Your comments and tips

08 Jun 09, Natalie (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Dean, i have found my greens were getting eaten over night aswell and found the culprit....a little black insect which curls up(about the size of a green pea). It burrows under ground under the plant and comes up when the soil is interrupted. I've no idea what the insect is but it decimated my chinese cabbage crop. If anyone knows what this insect is and how it can be erradicated without the use of pesticides, that'd be great.

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26 Oct 15, Julie (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Hi Natalie. If the insect everyone suspects are slaters just be careful what product you do buy from any garden department. I read a product last week that was especially for slaters but when I read the fine print it said it couldn't be used on edible plants. Best to ask the garden staff for sure.

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26 May 09, Dean (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

hello,i have tried growing spinich & other leafy greens but they keep getting eaten throughout the night,i have plenty of snail bait around & don't think its snails & carn't see any other insects around.may be witchety grubs in soil.can u tell me a natural insecterside or other method to adress this problem please.i live in northern NSW on the coast

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23 Apr 09, Jackie (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I have had good success with Yates "Winter Queen". I plant the seeds in my own seed raising mix (mushroom compost & blue metal dust). I use 4 inch pots & stand them in a container of water to keep the mix moist until the plants germinate and show their first two leaves. Then I take the pots out of the water and just sprinkle them each day until they are ready to transplant. It seems that every seed I plant germinates when I do it this way.

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22 Apr 09, Adrian (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

With sudden hot spells in Canberra in March, my spinach seed had limited germination, so I bought 5 punnets of 'Ironman' spinach and planted each punnet clump with a 6 inch spacing to the next in a row of about 2 metres. Sort of cheating, but effective. Will be eating it in four weeks right through to mid September. Wonderful stuff!

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01 Apr 09, David (Australia - temperate climate)

I found a plastic tray about 30x15cm and 10cm deep, filled it with straight garden soil, watered it planted all sorts of seeds (spinach, wong bok, onions, leeks, celery, brussels, romanesco). Put in a kitchen tidy bag on top of the hot water system and everything (except the celery) sprouted within 4 days. I think it has something to do with the volume of soil and heat/moisture retention. I have since bought 4 more trays and am investigating/experimenting further.

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27 Nov 08, Lee (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Soak seeds in water for two days. If temperature is over 20 deg., put seeds in fridge for two days before planting.

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19 Nov 08, Tony Richardson (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I've had a lot of success in Sydney, with a small leafed spinach called 'Muscleman'. Named after Popeye, I guess. I planted 2 punnets in March and have been snipping off leaves every day for lunch and dinner 6 months later. It just keeps on giving! Highly recommended.

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21 Jul 08, linda (Australia - temperate climate)

I have success growing these seeds in a very large container of well prepared soil. I sprinkled the seeds on the soil and covered them with a thin layer of munch. I placed the container in th south sun and keep moist. They should germinate within a few days.

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30 May 08, Janette Jenyns (Unknown climate)

Success at last - but they took so long to germinate ! The packet said 2 days, but I think it should have said 2 weeks. No luck with the seeds in the egg carton - maybe they were TOO wet?

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