Protecting crops

[hamamelis]

Thanks again all! Tomatoes and raspberries ordered (I'll keep these indoors). Along with strawberries, parsnip, squash, and Actinidia arguta! Not sure if kiwis will grow in Scotland, but will give it a shot!

Just checking, you mean you're keeping tomatoes inside, or tomatoes and raspberries?

Don't get *too* worried about pests, if you just net everything, especially in the garden, it can look like you're growing nets instead of plants... You can just pick caterpillars off, if you prefer, and they're not a problem at all after the first frost.

I'd be tempted to wait and see what shows up first; for example, I never got carrot fly in my old allotment. I coulda netted them for years, and not realised I was wasting my time

[mysteryduck]

Thank you Penellype, hamamelis! Much appreciated Especially the new YouTube channel!

I'm planning on growing both tomatoes and raspberries indoors.

[Ani]

If you want to grow tomatoes inside, choose small cultivars (like Red Robin Or Balconi Red/Yellow). If you want to grow cordon tomatoes, you need to stop them soon (2 trusses) to prevent them becoming huge.
But I don't see why not to try outside. You can't know if you get blight. It can come very late (after the toms are already ripe) or it won't come at all.
If you are really worried, try growing toms in hanging baskets. They are more tricky to keep wattered but they have better air circulation and are much less prone to blight. You will probably be more worried about wind damage than blight this way.
Also, there are two types of blight:
Early blight (alternaria solani) - this one comes early (often in Jul/Aug) and is managable. It spreads quickly but you can cut affected leaves and the plant will be fine.
Late blight (phytophthora infestans) - this is the real killer but it often comes late (Sep/Oct) and it depends hugely on your location.

[Nicos]

Oh...I missed that bit about growing raspberries indoors!

Gosh, my first thought was they are deffo an outdoor plant!...i.e. They cope well with the Scottish winters, sonperhaps they'd get too leggy indoors!

Having said that, I found this .....
How to Grow Raspberries Indoors | Home Guides | SF Gate

It suggests a compact variety and hand pollinating....but even so, it too says they do better outside (i.e. Crop more)

Personally I'd plant them outside
My MIL grew hers in 1ft x6ft bit of soil wedged between her and her neighbour's house and they did really well!

[mysteryduck]

If you want to grow tomatoes inside, choose small cultivars (like Red Robin Or Balconi Red/Yellow). If you want to grow cordon tomatoes, you need to stop them soon (2 trusses) to prevent them becoming huge.
But I don't see why not to try outside. You can't know if you get blight. It can come very late (after the toms are already ripe) or it won't come at all.
If you are really worried, try growing toms in hanging baskets. They are more tricky to keep wattered but they have better air circulation and are much less prone to blight. You will probably be more worried about wind damage than blight this way.
Also, there are two types of blight:
Early blight (alternaria solani) - this one comes early (often in Jul/Aug) and is managable. It spreads quickly but you can cut affected leaves and the plant will be fine.
Late blight (phytophthora infestans) - this is the real killer but it often comes late (Sep/Oct) and it depends hugely on your location.

I ended up going with Lizzano F1, which is apparently less susceptible to blight and small enough to grow in a container on my windowsill. Double protection. But thanks for the hanging basket tip, I didn't know that.. and might possible be brave enough to give it a go!

I read that plants infected with late blight should be burned along with their soil. I want to grow potatoes too and have fears of the infection spreading and becoming an annual fixture in my garden. I believe tomatoes are much more susceptible to blight, hence my lack of worry for potatoes on their own. It turns out there's a potato farm on the outskirts of town, which makes me even more paranoid of blight in the area.. Perhaps blight isn't as bad as I imagine? *visions of rotting zombie plants*..

[mysteryduck]

Oh...I missed that bit about growing raspberries indoors!

Gosh, my first thought was they are deffo an outdoor plant!...i.e. They cope well with the Scottish winters, sonperhaps they'd get too leggy indoors!

Having said that, I found this .....
How to Grow Raspberries Indoors | Home Guides | SF Gate

It suggests a compact variety and hand pollinating....but even so, it too says they do better outside (i.e. Crop more)

Personally I'd plant them outside
My MIL grew hers in 1ft x6ft bit of soil wedged between her and her neighbour's house and they did really well!

I ordered Rasberry Ruby Beauty in a 9cm pot, which is apparently a mini one suitable for containers. It arrived the day before yesterday with curled leaves.. which I immediately googled, thinking it might be stress from being in the box, or something to do with water. Google starts telling me about leaf curl virus So I emailed the company with a photo, asking if they thought he was sick, or just stressed, and what I should do. They replied and said they were sending another one out to me, which is nice.. but.. what about the little guy I already have? I've emailed them back, asking for advice

Maybe I'm too much of a plant-hypochondriac for this gardening lark..

[Penellype]

"Perhaps blight isn't as bad as I imagine? *visions of rotting zombie plants*.."

Blight is fatal, and strikes quite quickly. However, if you looked up all the diseases, pests and other problems that you might get you would never grow anything. Some years are worse than others, and each year is different - for example corn salad usually grows like a weed in my garden, but this year even in a pot it has mildew because it is simply too wet. As far as blight is concerned, the best thing to do is to keep an eye on the plants, and if you suspect blight (brown spots on the leaves), take a photo immediately and post on this forum. We can then advise as to whether it is blight or not, and what to do if it is, which in the case of tomatoes is harvest all fruit, red or green, immediately as there is a chance that they will ripen indoors if the blight has not spread too far. Obviously you don't want to do this for a false alarm, which is why I say ask first, as there are other things that look similar if you have not seen blight before.

Your raspberry could simply be reacting to the cold. It may have been kept indoors. I ordered a hanging basket raspberry which arrived in January in full leaf and all the leaves went brown and fell off, but the bud in the middle is still green and it will grow when the weather warms up. The apricot tree that arrived at the end of February is showing no signs of life at all (they usually flower in March), but I am not unduly worried as the poor thing probably thinks it is still January.

Don't worry too much. Plants have evolved to survive - the ones that didn't are extinct. The best thing to do is to grow plants that are at least to some degree suited to your conditions, take sensible precautions against likely pests such as butterflies and deal with problems if they arise. You will learn by trial and error which plants do well for you and what problems your particular garden has, and nobody can really predict this for you. The fun is in trying, and in producing something nice to eat.

Enjoy.

[Bluenowhere]

They replied and said they were sending another one out to me, which is nice.. but.. what about the little guy I already have? I've emailed them back, asking for advice

Maybe I'm too much of a plant-hypochondriac for this gardening lark..

I’d keep the little guy you have already pot him up and give him a chance to recover from the journey.

[mysteryduck]

Thanks both. Especially the blight / fruit tree advice Penellype! The little raspberry is on the windowsill. His big leaves all died but he has a bunch of little green leaves that look good! I'm sending him positive thoughts.. and will sew some tomatoes this weekend. Fingers crossed!

[Baldy]

Like this thread

Raspberries indoors is a new one on me, hope it goes well for you.
Try not to stress too much