Ali Green

Try misting them with water every evening. Disclaimer, I haven't actually looked into this properly, so take it with a pinch of salt, but the theory is that they are from a misty/foggy region, so I've always been told that they need it. Maybe they just need a little more moisture at the roots, so spraying them with a hose does that. Or maybe the first few never set. I grow them nearly every year, and in my experience,  the first few flowers never set, but by the end of the season they are hugely productive.

I'm keen to see if anyone has good tips on getting them to start setting sooner.

Could it be your water? I've struggled with it before, though not as badly, and I notice that different water can affect me at different times. The water at my in laws always leaves me so itchy and sore. The water at home is usually OK, but when I'm having a flare up it's also irritating, so I use rainwater or distilled water from our dehumidifier until it's settled.

So it could be that some of the cures you've tried would be effective if combined with different water.

The only other suggestion is raw milk. I haven't actually tried it on my hair, but it does wonders on the dermatitis on my hands.

I've not lived with a septic tank, but grew up in a community where a lot of people did (including my grandparents). A bit of wisdom I heard and stuck in my brain was that if you were having problems/ some people said every x number of years, you should chuck something dead in the septic tank. This was generally road kill or the guts of something that had been shot.
I have also recently started a bokashi bin for food waste, and from my research beforehand, the liquid given off can be great for boosting the microbial action of septic tanks, and can even unblock drains.

I'm thinking of making a wicking bed in the site where I hope to build my polytunnel. My idea is that it will take the overflow from my rainwater barrels. Currently I have a hose connected to the top of one barrel, and it just overflows onto the grass a little way away from the house, that happens to be where I hope to put the polytunnel.

Chop and drop composting. Rather than spending time and energy carting my hedge and grass cuttings to the compost bin, storing it, turning it, then carting it to my plants, I just dump the mowing and clippings under the plants nearby, where they compost in place, while also being a great mulch.

Thanks for the advice. I have gently dug it up and replanted it higher. I'll baby it for a while, and hopefully it does well.

Cristobal Cristo wrote:Is it a seedling or it's grafted?
If it's grafted, have you buried the graft union?

Thanks. I'm not sure if it was grafted or not, but as it was a named variety I assume it was a graft or cutting.

Having successfully planted a few fruit trees, I have now made the classic mistake of planting my white mulberry too deep. The hole was extra deep to accommodate an old hen who had passed, but I then didn't take that into account when planting. I usually plant a little higher than I want the tree, to account for the soil and compost sinking, but I didn't factor in the much deeper hole, and the tree is 5-10cm deeper than it should be.

The leaves came out in the last couple of weeks, and I noticed the sinking then, but didn't have time to deal with it. Do I dig up the tree now? Or wait until winter? It was bare rooted with a very small root ball. Planted end of December.

I really hope I don't lose the tree as it was a Christmas present.

I am enjoying all these suggestions, and hope to be able to implement lots of them. I am hoping to use an old fashioned solution for my mosquitoes too, and lime wash my house, animal houses and outbuildings. Does anyone have experience of this? I have had it recommended by older relatives, whose parents etc would limewash everything, but nobody recently. Would it be too detrimental for the beneficial bugs?

Caesar Smith wrote:I got a message like OP yesterday. Apparently I’m gonna lose access to my Permies account just because of Hotmail? Having to set up a new email account is rather inconvenient. Isn’t there anything else that can be done about the situation?

I got the same message and added the permies email address to my contact list in the hope that it goes through again. I don't know how I'll know if it has worked or not though...