0:00:05 > 0:00:08Hello and welcome to Beechgrove Garden
0:00:08 > 0:00:10on the second outing of the year.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12Last time it was the wonderful Orkney.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15This time we're in the Howe of the Mearns in the north of Scotland.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Aberdeen's about 26 miles that way
0:00:18 > 0:00:21and the North Sea is five miles that way.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23The Howe of the Mearns is about 50 square miles
0:00:23 > 0:00:25of the most wonderful territory.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Howe, of course, means a broad valley.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31Now, the interesting thing is, if you travel up and down the A90,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33you're bound to see the soil.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37It's the red brick soil. The locals actually have a name for it.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39It's called the Mearns Keel.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42It's interesting, reputedly one of the most fertile areas
0:00:42 > 0:00:44in all of Scotland here we're standing on
0:00:44 > 0:00:47and on a day like today, it kind of smells that way, doesn't it,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50given all the muck they've been spreading on the harvest there?
0:00:50 > 0:00:54But that combination of the soils mixed with the old red sandstone
0:00:54 > 0:00:56which is underlying.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59And a fabulous tapestry of fields and hedgerows.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Here we are in a field of beans
0:01:01 > 0:01:04and this is one of these wonderful old varieties, a thing called Talia,
0:01:04 > 0:01:06which is self-fertile.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09This was sown in April, it has grown on.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12There's very little disease on it at all and it will be
0:01:12 > 0:01:15harvested in September and go off to the supermarkets.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19It's one of these wonderful little tender beans, so look out for it.
0:01:19 > 0:01:20George, as you say, they are very healthy.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23They do treat it for chocolate spot,
0:01:23 > 0:01:25but they don't have to treat it for thrips.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27It doesn't seem to come into this area.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28They can't land!
0:01:28 > 0:01:30LAUGHTER
0:01:30 > 0:01:34And in more recent times, I have to say, narcissus production for bulbs.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38We actually sell bulbs to Holland, cos they have to restock.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Their stuff gets so virus infested.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Well, I think it's about time we got out there to go and have a look.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45Ah, but before we do,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48this is also the country which is to do with Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Every schoolchild in Scotland, in their final examinations,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55will have done something on Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59Grey Granite, Sunset Song, wonderful novels,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02and they really typify what this region's all about.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05- NOW we can go. - LAUGHTER
0:02:17 > 0:02:21"You'd waken with the peewits crying across the hills,
0:02:21 > 0:02:26"deep and deep, crying in the heart of you
0:02:26 > 0:02:31"and the smell of the earth in your face, almost you'd cry for that,
0:02:31 > 0:02:37"the beauty of it and the sweetness of the Scottish land and skies."
0:02:38 > 0:02:42We're up on the hill overlooking the Howe of the Mearns
0:02:42 > 0:02:46and just down in the valley is the parish of Arbuthnott.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Now the words you've just been listening to
0:02:48 > 0:02:52are from Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song,
0:02:52 > 0:02:53set in the early 20th century,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57and the main theme is all about the area and the land.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Now we've already discussed how productive this area is
0:03:01 > 0:03:04but what's it like to garden here?
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Later on, Jim, George, Chris
0:03:06 > 0:03:10and myself are going to find out more about that as well
0:03:10 > 0:03:13as trying to answer a range of gardening questions.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15When you say you lose them, what happens to them?
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Do they just keel over and collapse as healthy specimens?
0:03:18 > 0:03:20LAUGHTER
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Do they die back?
0:03:23 > 0:03:24No, they...
0:03:25 > 0:03:28They just go like that and wither.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32And, as usual, the MC for the evening is Mark Stephen.
0:03:32 > 0:03:33But first,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Jim and George have been to see the garden of Arbuthnott House.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41The house dates back to the 17th century and its five-acre garden
0:03:41 > 0:03:45is reputed to be one of the earliest gardens in Scotland.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54When somebody came out here with a wheelbarrow 300 years ago
0:03:54 > 0:03:59and planted a little seedling of Cedrus libani, the Cedar of Lebanon,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02they didn't know it was going to grow into a thing like this.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04Look at the size of that.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07That has stood here in the face of the gales for round
0:04:07 > 0:04:10about 300-350 years.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Possibly one of the original plants established in this garden.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Now that's the value of estate gardens. It shows us what can grow.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22And when you think that has been little affected by all the weather
0:04:22 > 0:04:26that 300 years have thrown at it, I wish it could tell its own story.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36I do love these old estate gardens.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Not only for the wonderful tree specimens you get, these old things
0:04:40 > 0:04:43like the cedar we've just seen, but also, look, there's an apple.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Possibly been there for about 100 years.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47Not a mark on the fruit. Clean as a whistle.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Absolutely fantastic. Might get a piece of that.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Now, here is something which is just delightful.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57This is Gentiana asclepiadea. It's the willow gentian.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59That grows in shaded areas.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02It will grow in woodland, but here it's in full sun.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04A fabulous blue for this time of the year
0:05:04 > 0:05:07and it's just a magnificent plant.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Great foliage on it as well. There's anticipation as it grows.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12This time of the year the colour in the borders changes.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14We're going on to yellows and coppers.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17The heleniums are coming to their best.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19This is something which gives you a lot of bounce
0:05:19 > 0:05:21and joy at this time of year.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23You'd hardly think you were in Aberdeenshire, would you?
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Meanwhile, Jim is inside with the head gardener,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28who's been here for 50 years or so.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30They'll be having some discussion.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Now then, John, I'm chuffed that you've brought me in here
0:05:39 > 0:05:44- cos it takes me back to 1956. - That's a long time ago.- Eh?
0:05:44 > 0:05:45That's a long time ago.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And I had a greenhouse like this to look after at Auchincruive
0:05:48 > 0:05:49and it brings back memories.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51The geraniums up the wall, did you plant all these?
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- Yes, this is all new ones. - Same varieties?
0:05:53 > 0:05:55It was the same varieties.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58- Mostly all the same varieties. - Aye. Do they get to the top?
0:05:58 > 0:06:01They went to the top before, but I didn't have enough time to...
0:06:01 > 0:06:03Well, that's a valid point
0:06:03 > 0:06:06because how many of you are employed on this set-up?
0:06:06 > 0:06:08There's me full time and a young lad.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12- He comes in maybe two or three times a week.- All of that outdoor stuff?
0:06:12 > 0:06:13Outdoor stuff as well.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Well, that greenhouse I'm talking about, I spent half a day
0:06:16 > 0:06:20there every day and then I joined the crew to do other stuff.
0:06:20 > 0:06:21Yeah, I know.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24But I've stopped here again because my wife's taken a liking
0:06:24 > 0:06:27- to Streptocarpus.- Streptocarpus.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29- That's a gorgeous colour. - It's a nice one, that is.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32If there was a wee leaf missing off of that when I left,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35- you wouldn't mind, would you? - No, I wouldn't miss it.- Good!
0:06:35 > 0:06:37Oh, I'm pleased to hear it. I'm pleased to hear it.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38Now then, here's another
0:06:38 > 0:06:40because this is a plant you hardly see at all,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43except in this kind of set-up.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Rhodochiton. A lovely, lovely plant.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49- Very intriguing, isn't it?- Gorgeous.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51And what about this?
0:06:51 > 0:06:54- Plumbago. What a blue that is. - It's a nice blue.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58- Did you put it in?- Yes. - How long ago have you planted it?
0:06:58 > 0:07:02- 15-20 years anyway. Anyway! - Yes, and it's looking well.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04- What do you feed it on? - Just Phostrogen.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07- And I can see we're coming up to some whopping camellias there.- Yeah.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12- When were they planted?- I've no idea. They were here before I came.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15- So there we are. That was half a century?- Half a century ago.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18- That's it.- But they're still flowering regularly?
0:07:18 > 0:07:19They're still flowering, aye, every year.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22- Probably holding the greenhouse up! - It could be, quite possible.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24You're a wonder.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27The amount of work you get through, dear boy, is tremendous
0:07:27 > 0:07:28- and thank you very much.- Thank you.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45"All the parks were fair parched, sucked dry.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49"The red clay soil of Blawearie gaping open for the rain
0:07:49 > 0:07:52"that seemed never-coming.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56"Up here, the hills were brave with the beauty and the heat of it,
0:07:56 > 0:08:01"but the hayfield was all a crackling dryness and in the potato
0:08:01 > 0:08:06"park beyond the biggings, the shaws drooped red and rusty already."
0:08:09 > 0:08:11The words there of James Leslie Mitchell,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14better known as Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17This was his home patch. It's where he grew up as a boy.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21It's where he's actually buried up in the local kirkyard.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25One of the main characters in what's probably his most popular work,
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Sunset Song, is this, it's the land.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32The chapter headings are things like,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34"Ploughing", "Seed Time", "Drilling", "Harvest"
0:08:34 > 0:08:37as he leads us through the life of his heroine, Chris Guthrie.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42And then there's this, the distinctive red soil of the Mearns.
0:08:42 > 0:08:43It is beautiful round about here.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46It's rich, fertile, well-tended,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49but not without its horticultural problems,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53as no doubt we'll discover now when the team, Jim, Carole, George
0:08:53 > 0:08:56and Chris get together to answer some local gardeners' questions
0:08:56 > 0:09:00at the Lewis Grassic Gibbon Centre in Arbuthnott Hall.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03And, heaven help me, I'm supposed to referee!
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Right, good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Never mind Sunset Song, after today it's more Rainwater Rhapsody!
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Can you welcome our expert panel tonight?
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Tonight, playing the part of Chae, Jim McColl.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22APPLAUSE
0:09:24 > 0:09:27Our very own green-fingered Chris Guthrie, Carole Baxter.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31APPLAUSE
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Playing the romantic lead as young Ewan, Chris Beardshaw.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36APPLAUSE
0:09:38 > 0:09:40And finally, George Anderson,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43who tonight will be appearing as the Slug Road.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Right, ladies and gentlemen, first question tonight, Hilda Kerr.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Whoops!
0:09:56 > 0:09:58We'll be hiding.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04I have no idea where you start with that, but who would like to start?
0:10:04 > 0:10:06Will I read out my question?
0:10:06 > 0:10:09LAUGHTER
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Well, my name is Hilda Kerr and I come from the Garvock
0:10:19 > 0:10:25and I would appreciate help with the regeneration of this cactus.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Now it has been a most beautiful cactus for two or three years.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34I got it as a gift and it took a number of years to come to life
0:10:34 > 0:10:37and then it produced the most beautiful flowers
0:10:37 > 0:10:40but obviously, it's needing a little tender care.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43There's one flower there.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45That's a minute one.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48- Listen, it's the ONLY one! - LAUGHTER
0:10:48 > 0:10:50There's one at the front as well.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53If the technology can't produce it...
0:10:53 > 0:10:57It's had a rough passage from the Garvock.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Yeah, it's an absolute cracker, it really is.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Easy enough to propagate.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03You could take any one of those leaves off,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05you could cut it into bits if you wanted,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08into lengths about that and stick it into some compost.
0:11:08 > 0:11:1150/50 peat-sand or something like that.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14So you can do that with some of the older leaves on there.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16I would get hundreds of plants out of that.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18As George said, do propagate from it,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and keep the propagations in really quite small pots
0:11:21 > 0:11:25so something like a nine-centimetre pot because the smaller you keep
0:11:25 > 0:11:29the pot, the more like you'll be to get it into flower nice and quickly.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31But I don't want to be starting from scratch
0:11:31 > 0:11:35because I'm at an elderly age and I need it now.
0:11:35 > 0:11:36I want the flowers now.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38So, Hilda, it has flowered well,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42- but it's the last year or two that it's not been great for you?- Yes.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Cos cactus, very often, they do like a bit of a winter rest,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49so I don't know whether you're maybe being a bit too kind to it.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52So, it loves the sunshine and the summer
0:11:52 > 0:11:59but perhaps south facing, but a cooler room in the winter time.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02It's perfectly happy and you don't necessarily want to water it
0:12:02 > 0:12:04quite so much in the winter time.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07- Give it a bit of a rest. - Jim, would you keep it?
0:12:07 > 0:12:11Yes, I wouldn't have brought it out in that state, mind you.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14I would have cleaned it up before I brought it here.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17I'm being cheeky, but it does need a bit of cleaning up.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23I wonder if it would be regenerated if it were given a bit of a trim
0:12:23 > 0:12:29and some general fertiliser if you don't want to start all over again.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33- We think it's got scale insect as well.- Oh.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37- Little tortoises.- I think I've got a little one just on my finger.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41So scale insect is one of those pesky little
0:12:41 > 0:12:44blighters that will run around as very,
0:12:44 > 0:12:48very small organisms on usually the underside of the leaf.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51It will be on the compost around the pot
0:12:51 > 0:12:54and elsewhere in the house as well, or conservatory,
0:12:54 > 0:12:59and what they do is they create a little umbrella over
0:12:59 > 0:13:05the top of themselves and that is then impervious to moisture.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08- Oh, dear.- They can be blown around when you're doing the dusting,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11so actually it's an excuse for you not to do dusting!
0:13:11 > 0:13:13I'm very grateful for that information.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16If you don't want to use insecticides,
0:13:16 > 0:13:19then you could do what my grandmother used to do.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22She used to grow all sorts of house plants
0:13:22 > 0:13:25and she used to take my grandfather's whisky
0:13:25 > 0:13:28and she would get a cotton wool bud
0:13:28 > 0:13:31and dip the cotton wool bud in his whisky,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33sometimes whilst he was holding the glass...
0:13:33 > 0:13:35LAUGHTER
0:13:35 > 0:13:38..and then just dab the back of the scale,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42because the alcohol cuts through the scale and will kill the insect.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44That sounds like a very good idea.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47- One for me and one for... - Thank you very much.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52- You disagree, Jim?- Entirely. I have a better use for it than that.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54LAUGHTER
0:13:54 > 0:13:58But there are, as Chris has said, organic roots to it.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03The nemesis treatment will also kill the sucking insects.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06We'll try anything. Thank you very much for your help.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08OK, thank you very much. Karen McWilliam.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11I have a rose garden that's been affected...
0:14:11 > 0:14:13Or the roses have affected by blackspot.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16What can I use safely that won't affect bumble bees?
0:14:16 > 0:14:21- Chris?- Blackspot is of course an affliction on roses
0:14:21 > 0:14:23especially in seasons
0:14:23 > 0:14:28when you have a spring which is quite moist, quite humid,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and there's a lack of drying winds or lack of sunshine.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35Blackspot is caused by fungal complaints
0:14:35 > 0:14:39and what happens is that the spores will move around in water,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42in rainwater, in mist, in irrigation, in watering cans
0:14:42 > 0:14:47and they'll infect the emergent buds and then you'll find that,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50once the blackspot actually occurs on the leaf,
0:14:50 > 0:14:55that's well into the infection stage so the first thing to do is pick off
0:14:55 > 0:14:57any of the really badly affected leaves.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00There are various treatments that you can apply
0:15:00 > 0:15:02via the normal sort of spray routes.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05But one of the things you can start to play with is
0:15:05 > 0:15:09some of the alternative approaches to treating, not just blackspot
0:15:09 > 0:15:12but also things like mildews and rusts and these sorts of things.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16And one of the things which is very good
0:15:16 > 0:15:19- is actually alcohol. - LAUGHTER
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Something of a recurring theme going on here!
0:15:23 > 0:15:25For the rose, not for you.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29One of the products that's most commonly reached for is mouthwash.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34If you get mouthwash that has an alcohol-based content,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36you can then put that into your hand mister
0:15:36 > 0:15:40and you can spray it onto the foliage of your roses.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42But it's largely about hygiene to be honest.
0:15:42 > 0:15:43If you're growing roses,
0:15:43 > 0:15:47put a good mulch on the surface of the soil in the winter months.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50You'll find that will isolate the spores.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Also you could try growing varieties that are hardy
0:15:53 > 0:15:54to things like blackspot.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58So, for instance, Rosa alba and its various varieties,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01are very good at resisting blackspot.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04You were worried about the bumble bees as well
0:16:04 > 0:16:07and there are some newer products now that are called invigorators
0:16:07 > 0:16:12and they're based on fatty acids and algae extracts.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15People are using them against things like box blight
0:16:15 > 0:16:18and I think it would probably help against blackspot as well
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and perfectly safe with bumble bees around.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25I would endorse what Chris has just said. Good hygiene is vital.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Some varieties have a bit of resistance
0:16:27 > 0:16:29but they haven't yet found it right
0:16:29 > 0:16:33and if there was ever a case for genetic modification, I think
0:16:33 > 0:16:37a rose that was totally resistant to blackspot would be
0:16:37 > 0:16:39the saviour of the industry.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42- Thank you.- Thank you very much.
0:16:42 > 0:16:43Shona Barclay.
0:16:43 > 0:16:49We've grown tomatoes by hydroponics for several years now and this year
0:16:49 > 0:16:53I think about six or eight of them have gone soft at the top,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55then they've dropped off the vine.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58And we were wondering why this is happening?
0:16:58 > 0:17:01It's condensation arriving in that little hollow by the top
0:17:01 > 0:17:04of the fruit and then of course it turns into botrytis, I think.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07So my husband sometimes sprays them,
0:17:07 > 0:17:09so would he be better not to do that?
0:17:09 > 0:17:11Yes, you've got to keep spraying them,
0:17:11 > 0:17:13but it's about ventilation and try to avoid this condensation.
0:17:13 > 0:17:19In the summer time, when it's very hot, it pays actually to leave
0:17:19 > 0:17:22- a little bit of ventilation on overnight...- Oh, right.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25..because the condensation accumulates with dawning,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28so it's atmospheric conditions that's the problem.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31It's nothing to do with the way you're growing them,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34with that exception, that, in certain parts of the year,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37if there's a tendency for condensation,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40is to leave a crack of ventilation on all night.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44If you've got automatic ventilation, what you do is put a wee stick
0:17:44 > 0:17:49in the gap so that it can't actually close right down.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Have you got ventilation louvres at a lower level?
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Well, that one's still in the garage.
0:17:55 > 0:17:56LAUGHTER
0:17:56 > 0:18:00- It's not been installed? - It's being installed next year.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02- OK.- Thank you.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04We've got another tomato question now.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06This time from Sid Clark in St Cyrus.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10My tomato plants, it's the opposite end. They get...
0:18:10 > 0:18:12- Hmm.- Hmm.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15..disease on. What's the problem?
0:18:15 > 0:18:18- Carole, George?- Where do we start?
0:18:18 > 0:18:21This is a classic sort of blossom end rot,
0:18:21 > 0:18:26so it's really black at the base but it's kind of fine at the shoulders.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31What I'm going to say is it's to do with a check of calcium,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35but it's normally to do with your actual watering.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37What kind of system are you doing with the watering?
0:18:37 > 0:18:40- What are you growing them in? - Just a watering can.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42- Just a watering can.- Yeah.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45You're probably not watering them enough, I'm afraid.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48What you might find is that one truss is like this
0:18:48 > 0:18:51and some of your other trusses are fine.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Two trusses got it in the meantime.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58- Just two trusses? Some of the others are OK?- Seems to be.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00So I am going to stick with the watering.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Should you water in the morning or night?
0:19:03 > 0:19:07In the morning. It's not watering evenly.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12It's allowing too long a time span from one watering to the next,
0:19:12 > 0:19:16so they've got plenty suddenly and then they've got none at all,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19and, as Carole rightly says, the calcium is there
0:19:19 > 0:19:20and as long as you're watering
0:19:20 > 0:19:24and the juices are running to the top of the plant,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28you'll be OK, but as soon as the plants are too dry
0:19:28 > 0:19:31because you're leaving too long an interval and they get too dry,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34that calcium stops going up through the plant and that's
0:19:34 > 0:19:36when you get that blossom end rot.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Are you growing them in grow bags or in pots?
0:19:39 > 0:19:40- Pots.- In pots.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Can I make a wee suggestion, and we often do this at Beechgrove,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47is when they are in pots and maybe when you've grown them
0:19:47 > 0:19:48perhaps in a three-inch pot,
0:19:48 > 0:19:53or a four-inch pot, plunge that by the plant
0:19:53 > 0:19:58and water through that, so knock it out of your little pot,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01put it into you bigger pot and the small pot that you've got,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05sink that into the compost by the main stem
0:20:05 > 0:20:08and water through that so it goes deeper.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11You know, tomatoes are one of the most researched of all
0:20:11 > 0:20:13of the crops that we grow.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15As gardeners, when we're growing them
0:20:15 > 0:20:19in small pots or in growing bags, we tend to torture them.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21We just don't give them enough space
0:20:21 > 0:20:26and all of the research suggests that an average vine tomato,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29so reaching somewhere around about six to eight feet in height,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33that type of thing, needs about a cubic metre of compost
0:20:33 > 0:20:35in order to thrive.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Now think about the size of the pot that you've put it in.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42So what that means is that we're not compromising the plant
0:20:42 > 0:20:47as long as we keep the nutrient and moisture regime coming through.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49If, however, there is a hiccup,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51then the plant is immediately going to get stressed
0:20:51 > 0:20:53and these sorts of conditions
0:20:53 > 0:20:57- are going to start to display themselves.- OK. Thank you.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Marie Thompson. What's For Tea Tonight, Laurencekirk.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Please advise how to manage clubroot
0:21:04 > 0:21:07and how to reduce it as an annual problem.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10It's a problem where we've been gardening for a while
0:21:10 > 0:21:14and where we've imported the little blighter.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16It's a slime mould or fungus.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Used to be called Plasmodiophora brassicae
0:21:19 > 0:21:20but it's changed its name now.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23- Really? You never told me! - No, I never told you.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28It lies in the soil and it waits until a brassicae is planted
0:21:28 > 0:21:30and you think, "How does it know?"
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Because the exudate from the roots of the brassicae
0:21:33 > 0:21:37permeate into the soil and that causes the spores to germinate
0:21:37 > 0:21:40and then it invades the very small roots
0:21:40 > 0:21:43and it grows inside there and produces these things
0:21:43 > 0:21:46which we call fingers and toes or clubroot like that.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49I mean, that is... That's a wonderful... Oh, you're good.
0:21:49 > 0:21:50This is a good example.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53So everybody will know what it is from now on.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57I did an observation on my allotment in Edinburgh at one stage
0:21:57 > 0:22:01where I wanted to have clubroot so I could show it on the programme
0:22:01 > 0:22:04and what we'd done was we'd added lime to some of them,
0:22:04 > 0:22:08putting a handful of lime into the hole when we were planting them.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12In other ones I had grown the plants on in pots in clean soil
0:22:12 > 0:22:16for a time and then planted them out.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Then I had others which I'd not done anything to,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22and then a further lot which were clubroot resistant,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25and you can get clubroot-resistant varieties.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28And I would recommend, when you have this problem,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32grow clubroot-resistant ones or the other thing is, you grow them
0:22:32 > 0:22:34in a pot, you add lime when you're planting them
0:22:34 > 0:22:39and you also make sure that you just concentrate on growing
0:22:39 > 0:22:43brassicaes in the cooler period of the year.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45That's the sort of thing that will solve it
0:22:45 > 0:22:47and that's a classic example.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51These leaves, which are discoloured and you think the thing is needing
0:22:51 > 0:22:55water so you give it more water and that encourages it even more.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58- OK.- The fact of the matter is, if you grow the plant in a pot
0:22:58 > 0:23:00until it's ready for planting out,
0:23:00 > 0:23:05when you plant it out it already has a very good vibrant root system.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Eventually the clubroot will get at it
0:23:08 > 0:23:11but the plant will actually mature and give you a crop.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15But by far and away the most simple way is to buy
0:23:15 > 0:23:18and use resistant varieties.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20OK, thank you.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23Ladies and gentlemen, that was our last question for today.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Can I ask you to thank our gardening panel one more time, please?
0:23:26 > 0:23:28APPLAUSE
0:23:28 > 0:23:30CAROLE: After a fascinating Q&A,
0:23:30 > 0:23:34I headed off down the road to the Milltown Community,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, who believed that
0:23:37 > 0:23:41everyone should be encouraged to maximise their potential.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43In this case, through gardening.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Karen Allan is the head gardener.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Milltown Community Trust took Milltown over 20 years ago.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54It's a place for adults with learning difficulties.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57- Hello, Tony. Are you busy? - Tony's doing some weeding here.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Which is brilliant, isn't it?
0:23:59 > 0:24:03- We're not getting past. - So a whole variety of jobs?
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Yes, the idea is to have lots of different tasks
0:24:05 > 0:24:07that people might want to do.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Collecting seeds, planting out, splitting herbaceous,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12weeding, of course.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15Yes, probably 52 weeks of the year?
0:24:15 > 0:24:18We spend some time in the winter doing crafts and baking,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20but probably nine months of the year we're out in the garden
0:24:20 > 0:24:22or the greenhouse.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25So a bit of a colour theme going on with these borders?
0:24:25 > 0:24:28Yeah, my idea for this was to have a red border, a blue border
0:24:28 > 0:24:31and a yellow border and they're just more accessible.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Warms up the ground a little bit with the raised bed.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Yes, the ground gets very hard here.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38And I do think you've got a sense of satisfaction
0:24:38 > 0:24:40- when you hear the bed's completed. - Yeah.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43You did say indoors, outdoors, whatever the weather,
0:24:43 > 0:24:46- but let's take a look at the lovely greenhouse you've got.- OK.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57So this is our greenhouse.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01This is James and Stuart, who are brothers, potting up violas.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03There's a good production line going on there.
0:25:03 > 0:25:04I think you're enjoying that.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- This can be done in all weathers obviously.- Yes.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10Since I've got the room I'm growing squash down the right-hand side.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13What in particular are you growing? Which varieties?
0:25:13 > 0:25:15There's a blue banana here.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Now, I'm growing pink banana, so that's quite interesting.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20What about this one? That's a funny shape.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24- That's a Thelma Sanders sweet potato.- Looks good!
0:25:24 > 0:25:27What about the cultivation techniques
0:25:27 > 0:25:29that are going on in here?
0:25:29 > 0:25:31I'm very interested in permaculture
0:25:31 > 0:25:36so I've been mulching with newspaper and grass cuttings.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38And you can see that it's suppressing the weeds.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Yes, it keeps the weeds down,
0:25:40 > 0:25:44keeps the moisture in and it seems to deter the slugs as well.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48- That's a beautiful plant, the amaranthus.- That's a cut flower.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51It's also a grain and you can grow it for bird food as well,
0:25:51 > 0:25:52so it's multifunctional.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54OK, so the workers,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57not only are they learning things like permaculture,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59but learning about the plants and what you use them for?
0:25:59 > 0:26:01The different uses, yeah.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03I don't know about you, but I'm getting a bit hot in here.
0:26:03 > 0:26:04Shall we go outside again?
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Karen, I hadn't realised how extensive this garden is.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19A lot to look after and you're only here part time.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23Yes, I've only got a small part of it though.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25This is a relatively new border?
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Yes, I did this last year. This is the prairie garden.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31It's lovely cos it's got a lovely airy feel about it, hasn't it?
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Yes, the idea is that when the staff are sitting eating their lunch
0:26:34 > 0:26:37or having their coffee they can look through the flowers
0:26:37 > 0:26:38and still see the rest of the garden.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41I can see on a day like today how you can enjoy it.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43I think it's not just the skills about gardening, is it?
0:26:43 > 0:26:46I mean, you've got the woodworking, like the totem pole.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Yes, the woodwork shop made that. I think that's gorgeous.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51You recycle tools.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55So much is going on and I think it is just such a fantastic site,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57so thank you very much.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59- More power to your elbow. - Thank you for coming.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10"The North Sea was gloom-away by Bervie
0:27:10 > 0:27:13"as the sholtie trotted south.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17"You could see then as the land rose higher the low parks that sloped to
0:27:17 > 0:27:20"the woods and steeple of Drumlithie.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23"Beyond that the hills of Barras."
0:27:23 > 0:27:26Well, it would be quite wrong of us to come to this part of the world,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30here we are now in Inverbervie just over the hill from Arbuthnott,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33to see this wonderful garden that you guys helped to create,
0:27:33 > 0:27:34what, two years ago?
0:27:34 > 0:27:38- Yes.- Stunning.- Just imagine, two years, this is the growth we've had.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40- And isn't it well looked after? - Well, it is.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43The combinations of plants, the cleanliness and everything else.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47And, so you know, not only have they maintained it, they've added things,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51so the gate's new and that nice seating area around the circle.
0:27:51 > 0:27:52I love that. Associated with the kirk.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56I imagine evening services and a wee bit of hymn singing.
0:27:56 > 0:27:57Absolutely wonderful.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02- And some of the plants, that pink achillea.- Coming into its own.
0:28:02 > 0:28:03The white anaphalis, that's lovely.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Over there there's a thing that looks like a rose
0:28:06 > 0:28:10and I thought, "That's a bonny rose. I wonder what that is?"
0:28:10 > 0:28:13- It's actually a potentilla.- Have you been to the optician recently?
0:28:13 > 0:28:15I think I need to go, but it's a cracker.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18- It doesn't matter what it is. - Absolutely stunning. It's wonderful.
0:28:18 > 0:28:19Before we go, however, we've got
0:28:19 > 0:28:22to say a big thank you to the people at the Grassic Gibbon Centre.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24- Oh, yes. - Haven't they looked after us?
0:28:24 > 0:28:29- That grub was really to die for. - Don't tell!- Nothing about the cakes.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32We're back in the garden next week, folks. It's back to Beechgrove.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36- It is.- Until then,- goodbye. - Bye.- Goodbye.