Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 14 ! growing into summer

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Well, here we are - its the end of May and after a cold spell , we are heading for summer .
Everyone welcome to join us in the joy of growing your own , sharing the ups and downs , tips and advice
previous thread HERE

Well so far my new plants seem to be surviving - the pumpkins have been nibbled a bit but everything else is surviving so far despite the wet weather we've had. We've stopped harvesting asparagus but broad beans, rhubarb and strawberries are both doing nicely.

Yet again I seem to be struggling to get carrots to germinate - have been sowing fresh seed in quantity, protecting them from digging up by cats and using a big cloche to keep the soil nice and moist. Any tips on what else I could try?

My garlic is a bit of a mess - going brown and putting up scapes but I think it's partly due to having had a bad attack of rust. I dug up a few bulbs and they're cloved but very small - wonder if it's worth leaving them a bit longer or cutting my losses. I was planning to do some leeks in an adjacent bed but I think I might need to have a bit of an allium break or I'll just extend the rust problem. I do like having a ready supply of leeks but it will give us more room for winter brassicas and oriental greens!

Argh my courgette has been munched! It's down to just the seed leaves so not sure if it'll survive.
Planted out 2 pumpkins yesterday and a few French beans. And got a lot of weeding and some strimming done. It's starting to look like a real plot now!

Pyxie :) - it is a real plot!
My courgettes and squashes got badly munched a few years ago - so they are the one thing I protect with a little circle of organic slug pellets when I plant them . Once they get settled in and growing, they are fine, but i've found they get decimated otherwise .
Mmm Una - re garlic , I think its once they have cloved , they don't grow much. I have real problems with carrots - I tend to do them at home in a pot ,and they do seem to take forever to germinate . The only success I had with them at the plot one year was when I used up every old opened carrot seed packet into a wide , ( slightly broadcast ) row, covered them with enviromesh and promptly left them to their own devices . I couldn't weed them until I could identify what was carrot , and what was weed !

I am experimenting with carrots this year alternating rows of carrots and spring onions. Of course the spring onions are coming up a treat, the carrots are obviously shy.

I’ve been busy at school with a new gardening club- it’s a bit haphazard but we’ve got various things in beds or planted into tyres. Main issue is lack of rain- we have to water things by passing a hose in through the window and it has a tendency to fire itself off the tap and throw water across the floor which isn’t ideal. I’ve managed to not have to buy any plants so far- excess from my garden or given by others. Also been planting up the patio wall at home- I’ve put herbs in one corner- garlic chives, sage, oregano , marjoram and thyme- again mostly rootled out of other beds. Very pleasing!

Sounds lovely Cath - and a win on using plants you already have :)
Went and planted the first lot of sweetcorn , and some cosmos this morning . Slugs have been nibbling the calabrese I planted out the other day and one lot of this years perennial spinach is bolting .
DH came with me in the afternoon to secure down the fruit cage net and put the door on . It took so long , the door didn't get put on - Friday job now . Have to get the neem oil out - some aphids curling a few leaves on the whitecurrant . Its a war out there .
Cut more asparagus . Almost fed up of it -
But I have seen the first tomato flowers today

Slugs or snails have had a good go at my peas and beans as well- this is after nematodes. The peas are looking a bit ropey to be honest- pale green and spindly. Maybe I put them out too early or they didn’t like being transplanted? We did have some very windy days just after they went in which won’t have helped I suppose.

It might also be pigeons with peas Cathpot. They also like to have a go at my beetroot so I have to net those as well.

Una I might be inclined to cut my losses with the garlic. We've given up growing it after last year's didn't even clove properly leaving us with reasonable sized bulbs which we had to cut up a bit like using part of an onion.

Warm and sunny here today. Quick trip to the plot this morning to do some watering and check on my brassicas planted out last weekend. They're all still alive so far.

Some of my peas have germinated - the old fashioned variety that are purple but I can't spell the name and not the Kelvedon wonder. I am going to plant some up at home, I think, in case none have germinated. It's possible the mice have got the lot although I did try the soaking in chilli powder method this year.

This weekend we've got beans to go out, some of the squashes, tomatoes to plant up at home, sweet peas to plant out. I've mostly got my dining room table back now

I have tomatoes on one of my plants but I’m not sure how they are going to do as I put them outside last week and the leafs have gone white around the bottom. I have peppers fruiting too. Planted more runner and French beans today and filled a few gaps with sprouting broccoli and cauliflower plugs which I picked up at local garden centre.

Getting excited as things are growing well, peas are flowering, carrots looking bushier and potatoes close to flowering (early ones).

My peas just don't seem to have done anything since I put them in the ground. I've got some more germinated at home to add when they're bigger.
Did a load of strimming yesterday so it's looking a lot tidier now. Still got the top half of the plot to do though.
My potted cherry tree (at home) has had aphids curling the leaves but it doesn't look too bad thankfully. And the gooseberry at the plot has mildew.
Does anyone plant out peppers or chillies? I've seen a few on another plot and I have too many to keep in my little greenhouse but I'm not sure whether to keep in pots at home or try them at the plot.

Loooook! Summer's here

Evening!
ooh, they look delicious elephant
Cath - as Cedar says, it is more likely to be birds now - thats why I chicken wire mine , otherwise they just rip them to shreds.
Love - leaves going white usually means they have been a bit cold .
Pyxie - Not sure on peppers and chillies outside - I think they need to be quite warm , but has anyone else tried ?
I've been lucky so far with peas - the plug plants I put in have done okay , and are now covered in flowers , the second direct sown have all germinated well too.
The sweet peas are looking a bit pale and bedraggled though- abit more exposed so - dry and windy I think .
Had a quick hour this morning , just planted out the first succession leeks - much easier than doing them all in one go , otherwise I am crippled dibbing holes !

I had some chillis outside last year, but it was a fairly exceptional year.

Pyxie I have tried peppers outside, I only really got one per plant. If my peppers come up after a snail ate the first leaves on the first batch I am going to put them in Grumpy Ron's greenhouse this year. Aubergines are similar but I haven't grown any this year but I will probably find some plants to feel sorry for at Tesco and put those in the greenhouse as well.

My peppers are outside but in a big pot (so I can bring them in if it gets cold), they are the sweet red pepper variety, haven’t had much luck with other outside. I am in the south so gets warm here.

I have 2 crops of peas, one lot s doing really well and the others not so well.

I've cheated and had two containers of strawberries in the greenhouse...two big bowls so far!

Anyone got advice for Padron seeds? I planted loads and nerry a wee green shoot to be seen 😭I bloomin love them too! Should I have soaked the seeds pre planting in warm water?

Good evening! I had a lovely power hour at the plot today - I took loads up there to plant out and didn't manage half of it. Beans in tomorrow. The ground is SO DRY so it's taking an age to get everything nice and nd watered in, in its new hole.

I had great success with chillies, the 1st year that I got back in to gardening as an adult. I grew them outside, from seed, no special treatment and I was inundated. Peppers too. I knew then that I was an excellent, naturally talented gardener....

... except it turns out I'm not, and it was just very hot that year.

My raspberries are odd. I have many autumn ones, which have barely grown and have thinned out somewhat since last year. I'm hoping they'll come good yet. But some of them are already flowering. They're about 10-20 cm tall. I did prune them correctly. Have they got confused ? Is it just because they're stressed, due to dry last year and this year?

Zebra my autumn raspberries are also looking awful to the point I’m thinking of pulling them and using the space for something else.

Thanks for pea tips. I can’t net them where they are but I can get DD2 on the case of making bird scarers over half term.

I’m also about to give up on a young pear tree. It just looks very sick with about 3 separate leaf issues and all the little baby pears have shrivelled and fallen off. It looks like it has peach curl as one of the problems although that doesn’t come up as a pear disease! I’m in a slightly brutal Darwinian mood it seems. Roll on half term...

I'm very excited as I have my first ever vegetable garden mostly planted today. It was such a glorious day today I got out and got my plants in. So I have planted courgettes, red pepper, and tomatoes. And I have horseradish, fennel and sweet potatoes to go in on the weekend. I've sown seeds for silver beat, radish, spring onion and beetroot. Oh and I also have planted black kale. Mixed leaves and rocket growing on grow bag.

I've got two raised beds & a few grow bags on the go. I've covered the beds with some chicken wire to keep the local cats out and I've sprinkled eggshells all round the outside. I am a bit worried about slugs.

So what now? Water garden and stand out and beam love at them daily until stuff grows?

welcome TheClitterati :)
that sounds very industrious . One word of caution - horseradish is a bit of a thug , ( well - invasive once it gets going) so I would suggest you plant it by itself , or somewhere were it can be kept in check , and not interfere with the other veg.
Yes , water , check for pests , keep weed free , and keep fingers crossed!
Cath and Spotted - its my well established summer raspberries that are suffering - I have battled for a few years to keep them healthy. The leaves on some of them are yellow and sad looking . I'm pretty sure they are coming to the end and I need to bite the bullet and remove them . . However , I am trying to encourage new canes ( from the original planting) a bit away from them , but in the same general area of my garden . I may have to be prepared to let them go .
Poor pear tree .....

Thank you! And I appreciate advice re horseradish. I do have a separate spot I can plant it in which will keep it away from others.

Sorry to hear of your raspberry issues. I inherited mine (this is my 2nd summer with garden) and I must have pruned them well last year as they are flourishing now. Lots of flowers and 4 times the growth of last year. I need to get some wires up for them this weekend. I do have another raspberry that was a stick I got from Tesco. It's coming on slowly - it's not in such a sunny spot.

my autumn raspberries are also acting strange. some of the leaves are browning and curling up and some of the plants are growing like mad and others dying. there are some tiny yellow beetle things on the dead leaves...not sure if they are causing the problems or its a virus. i've pulled the dead leaves off and dug up the worst plants....which was worryingly ease. anyone know what to do?

raspberries are the thing I guess - though mine are over 35 years old now, so probably need moving , but will give them a good drench with sequestered iron regardless
dreaming - I think I saw and answered about yours - I didn't really know - did you look at the link on gardenfocused? HERE