Growing fruits and vegetables

[ethelb]

Does anyone want to join me for a growing fruit and veg focussed thread?

I took over an allotment six weeks ago and would love to hear how other's kitchen gardens are getting on.

Im just off to the allotment to plant some oriental veg seeds to fill up my brassica bed. I also need to mow the path/hedge and check for slug damage

Oh I am devastated. Went to allotment last night to find my whole brassica bed (except pac choi for some reason) raised to the ground by slugs. A day after putting down slug traps and tonnes of pellets!

The chinese kale was not far off harvesting and the psb plants were a foot tall, so not seedlings.

Im off to chuck some bran around in vain hope some of the kale and psb may recover as I wanted to overwinter them. Any other ideas? The rest of the allotment, bar the cardoon hasn't been nibbled. My lettuces are pristine

The pellets attract the slugs Ethel. You only need a few - I have had to succumb to a few organic ones this year but before that, I hadn't used them for a good two years and mainly use sawdust an inch thick to prevent the little bastards from eating my veg.

And with brassicas, it is often pigeons that go for them the moment your back is turned.

Funky - are the organic ones pet/hedgehog friendly?
We continue to be under slug attack - I have used lots of barrier methods eg grit/smashed up nut shells/egg shells, and cut down plastic bottles. Working ok on seedlings if I do this.

But overnight they have chomped my beloved patty pans,a nd now it is war.

But I need to wage a relatively gentle, slug and snail specific war that does not harm my cats who like to sleep under the shade of the squash leaves, nor my visiting hedgehog (who could do with bringing some mates around), nor the birds.

Has anyone tried a garlic wash?

Yes, that's why they get the organic badge. It's the growing success ones...

www.organiccatalogue.com/p1821/ADVANCED-SLUG-KILLER-575g/product_info.html

wrt to veg growers having problems with slugs, I have stuck loads of gravel around the base of my containers and that has stopped the slugs since.

Hope that helps for some of ypur plants at least. Great for drainage too.

How long does it take for rosemary to germinate? Put some seeds in the container about 2 weeks ago, followed the directions, but nothing yet. I kept it watered and in the sun. Is it me being my usual impatient self?

Also, one of my established pepper plants looks wilted compared to the other two. Eek. Still has buds on though.

Been sowing the speedy lettuce and it certainly lives up to its name! Sowed it on a Wednesday, showing seedlings by the Saturday!

Sowed more seed since. Getting a bit fed up of different containers of rocket, spinach, etc, so concentrating on mixed spicy lettuce instead.

Been out early, watered everything, came back in and got back in bed. How's that for dedication?

Rosemary takes ages to germinate. Don't give up hope!

On the other hand, shoudl I give up on brassica seeds that haven't germinated in three weeks. It was the first tiem I have used JOhn Innes and it is crap! Kohl Rabi sown this w/e on some old multi puprose compost has sprouted in 48 hours!

I had quite a haul today I had to carry back in a bucket, a tonne of strawberries (they are going to go in a beer I am brewing that is foaming away lin this heat) lettuces (have gone mad, don't know when I will eat them!), chard and spring onions today.

I also pulled up a load of beetroot like things from my chard bed but I'm not sure what they are. White leaves, though the beetroot I have sown and are nearly ready for picking in another bed are boltardy and have red veined leaves and the chard is rhubarb chard. Beetroot are also turnip chaped and my boldardy are a bit more cylendrical. Any ideas? I will post pic.

Beetroot?

^Slugs, slugs, bastarding slugs,
Nothing quite like them for making me grump^

Yeah, am too fed up to finesse the rhyme.
It's the slugs, see.

After a few dry days and only minor slug attack, it has rained a lot today and all the oozing bastards have come out. And then more. And then more.

My cumulative slug attack thus far has been: gravel / smashed pistachio shells, egg shells around the plants, and a protective wall of cut up plastic bottle that is all raggedy. Plus any that I find, I chuck into an area where the ducks from the nearby lake gather. A few days ago I graduated to a garlic wash also and tonight I have set beer traps too.

But today has been like a slimy apocalypse, so it is time to get the pellets.
Thanks for the info, Funky, I shall try and track some down tomorrow.

Thanks ethelb, I'll stop twiddling my thumbs regarding the rosemary now

I find John Innes compost ok, but Alan Titchmarsh says he mixes both John Innes and multipurpose for good drainage if that helps? Might try that myself.

I have 3 green cherry tomatoes, only little, but they are there! Yay! The misting of the flowers are doing the trick obviously. There are a lot of flowers, so a lot of misting going on. I'm sure I look a prat prowling round the tom plants with the squirty/misty bottle

Afriend- I didn't know to mist the flowers! Ive started today, I've loads if flowers and no tomatoes as yet. I've learnt loads on this thread.

I've just got in having picked my peas. They look and taste lovely, but I'm disappointed I didn't die successionally. I've sown some more where the old ones have been picked and composted, so hopefully I'll have another haul before the year is out

I'm jealous and some of the strawberry hauls here- I'm thrilled to have had fifteen so far. The red currants that the birds missed (about twelve) are starting to turn a beautiful lipstick red. I've never tried a red or white currant so am very eager to collect the fruit of my labour on these

Sow successionally- I would in fact be very disappointed if I had to die successionally

Checking in because I want to grow stuff - have been to garden centre and have pots, compost, seeds, strawberry plants etc. but I am a rank amateur and have no idea. What grows best in grow bags?

Fraggle- my courgettes and strawberries are thriving in the grow bags- the toms didn't.

Pregnant- I got the idea about misting the flowers from the RHS book, grow your own crops in pots. You can also tap the flowers to pollinate too.

Fraggle - I've heard tomatoes do well in a grow bag. I am currently growing them in containers (the bush variety) but next year, I'm trying them in grow bags. Not sure if its too late for tomatoes now, though.

Grab a few 'growing your own fruit and veg' books, or Google.

What do you want to grow? Salad stuff and spring onions are easy, so too is beetroot. They are ok in containers.

Okay I've got a special strawberry bag planter thing which I've just filled with strawberry a and herbs. Also planted a summer pot with peas, lettuce and beetroot. Tomorrow I'm doing a pot with sunflowers and beans and maybe some squashs or courgettes in the growbag. Yay! Go me!

Sounds great fraggle . It's my first time with veg, and I'm surprised that anything has survived my clumsy hands... hope you have success with what you grow

It's been a real achievement eating the salad gear that I've grown from seed.

I fancy growing peas myself, but I have a lot going on between now and July/August harvestwise, plus we're going away, so don't want to be growing anything else this year, nothing big anyway.

That reminds me: daft question but how is garlic grown, anyone? Can/do you use bulbs split up and planted from the supermarket? I really fancy having a go..

I find I'm planning in my head what to grow next year, and which way to grow it ... already! Impatient, moi?

I've already been out to check on progress - I got some great fantastic cloches to put over the pots too so that pesky birds don't eat the shoots. I'm obsessed already!

afriend - google it - rhs site is good, or there's one from a leeds allotment. you aren't supposed to use supermarket ones - i think due to potential disease, but buy ones for the purpose. you plant them in the autumn and then harvest in spring. yes breaking into the cloves first

Things do seem to have taken a turn for the better dont they? My cucumber and beans have started flowering and everything looks much much bigger than it did just a week ago even my sweetcorn which has been yellow and dieing for the past couple of weeks seems to have recovered and one is growing a tassel thing at the top.
I also seem to have planted too many beetroots

Ah, ok thanks dreaming, I'll buy some bulbs then. Obviously not from the supermarket...did wonder about that bit, tbh.

Ethelb, yes, things have taken a turn for the better haven't they! My carrots, beetroot and spring onions have grown a treat. Might end up with too many beetroot too :/ Your sweetcorn sounds good and ready to harvest soon then :)

Graggle - great things, those cloches:)

Can I ask a cloche question (amateur alert!!) - do you leave them on all the time? I dashed out yesterday when it rained so they would get some water. But how much should they be on or off? I was assuming that they would be most useful as things begin to grow so that slugs and birds don't finish them off before they've properly got started?

Fraggle- I leave my cloche on most of the time, but if the weather is nice, like it has been, I take it off during the day, water the plants later, then put it back on overnight. Seems to be working as nothing has perished. The rain water will have done your veg the world of good :)

On not so great days, I leave the cloche on, but open the ventilation flap for a while.

If you're worried about snails, you can always put pots on bricks if you have room to in the cloche. HTH.

Thanks afriendcalledfive - have had super productive day. Now have a variety of plants on the go. I'm not sure if my purple sprouting broccoli will thrive in pots but I'll find out. My beans look very relieved to be potted on from their very crowded shared tubs and have space to breathe and thrive. Now waiting for my peas, lettuce and beet root to sprout. I guess it will take longer than 3 days!?!? Oh dear I think I'm very impatient.

No worries, If its any help, fraggle, my lettuce, rocket, beetroot and spinach are in the cloche and seem to thrive in there.

The beetroot leaves are just massive now, a big change from last week, but I daren't check to see if they are ready for harvest yet, just in case.

I know the feeling of being impatient. So much for a peaceful gardening experience !!

The weather has definitely helped things along, I'm sure.

btw Fraggle, I have a book called 'how to grow crops in pots' from the RHS, which I have found useful.

It tells you all sorts about what you can plant in pots, and with what, to prevent pests. I found it invaluable as a first time veg grower,, plus it has a few easy projects that you can follow. I've done a couple myself.