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Levington Liquid Tomorite
by emmad5689
We started using Tomorite when my father in Law ended up giving us semi started tomatoes and he gave us some of this to help the tomatoes grow. The last couple of years when growing our own tomatoes we have bought this ourselves as it helped give us such lovely tomatoes the first year.
You can buy this in many shops where ... they sell gardening equipment, we bought this at Wilkinsons this year ready for our tomatoes that are currently sprouting and it cost us £3.85 for a 1 litre bottle which considering how long it lasts is great value.
The product comes in a bright red plastic bottle so you most certainly cannot miss it, it has a picture of lovely looking ripe tomatoes on the front of it and of course the name. On the back of the bottle you are told that it contains magnesium which encourages a full flavoured crop of tomatoes. The bottle has a child safe lid on it which is always a good idea in my opinion although we keep ours on the kitchen windowsill so it is out of reach of the children anyway but you can never be too careful.
To use the product you simply have to pour a capful into 4.5 litres of water, I personally use 2 x 2 litre bottles and pour half a cap in each therefore I am actually using a slightly stronger concentration than is necessary. You should feed your tomatoes once a week and only after the first tomato has appeared apparently however personally I feed mine every 4-5 days and feed once the plants start to flower and my tomatoes were gorgeous even if I do say so myself!
We only ever grow cherry tomatoes and we have had a lovely crop for 2 out of 3 years, the weather caused us disasters with them last year and we gave in. We have our tomato seeds planted on our windowsill at the moment waiting for the weather to get a bit better before putting them outside. I cannot say how the tomatoes we grew would have been without using this however speaking to an old resident at work who always grew tomatoes he says you must always give them a good feed for lovely tasting crop and I most certainly have had that in previous years.
I would recommend this product it doesn't smell too great in my opinion and you can smell it for ages if you get it on your hands but it does help produce lovely tasting tomatoes, is easy to use and it is a decent price.
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Miracle Gro
by trayrope
Up until a few years ago my Husband and I were quite keen gardeners, we would be out most weekends weeding, trimming, planting and doing general garden care. Due to the bad summers we have been having we are not as regular in the garden as we used to be but we do like to pot up a few tubs and hanging baskets for a bit of spring/summer ... colour and keep the Strawberry, Rhubarb and fruit trees in check.
One of the garden products we come back to year after year is Miracle Grow All Purpose Soluble Plant Food. I like to buy a 2 x 2kg tubs (£10 each) at the start of spring as this will cover all my plant feeding needs throughout the growing season.
Miracle Grow is really simple to use, I like to dissolve one scoop (13.5 grams) in a 5 litre watering can and then I use it to water my baskets, tubs and Strawberry pots every other week from May through to September. I usually need more than one watering can full as I like to give my plants a thorough soaking.
When my Husband uses Miracle Grow he likes to use the feeder attachment that you can buy for your hose pipe, I think he feel more manly spraying the baskets and it makes more sense when watering the fruit trees and massive patches of Rhubarb.
The feeder attachment is simple to use, you just fill it with the desired amount of Miracle Grow using the measurements on the side of the feeder, click it on to your hose pipe and away you go. The water mixes in with the Miracle Grow and somehow gives a properly mixed dose to the plants while watering, because Miracle Grow stays blue when dissolved in water it is easy to see when the plant food has run out and you are just spraying water.
I am more than happy with the results my plants give when I use Miracle Grow, my hanging baskets and tubs have an abundance of flowers that usually last through the summer providing I remember to dead head. The foliage is vibrant and healthy looking.
My fruits trees have nice strong leaves and new growth each year and I usually end up with more pears and plums than I know what to do with. My Strawberries give a good crop each year and are exceptionally sweet and my Rhubarb crops well from June till the first frost. I can only give credit to the fortnightly doses of Miracle Grow. The only thing I don't use it on is my Tomato's as I use a Tomato specific food for them.
Thank you for reading.
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Homebase Bark Chips
by SoadFan
~A useful mulch from Homebase~
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Over the years I have bought and used a number of types of bark chips from Homebase and found them to be mostly of a reliable quality. I have found that there can be a degree of variation in quality between types and even packs of the same type at times, so care ... should be taken when choosing your bark chips so as to ensure that you purchase the right product from the outset. It is my experience that the general Homebase bark products are fine for use as an all round mulch, top dressing or weed reducing layer around some if not all plants and trees, although not all types of this rougher bark are suited for other uses.
~Choosing the right bark chips~
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If wanting to use bark as a general covering to be layered around childrens play areas etc, (which in my experience require a specific type of bark product from the Homebase range) the rougher cheaper bulk buy bark chips from the range are not the best option. This is due to the fact that the larger sized bark chips seem to also include rough wood shavings that can and do have sharp edges and larger splinters sticking out that might be harmful to a child. I know that when I have bought the larger cheap bark chips from Homebase there have been lots of roughly shredded bark pieces that have been mixed in with roughly shredded wood chippings and I would say that these are not at all suited to such uses and should not be considered a suitable option in this case.
The best of the Homebase bark chips I have bought have been the smaller sized chips which have a nicer more rounded finish to them in my experience. There do seem to be less sharp and roughly cut edges and splinters sticking out from the wood chips in these packs which makes them far better to handle and work with in my opinion. I find that these slightly smaller chips look nice when used as a general mulch in smaller flower or shrub borders. The smaller bark chips are also easier to spread around as they are a little smoother and easier to handle. They can sometimes be a little bit more expensive to buy, however I feel the small extra cost is worth it as they are much kinder to you hands and look better in smaller planted areas in my experience.
I do find that when I first open a bag of Homebase bark chips the smell that greets me is very often quite pungent, this is especially true if the bags have been in contact with too much moisture as they have small holes punched into the plastic bags they come in that seem to draw water into the bark, which in turn can make the freshly unpacked bark smell quite strong. I try to make sure that any bags I buy appear nice and dry and undamaged as the bark within them always has a fresher more appealing fresh cut wood chip aroma that is far more appealing. Once the bark chips are in place the smell of them does fade over the course of a week or so until you no longer notice it at all in my experience.
~How long do the bark chips last?~
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I tend to top up the planted borders in the garden that need new bark chips every other year as I find that the chips last really well for this length of time but do begin to need topping up at the end of it. The chips do break down slowly over time and this is something that should be expected from them as they are a natural product. The smaller sized bark chips will break down more quickly than the larger sized ones in my experience. I like to place a nice 3 inch layer of bark around the areas that need it, so as to ensure that weed growth is kept to a minimum, moisture is retained and planted areas look well kept and attractive all at the same time. I feel that the 2 year time span that these bark chips last for before needing to be topped up is quite good.
~How easy are the bark chips to work with?~
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I wear gloves when handling the bark chips as there can be some sharp bits, although as mentioned this is kept to a minimum if buying the smaller bark chips which I do prefer using. I have handled the bark chips without gardening gloves but feel it is safer to wear gloves just in case of splinters. I find it quick and easy to take out a few handfuls of bark from a freshly opened pack and then pour more out from the pack once it becomes a little lighter. The larger 90 litre / 120 litre bags are quite heavy and I do need some help to move them around when full, although they do become lighter as the bark in the bags is spread onto the areas of the garden I am treating. The bark is easy to spread around as required and for larger areas I find that a garden broom, or rake can be useful as they can help to ensure that the bark chips are layered evenly and thickly enough so as to suppress weeds and retain moisture at the same time.
~Price~
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I find that the larger bags of Homebase bark offer best value for money as they contain double the amount of bark. The smaller bags hold a minimum of 60 litres which is enough to cover a very small area. The next size up is a 90 litre bag, with the larger sized bags holding 120 litres of bark chips, which is the size I most often opt for. The cost of standard bark chips is £5.99 for 60 litres, £8.99 for 90 litres, the same price for a 120 litre standard bark bag and a really good price of £6,99 for the 120 litre play bark bags which I feel can be used in all child friendly areas that require a mulch or top dressing.
~Product rating~
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I find the bark is easy to spread out where needed and goes quite a long way, although I generally need to buy a number of bags to keep borders looking neat and tidy. I am due to top up the bark chips I have again this year and will soon be buying some more of these chips as I find that they work well and offer fair value for money. My rating for the Homebase bark chip range does differ slightly depending on the size of the bark chips as I prefer the smaller sized chips which I feel deserve a 4 star product rating. The larger rougher chips contain wood chippings that can sometimes feel rough and sharp, which is why I can only rate them as a 3 star product.
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