wish I would be in your neck of the woods. Thanks for all your help, Charles!.
I was so shocked when you said cold weather in JUNE! My Florida mind cannot even comprehend such a location. I actually really enjoy cooler temps and wish we had more of it here, lol.
What a wonderful video! Looking forward to part 2! The video was so well put together, with a true walk through the garden telling a story of pretty much every kind of issue we can encounter in a garden! Thank you for doing this!
Thanks Francesco
the comparison dig vs no dig raised my curiosity, now I want to further explore what happens in the soil when we dig vs when we don't; love the videos; As a beginner gardener I find them so helpful.
Cool thanks Mariusz
Very helpful video, thank you so much! I have found that planting Nasturtiums next to plants that are sensitive to aphids (especially with tomatoes and roses) draws the aphids to the Nasturtium.
Thanks I didn't plant nasturtiums this spring and there have been an army of aphids on my petunias. Next year for sure.
Damn I put a new bed on top of a wood chip path. That says a lot my cucumbers look poor. Also the forked beds is an interesting comparison too.
Thanks Charles
Great video! It’s heartening to see you suffer with the vagaries of the British weather too! 🙏
Thank you very much! This is so helpful to people like me who are just starting with veg growing.
I really appreciate all the things you pointed out with the different growing settings. Thank you.
You are welcome
Thank you, Mr Dowding, for the master class (and reassurance).
We are just establishing our annual vegetable gardens, and trying to incorporate no-dig technique a la Dowding. We'll see!
Thank you so very much for this excellent video. I am a new gardener and this has answered many questions for me, which I could not find the answers to previously. I have learned a lot.
This is another excellent topic to have covered; in your own very unique manner, you have taught us how to understand the Nature of things and be accepting of her. As an urban citizen wearing fancy clothes to my now quieter life on the farm, and after ten years of farming, I have found your wisdom and have only begun really learning. Namaste in Indian culture is not a casual Hi or Bye, it denotes deep respect. So Namaste to you!
I appreciate your respect Anil and wish you successful harvests 💚
Mr. Dowding, thank you so very much for all the things you covered in this video. I have answers to many issues I have seen this year. Well, at least good leads to consider moving forward.
Cheers Steven my pleasure
Wow!!! SOoOoO helpful to me at this very moment.
I've been using composted manure and wood chips and sometimes sand mixed with soil for almost all of my garden - with mostly great success.... BUT recently I had to completely re-make a bed i which everything was anemic.
Now I think the culprit was a high mixture of incompletely composted wood chips - at the feet of the plants. Ah Hah!!!!
Thank you once again for your delightful and useful videos.
Glad it was helpful
I'd never heard of no dog til I stumbled onto this channel. You downplay your trials but, at least based on your videos, consistently the no dog wins. That's enough evidence for me. You got a convert my friend
Welcome aboard Alex and thanks
Thank you for this! I've learned so much, this is invaluable information. Looking forward to no. 2!
Perfect timing - having issues here and there with slow growth. Thank you!
Same! Just been out gathering breakfast and noticed the few that’ve survived aren’t doing much.
Excellent video Charles. Please do more long videos like this one. Thanks a lot!
Your garden in gorgeous! I’ve been a gardener 40 yrs. You are a good teacher and bring up great points!
Many thanks, happy to help
Am I the only one feeling for those plants? :) I'm like: "Thank you for the lesson, now PLEASE give that plant some nutrients!" ❤️
He said that plant won’t fruit.... I’m there thinking, it will if you bloody water it!
Yes! Lol, I felt so sorry for the two little sweet plants stuggling to fulfill their purpose! I have had very tiny zuchinni prduce a tiny litle squash. I had planted a forgotten, leggy seedling, and it did its best! I ate that tiny squash with gratefulness to the plant's heroic effort!
@@gracerc6154 That's adorable. A small epic playing itself out! Good stuff.
Wonderful thank you Charles. Some of your books seem to spend more time at my place than in our local library :). I particularly like your plain english explanations and demonstrations of "No Dig", especially for a garden novice. Being in New Zealand (-2 this morning) helps me look forard to spring and the warmer weather. Thanks again for sharing, love your work. Cheers James
Cheers James, nice to hear and I hope spring arrives soon.
These forking examples are amazing! Surprising results. Thank you.
Sigh* such a lovely experience following along with you, Charles. It is delightful.
Thanks for the tip on the french beans Charles this will be my first year growing it
Best of luck James
Thank you Charles. I found the video very informative.
Great video. Very informative. I remember the first time I planted "icicle" tomatoes....the fruits are long and narrow. The plants were very droopy, and I kept thinking they needed water. But no matter how much I watered them, they still drooped. Finally I realized that was its natural growth pattern....the fruits are long and "droopy," and the plant grows that way too. Similar to the way you'll have yellow leaves on a yellow courgette. Or, for example, habaneros vs. long cayenne peppers. Habaneros are short and squat, as so is the plant, while cayenne are long and slim, and the plant grows long, slender, tall branches.
Great observations and plants can be so funny in their different habits. like us too
End of June and heat-loving plants still can't thrive -- that's tough, makes me appreciate the Zone I'm in. Charles, I don't know what spurred you to put this video together, but it's certainly very informative, as others have indicated, and I've fwd this vid to someone who's had a bad year and I hope it can help them. Thank you.
Thanks Ted - it's warmer now! 23C 73F average day max
Looking forward to part 2 !
You really helped me with the tip, not to include woody soil for growing! Tomorrow I wanted to use it, so this video came just in time :D
Me too....solved some mysteries.
I love your videos. Such great info, lovely garden, I love your philosophies. Thank you.
I applied raw manure just before planting a newly made border (foolishly in hindsight) because the 'soil' was just dust and although it is now beautifully crumbly and rich, all my plants got severe chlorosis. Thanks to this I added iron liquid feed and fertiliser and they all recovered within a few weeks and are doing brilliantly. I would never have realised adding manure would actually take nutrients away without watching this.
Thanks for sharing this and well done for managing the rectification.
From now on you should not need to use those amendments again!
I Love the content always and will stay tuned for the next one. Great camera work to your son or the person behind it. :) Thank you for your willingness to share and educate us, they do helps us novices in the garden of edibles. I so appreciate you and your works Mr Dowding! ;)
Thanks and yes this one is Edward on camera
Thanks Charles - I had a variety of these problems too, due to early dry, then cold and wet with even a late frost or two and then dry again, now hot. Poor plants didn't know whether to run and hide or give up. However, with careful covering and then lots of watering with a couple of liquid seaweed feeds, everything is now looking really good. British gardeners must be the most patient and determined people!
Very helpful. The variants between growth of the squashes is interesting but possibly beyond the extremes that most of us experience. The common problems are being exacerbated by the very cool June that we experienced. For us - the lessons (re)learned are not to plant out until the beds have had time to truly warm up and if necessary - to fleece.
I agree. The ones I put out about two weeks before the bad weather romped away. The ones I put out just before the 3 weeks of cold rain did nothing for 4 weeks.
Smart looking gardener! I never look like that in my garden! Smart Charles! Lol
Thank you Charles. I've been putting many of your techniques to use this year, and have been seeing loads of promise in a first time garden spot. Have had a very wet and cold spring here in northern Minnesota, so it was slow to start.
Cheers Adam, expect it's motoring now
You are greatly appreciated for all the wonderful information you give to so many of us! Thank you sir!😍👍
My pleasure Cj
I never have thought in my life that I’d be interested in compost making and gardening videos 😆. I love watching your videos since my young daughter bought a property with endless possibilities for garden building which I thought I’d like to participate helping her making garden bed . So we may try out dig or no dig beds😁Thank you for sharing your precious ideas. Your such a noble gardener 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Thanks Brenda and I wish you every success. It sounds a lot of fun, and great to work with your daughter
@@CharlesDowding1nodig , Thank you Charles🙏🏼😄
Ill be glad to watch more of your lovely videos. Take care .
Thank you Mr. Dowding! I thought I was doing a good thing by layering wood chips in my no-dig garden rows. Looks like they'll be composting just fine, but they are sapping the nutrients away from my plants which are extremely slow growing. My first garden... I guess I'll know better next year. Thank you for explaining. Very much appreciated! Cheers!
Sorry to hear that and wood chips are I find not always explained enough!
I wish you better for next year :)
Our spring has been abysmal. Cold and windy. I have only cold frames. So, I’ve been transferring my seedlings inside to a heated garage during cold nights and days and back outside during warm days for weeks. Sometimes I think I am insane. Every year I start the same countless numbers of plants , hoping for a different outcome of weather. But as much as I grumble about the it, wire worms and animal destruction of my plants....etc., I do it all over again the next year (grumbling included!!!😖. ) There’s just something uplifting and encouraging about putting little seeds in soil and finally seeing huge plants emerge; not to mention the taste of homegrown organic produce. One of the highlights of my gardening season is the humongous compost pile that I have cultivated, and the lovely friable soil that I get from it! As I watch the many vlogs that you and other devoted gardeners supply, it adds to the excitement and opportunity to improve upon what I have already tried at and failed.
No dig gardening is definitely an epiphany!
How nicely put - I wondered where you were going after the first couple of lines! Nice balance here 😀
@@CharlesDowding1nodig lol yes I guess that was a bit of a mixed musing; I’ve come to the conclusion that gardening and having children are somewhat similar. You swear after the first, you’ll never do it again. But low and behold, along comes the day when you’ve forgotten any hardship involved and repeat the process; hopefully just that bit more wiser!!😉😂
Great video. It helps alot. Have an amazing weekend, Andreas from Off Grid Sweden 🇸🇪
Sometimes when I’m having a problem with lettuces growing poorly I buy a seaweed from Asian stores used to make dashi, kombu. You have to be careful where you buy it so read the labels but adding it to a compost pile where you need more nutrients seems to help.
Thanks Charles these demo of your are very helpful recently someone was suggesting that you can plant every thing in woodchip. WRONG, he then said he did not like to grow squash, I know why for the very same reason you have pointed out. His brassica came to nothing in that woodchip condition however woodchip is great as a heavy mulch around fruit trees because they favour a fungal soil.
I have discovered slugs hates lead mould If I put in a new plant I water it at the roots then I add a handful of leaf mould, no slug visits.
Nice tip Florie.
Yes a lot of myths about wood chip!
Lovely Charles (and Edward?).
There is a theory, from hydroponics, I think, that the discoloration of the older leaves is a sign of the plant's redirecting the mobile nutrients within it to the growing point or reproductive parts of itself. Although this is a sign of needed nutrients, it makes me think that one might try keeping the discolored leaves on the plant if, in fact, the plant is using the older leaves as a bank for the mobile nutrients. For this reason I have waited until the leaves turn all the way brown and separate themselves from the plant. Although, this is hard for tidy gardeners.
Maybe another gardening experiment is needed, LOL.
Interesting
great video charles, just finished watching, awesome and important stuff :)
thank you Charles...this explaines some of the issues that i have with slow growth...
Thank you sir charles. This can be a big help for my advocacy. Sharing tips and solutions for other farmers
Love how you have trained the rabbits to pick off the growing tips to get a more bushy plant :D
Reassuring to know that even experienced gardeners too face such problems.
Thank you for your excellent videos, Charles! We've learned so much from you.
My pleasure!
Looking forward to part two.
Best wishes
Pete.
Thank you Charles for this informative and nice video. You are most kind to share.
Great video Charles, thanks for sharing your knowledge, cheers!
When I watch this video it feels so relaxing the way you talk (: 👍
Thanks, Charles for yet another informative video. I support your view that the unusually cold weather this June in the UK was very unhelpful for runner beans. My old dad used to tell me not to rush as they would be better when the soil was warm. I put mine in as plants first week of June as I usually do (I am in the east of England) and for 3 weeks they stood doing nothing but going yellow. We had very variable temperatures and at night, sometimes going down to 7 deg.c. The end of June came and the weather was much warmer and more stable at night and the plants have shot up and are now well up the canes and looking much better. By the way, last year I had the opposite problem, with hot sticky nights and although I sprayed them with cold water in the evenings they did not set well. I am trying a new variety this year called Moonlight which is supposed to be resistant to hot weather non-setting, so I'll see whether it was worth the switch. Thanks again for all you do for us, your generosity in sharing your knowledge is appreciated. Regards. Graham.
Cheers Graham.
I think setting is more helped by watering roots and they probably need water now to help that, even the Moonlight.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks for the tip. I do have a leaky hose covered with mulch. I'll use it more often as it is hot right now.
Dang! I was looking forward to you going over to the sweet corn to tell us about it. It sure doesn't like cool weather over here. Nor does the field corn farmers raise. Soybeans are tougher than nails here. They grow then they can wait and take off again. They will even sit and wait for rain. Then take off again. The yields can be very surprising sometimes. Thanks for the such great videos.
Thanks Charles for your clear explanation. You do it so well. For our summerseason I will concentrate more on the green courgettes. Didn't know that the yellow ones produce less. Thought it was me. Enjoyed your video massively!
Nice to hear Maud
Another fantastic informative video as always. I had a few issues with slow growth as I’d used fresh compost and I was bemused as to why there was no vigorous growth as I’d expected. Live and learn, and learn from your channel. Onwards and upwards for better results next year!
Thanks Beb and yes we are lucky to have next year to look forward to
Charles your videos are so enjoyable and informing it is a real pleasure to watch thanks so much
Glad you like them Richard!
Charles! You’re a National treasure and I’m sure that ladder said “this is not a step”! Be careful 😉
That was really fantastic. Very informative. Love from Mark x
So grateful you show failure as well as success as it’s encouraging to us novices who want to have success all the time🥴😄
Thank you 😇👍
Amazing was having pretty much every problem you've mentioned and I can put it down to Ms turning soil over and unfinished compost
How amazing, simple solution then
@@CharlesDowding1nodig hopefully Im doing a test I've replanted a pumpkin into a bag of verve compost and hoping it picks up .if you want to see the troubles I've had with it just check my pumpkin grow off videos .I will add there not up to your quality but I'm still new 😁
Great video, a real pleasure as always! Greetings from Germany!
Cheers Heiko nice to hear from you
Another excellent video. That said, I bury wood under all my no-dig beds, but more to act as a sponge to hold water and improve soil structure over a long period since wood does not provide much in the way of nutrients. I'll plant those beds day-one. To combat the way wood steals nitrogen, I supplement the plantings with a liquid kelp fertilizer every other Saturday for the first year. Tilling blood meal into the soil works too, but that draws coyote and raccoons where I live, and they make a mess of things.
Sounds good Leo
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and experience.
Thanks, always enjoy your videos Charles.
Thanks. That's a lot of very useful information and demonstrations.
Another brilliant tutorial. Thanks to Charles and his YT channel I am well on the way to hopefully getting myself a great variety of home grown produce. He also has a brilliant website that he doesn't always mention,, well worth a visit.
Great to hear Graham and thanks
Wow! I just found you and I love you already! So much information and such a calm soothing voice! I just want to keep watching and learning! ♥️
Welcome Donna!!
This video really helped me figure out my issues with cucumbers last year. Great video!
Ah good thanks
You are the MAN Charles. Love your work
Thank you for sharing and kindly making these Charles
I wish I was a lettuce in Charles's garden, id be so happy :)
Be a ladybug instead!
@@enabler2456 I'll be the lady bug!!! 😁
You’d be bloody thirsty
Great video Charles. Very interesting and informative.
Thank you much Charles .. I constantly look forward to your videos . Hope to see part 2 soon --Ray Sussex NJ USA
Thank you for saving us the labor of forking our beds:-)
Great news for folk with a forked back!
After the last 2 weeks of heat, hopefully all the plants have shot up... at my allotment all the weeds and grass certainly have.
If weeds grew fruit we would be winners lol 👍
I love you Charles and your garden and the works! thanks for being our example. i did the same as you..i have pumpkibs..cucumber and watermelon my leftover compostpile from last year ..they love it!
Sounds great! and thanks