Page 43 - ALG Issue 3 2024

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Peat-free composts
Incredipeatfree® Thompson & Morgan
– the most successful of the three makes grown in 2021 trial – is packed in an unwieldy 70-litre bag. It is not available in garden centres. On opening the bags, this substrate was seen to be much drier than the others.
Homebase peat-free, and Miracle-Gro® premium all-purpose peat-free – both ‘best buys’ this year in Which?Gardening.These come packed in convenient 10 litre bags. Both are available online. Miracle-Gro® (Evergreen Garden) is widely available in garden centres and supermarkets.
The Miracle-Gro® product was tried with liquid fertiliser in 2020 and produced a satisfactory yield (777.5g per plant).A coir product (Growlite), with same liquid fertiliser, also produced a good yield – 835.2g). However, this requires hydrating 5Kg blocks to 60 litres of material) – laborious and untidy – so unsuitable for the circumstance in which it might be used.
Fertilisers
Early trials showed a significant improvement in yields from runner beans in pots when liquid fertilisers were used with peat composts, and in 2020 they were used with peat-free composts also.
However, growers found it difficult to keep an area clean and dry using the liquid fertiliser (Tomorite®) which requires one gallon of water per plant.
More convenient slow-release granular fertilisers were used in 2021 and in this year’s trial.
(a) Products were used from the
makers of the composts in the trial – with Miracle-Gro® continuous slow release plant food, and with Incredipeatfree® Incredicrop® slow release controlled plant feed. Directions for use of these were
clear – 30g per 10 litres, 40g per 10 litres of compost respectively.
(b) There being no equivalent product in the Homebase range, I chose a Which?Gardening best buy this year – Osmocote® Controlled-Release Plant Food. Directions for use are 3–5 tablets for compost in a pot with 20cm diameter.
Side view of pots
Left: Incredipeatfree® Premium Peat-free Multi-purpose compost, Homebase® Peat-free Houseplant compost, and Miracle-Gro® Premium All Purpose Compost
Three tablets per pot were used in the absence of precise instructions.
Containers
Textile pots (Vigoroot®) were used successfully in 2021 but seepage through the fabric makes it hard to keep the
area clean and dry.They were replaced
by bamboo fibre pots in this year’s trial. Three of these, however, split so recyclable polystyrene will be used in future.
Propagation and potting up
The same compost was used for both (to keep the operation simple for the grower) – the compost used for sowing was re-used mixed into the compost for potting up, making a total of 10 litres of compost per plant.
The fertilisers were mixed into the compost before planting the seedlings.
Pots were filled to the rim of the pot, any compost remaining kept back and used to top up – the objective being to ensure that 10 litres of substrate were used for every plant.
Cultivation proceeded as in previous trials (Journal available) with foliage rimmed to 30cm above height of horizontal bar once plant fully grown.
Positioning of frames
Each of the sets formed a line running
east to west thus having the very similar exposure to sun and weather (See photo).
Direction of growth
Stems were fed through loops of twine along the bars as previously. Directing stems down the second vertical proved difficult and produced relatively few beans.
This year, non-flowering secondary stems, on advice, 2 were trimmed back.
Allotment and Leisure Gardener | Issue 3 2024 | 43
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