Photo's & a Q for 'the boss lady'

[hiyatim]

As requested some courgette pics. also a Q. In a previous thread when i harvested my first cabbage you said to get the root out to prevent club root i believe. Can such roots get chucked in the compost bin?? ive put a load of cauli leaves in but held the roots back for now. same goes with lettuce??

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also do you know what this beasty is? its quiet a big moth with orange when it opens its wings?? sorry about poor pic, seen about 10 of these today.

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Tim, well you have a few possibilities to choose from.

Have you checked underneath the leaves for insects and their eggs?

Courgettes grow into huge plants and it could be that the containers they are growing in just aren't big enough. I remember a new couple on our allotment site that built small raised beds and (against my advice!) planted 18 courgette plants into one bed. As the plants grew they looked just like yours as they didn't have enough room.

Over watering causes plant leaves to turn yellow.

Yellow leaves are typical of a nitrogen shortage. It could be that there is plenty of nitrogen in the compost but over watering or cold conditions can make the nitrogen unavailable to the plant. A way of correcting a nitrogen shortage would be to use Nitrate Of Soda. It is fast acting and can be applied as a liquid feed so it gets to the roots quicker but don't over do it.

Vitax Sulphate of Iron 1.25kg --- Tools4thegarden.co.uk