It’s Time To Grow Potatoes!!! - May 02, 2025
Dear Gardening Friends
Does a bigger pot really make that much difference? One of our suppliers has grown the most amazing Chrysanthemums, they are huge. Chrysanthemums are usually grown in 140mm pots, but he's grown them in 190mm pots, and they have grown twice the size.
They are like a big bunch of flowers!!!!!!
We are selling these amazing potted Chrysanthemums for just $19.99. They will be sold out before Mother's Day so come and get one now. We have around 5 colours.
Zoom zoom.
Just on Mother's Day we have our super deal back on for you and mum. We've got our Tim's $50.00 Mother's Day Gift Cards for $40.00. It's a bargain.
Buy one for you too!!
Seed Potatoes have arrived. Potatoes are so easy to grow it's crazy. Simply prepare your soil using Tim's Cow Manure and Tim's Fast Food Fertiliser.
Cover with Sugarcane then water.
Plant your Potatoes through the mulch, just below the soil. As they sprout, you can mound more soil around the stems, and this makes them grow more Potatoes.
Harvest at Christmas Time and you can make Potato Salad or Bake them for Christmas Dinner.
You'll become famous in your family.
We have all your favourite varieties.
Yes they can also be grown in big pots using Tim's Best Potting Mix. They are soooooo easy to grow in a nice sunny spot.
I was staying in Cowra Van Park, it's a long story, but this story is about this potted plant. I noticed on arrival that the new growth was burnt and the plant looked dry and unhappy. Then it started to rain, and the reason for its health problems became obvious.
This Port Wine Magnolia is super tough but it's been put in a pot that's so close to the wall, it's in a rain shadow. You can see the wet concrete stops just before the pot. So when it rains this plant doesn't get any water. The gardener here doesn't water this pot because they think it's rained.
There are lots of plants growing in pots like this around Australia. They are under the eaves, they are close to walls, they don't catch rain fall. The soil gets so dry it becomes hydrophobic. Once this happens the soil repels the water and the plant goes into decline.
It's happening here.
Solution? You could apply Wettasoil, this agricultural detergent makes dry soils accept water again. But it doesn't replace water, plants in rain shadows have to be watered more often, they rely on you for survival, it's like owning pets.
It's week 5 of our potting mix trial. It's coming to an end because the Lettuce are ready to eat. Sadly they aren't ready to eat in all the brands. 4/9 brands have been poor or unreliable.
The best brands this time are Richgro Black Marvel, Searles and Tim's Best Potting mix. Tim's Best Potting Mix has been consistently the best in all three trials.
If you don't live in NSW then Richgro Black Marvel is the next best in our Autumn trial. These are all Australian Standards Potting Mixes so you expect plants to grow in them. Sadly they don't.
Some are chronic non performing!!!!!
I am more than happy for an outside organisation to take on this responsibility. Someone like Choice Magazine would be perfect.
The Australian Standard is a joke with potting mixes only needing to grow plants for a month despite the packaging often claiming to provide enough fertiliser for 3 months or more.
We grew Cos lettuce because they grow quickly. It's simply the Rabbit. You could do this trial with other plants.
I've heard all sorts of excuses, some people have criticised me personally, I'm just trying to help gardeners have success. Hopefully the brands that have performed badly will lift their game.
Inconsistency is the problem, you just never know if the mixes have been mixed properly with the right ingredients and how long have they been sitting around?
Tim's Best Potting Mix is the only brand that has performed consistently. This might be because it's mixed and bagged and sold within weeks, not months. It's just fresher so the fertilisers work. We also have a longer lasting fertiliser which suits so many different plant varieties.
If you like this Australian Standards Potting mix trial share it with gardening friends. I'm also happy for you to do your own trial. I think you should.
It's time to grow Cyclamen and we have the best colours, they will make you smile. Remember to grow your Cyclamen outside in the cold. They love the cold weather, and they usually drop dead when you grow them inside in a heated room.
They actually thrive outside where they get morning sun and then shade. Pot them into bigger pots using Tim's Best Potting mix. If you buy a ceramic pot and a Cyclamen, we will do this for you, at no extra cost. Water once a week, and enjoy the flowers all autumn, winter and early spring.
They make great Mother's Day gifts!
Happy gardening
Tim