Guinea Gardeners: Growing for Piggies

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Joey&Gizmo said:
Anyone know how long until my parsley, basil and coriander seeds should start coming up?
I planted them on the 21st Feb.

Also i planted my baby lettuce seeds and they all have long shoots but now they just seem to be flopping down! Are they supposed to do that?mallethead

Thank you.
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most seeds take up to 3 weeks to germanate. Are your lettuces in seed trays? If they are and they are starting to fall over its best to transplant then to deeper pots so that the root system can develop, allowing the plant to get stronger
 
hi,

I am looking at growing my own veg but am not sure what varieties I would be best with. I have read in a number of different places that iceberg lettuce is not good for guineas so this is out - however the cut and come again lettuce sounds like a great idea as then I will always have a supply - has anyone else had any success with this?

I was thinking of growing celery, kale, cucumber a mix of pepers (different colours) grass and dandilions. I would like to have some timothy hay but not sure how to go about that.

Thanks for any advice,

Jen
 
Laura-CCC4 said:
I feel much the same Lea, I intend to sow my other seeds - lettuces, cucumber etc. - soon and feel so novice it's not funny! :))
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:)) i can just see my attempts being a total disaster! i always thought you just put seeds in some soil and they grew and all would be fine! mallethead:))
 
CavyWonders said:
most seeds take up to 3 weeks to germanate. Are your lettuces in seed trays? If they are and they are starting to fall over its best to transplant then to deeper pots so that the root system can develop, allowing the plant to get stronger
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I have just transferred the lettuce over to a larger pot, hopefully this will give them more room for the roots to develop.

I also have lots of grass growing now and one coriander shoot and one parsley shoot, still nothing from the basil.

I also planted some dill seeds today.

If anyone is looking for a small green house they are selling them in Wilkinson's for £12 for a 5ft 2ft one which has 4 shelves or in poundstretcher they have a smaller one with 3 shelves for £9.99.

This is the one they are selling instore in Wilkinson's and the one in poundstretcher is the same but only 3 shelves. http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/Seed-T...S2+HTA0yXYQ52EI8tASdVJYdLQmGdqQa hjgGWWo4cQ==

I think i will be buying one once all my herbs,lettuce and grass starts going and then I'm planning on transferring them into the mini greenhouse. :)
 
Well yesterday I planted my apple tree :)) in a huge planter! I also put into the ground some mangetout which were growing far to fast in the house under glass and also planted the onions and garlic not that the guineas will be eating them. The broad beans have survived being planted out 2 weeks ago all bar one which chris destroyed with a bean pole stabbing! rolleyes
 
I have lots of shoots now in all my herbs and the coriander is growing very quick!

I planted the dill last weekend and the grass is coming along nicely but i think i should have planted more seeds as a few bits are patchy. I'm still waiting for it grow longish before the pigs demolish it. :))

Does anyone know when i can move the herbs into large pots, as they are quite long now but i dont want to handle them too soon.

:)
 
daleksarah said:
i have attempted to plant some parsley seeds in a tub on my kitchen window sill,it said it takes 14-28days to grow and its been about 28days now and still no sign :( I'm most certainly not green fingered :(
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hehhee i cheated and brought parsley ready growing in a pot and basil and mint from tescos when they had it on offer
 
Joey&Gizmo said:
I have lots of shoots now in all my herbs and the coriander is growing very quick!

I planted the dill last weekend and the grass is coming along nicely but i think i should have planted more seeds as a few bits are patchy. I'm still waiting for it grow longish before the pigs demolish it. :))

Does anyone know when i can move the herbs into large pots, as they are quite long now but i dont want to handle them too soon.

:)
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I'm jealous... rolleyes! Good going Sam!
 
how long should it take for them to start growing? i planted coriander, basil, plantain and orchard grass. i put them in little plastic tubs but there is nothing there yet. 8... i water them once a day and they are on the bedroom window sill.
 
biscandmatt said:
how long should it take for them to start growing? i planted coriander, basil, plantain and orchard grass. i put them in little plastic tubs but there is nothing there yet. 8... i water them once a day and they are on the bedroom window sill.
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Mine took ages to grow! I think it was about 3 or 4 weeks until i seen some shoots! But now they are growing like crazy, i have 5 long plants from the coriander and 3 from the parsley but only 1 from the basil.
I dont water mine everyday as i heard you have to be careful not to over water them, so i water them every 3 days or when they feel dry. I check that the soil feels damp everyday and if its doesnt i water them.

Mine are on my bedroom window sill too and they have alot of sun!:)

I'm sure yours will grow soon.:(|)
 
got lots and lots of wee green shoots now from my lettuce, herbs, spinach and onions :D

Gonna plant out my peppers, piggy friendly flowers and maybe the spuds tomorrow.

As you may have guessed, aiming to feed people as well as piggies
 
Joey&Gizmo said:
Mine took ages to grow! I think it was about 3 or 4 weeks until i seen some shoots! But now they are growing like crazy, i have 5 long plants from the coriander and 3 from the parsley but only 1 from the basil.
I dont water mine everyday as i heard you have to be careful not to over water them, so i water them every 3 days or when they feel dry. I check that the soil feels damp everyday and if its doesnt i water them.

Mine are on my bedroom window sill too and they have alot of sun!:)

I'm sure yours will grow soon.:(|)
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weeks!! better start being patient then! rolleyes
 
yay! there are some shoots in the orchard grass and plantain pots! :<>

nothing from the coriander and basil yet though!
 
I thought i would share my herbs that i have been growing.

Here is the Dill.

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Here is the Coriander.

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Here is the Parsley.

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And lastly the basil, only one!

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I just had to transfer the coriander into a bigger pot as they were getting too big for the small tray. :)

I hope that they continue to grow! :(|)
 
Finally got around to planting some coriander, basil, parsley and little gem lettuce. I really hope they grow nicely, as i haven't been successful in the past.
 
Finally got around to planting some coriander, basil, parsley and little gem lettuce. I really hope they grow nicely, as i haven't been successful in the past.
 
Well I'm really excited this year about planting things.

I have a problem that I do not have a windowsill in my kitchen as I just have a massive sliding door but thankfully I have solved this problem. I have bought a long plastic tray (which is supposed to be used to put grow bags on). I am putting it on the floor next to the closed part of my sliding door and will put all my plants on it (so they don't leak on the carpet)

I have bought grass seeds, cress, coriander, parsley and mint. I will start with these as they can all be grown indoors and when it warms up I am going to grow something leafy like kale / lettuce and also carrots outdoors.

I am also going to try growing carrot tops as my mum was doing it the other week with my baby niece (who's 15 months) to teach her about growing things and she says they can get quite tall. All you need to do is put any carrot tops you cut off your carrots into a small amount of water in a cup or something and they just sprout! Think I might try growing bird seed too as seen it on a thread here somewhere!

Will let you all know my progress, hope it works out as I am very excited!
 
Bird seed?

How do you do that and what do you use it for? The birds in the garden?

I maybe having a blond moment but i would like to know. :))
 
it was mentioned on here that pigs could eat the shoots when it's grown? can't remember who said it maybe someone could pop along and help me out?
 
yay, my parsley is growing now aswell! :)) and i need to move the coriander, basil, orchard grass and plantain to bigger pots because they are looking crowded in the small ones now! :))
 
i have found red chard seeds! and i am ridiculously excited because i have been looking for ages for some! :<>
 
Wild bird seed is SUPER easy and fast to grow. Just sprinkle a good dose of the seed over about 4cm of soil then cover with a thin layer of topsoil. Put a bit of cling film over it (remove this when you see them sprouting) and in about 7-10 days it will grow to about 8cm in height, all different plants and guineas love it. Actually, some seeds in the bird mix look just like wheat grass. That's what my pigs like the most and Floris picks out all the grass stems but Sancho just eats whatever. It was Wiebke that originally posted about planting bird seed and me and my guineas are eternally grateful, they have a good nibble from the 4 trays I have growing almost every day. Best thing is, if you don't let them munch it all the way down, it just grows back after a few days. I think she did say don't let them sprout to seed, I'm not sure what that means, but I think it is when it is a full fledged plant starts to produce seeds, which I think you would be able to see. I think she mentioned this because the seeds are too fatty for guineas.
 
Thought I'd share my first sucess, I've not got round to planting anything yet but I have had a go at growing veg tops. I have out carrot, turnip and parsnip tops into a tupperware dish with a small amount of water (not enough to cover the top) and sure enough some have started to sprout and one turnip is growing like mad, can't wait til it's big enough for the guineas :)

 
Thought I'd share my first sucess, I've not got round to planting anything yet but I have had a go at growing veg tops. I have out carrot, turnip and parsnip tops into a tupperware dish with a small amount of water (not enough to cover the top) and sure enough some have started to sprout and one turnip is growing like mad, can't wait til it's big enough for the guineas :)

 
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