Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 16 Weather weirdness prevails !

[bookbook]

Hello to everyone !
pull up a garden chair and join in with the trials and tribulations of growing your own , against the odds of weather , pests and diseases.
Previous thread is HERE

Afternoon !
Thanks Mere - that was the slap on the wrist I needed ! - fresh seeds , sowing this afternoon
howdidi - I tried mini pop about 4 years ago . I didn't have much success - not many set , and I think I left them on the stem too long before harvesting , so they were beyond baby , but not proper sweetcorn either! Haven't tried since .
A trip to the plot today - to retrofit cabbage collars on what I have already planted ( precaution after losing some plants last year to cabbage root fly) I sorted out bird protection and climbing stuff for the peas - they are looking as if they are ready to start climbing . Harvested perennial spinach , as a couple of plants have started to flower - dug those up , as they will be in the way of my sprouts when they get big enough to plant out .
Cut my first purple asparagus :)
It will not let me post a pic again ,

I've put a wide thick layer of crumbled up (and baked) egg shells around my brassicas to put off the slugs. Do you think that that would also explain sufficient to deter cabbage root fly?

they fly low to the ground I believe, and lay the eggs on the stem at soil level, so I am supposing if you have a nice thick layer , I don't see why not pretty

Sorry about all the double posting - MN seems to have had a bit of a mare this afternoon!

Well I have a broken greenhouse thermometer, with no numbers showing despite new batteries. Have left the French beans in the greenhouse and one courgette, but rest of things have been brought in. Am taking things out in the day now to the greenhouse. Maybe over cautious, but don’t have many spares.

Peas - only 9 germinated after 3 sowings. Oh well, more room for other things.
This evening I have planted some lettuce out, potted on the 4 different type of squashes that germinated and wondered if I should pot on the brassicas, but decided a few more days would be ok!

It’s D-Day here, we finally have the beds filled with soil (after my mathematical cock up!) so we’re off to the garden centre(s) to scout out plug plants. We’ve accepted that as this is our first year, and it’s quite late in the season, we’ll have to take what we can find and be a bit “trial and error” but I’m excited!

Planted the tomatoes out under cover earlier this week and they seem to be thriving. The potatoes (in bags - everything is containers this year) have rocketed up in the last couple of weeks and I can't earth them up fast enough.

Squash seedlings are coming along inside and were potted on earlier this week too. Suspect I will lose a couple due to transplant shock but hey ho.

So much rain here today so can’t get much done, one of my cucumber plants looks dead, I don’t think it’s been getting enough light, I have lots spare but still feels sad.

I’m stuck at home isolating from Monday before I have surgery on Thursday so I’m hoping we get some dry weather so I can plant a few things.

Phew, what a day! Between rain showers today we’ve planted:

Courgettes
Carrots
Strawberries
Cucumbers
Spinach
Salad leaves
Bell peppers
Spring onions
Leeks
Petit Pois
Runners beans
Mange Tout

Let’s see how we get on over the next few weeks to see what survives

Afternoon !
well, we have been fairly lucky with the weather - it hasn't rained for the last couple of days
CaveMUm - good going ! - just keep an eye on the cucumbers and sweet peppers - cucumbers in particular are sensitive to the cold , so worth maybe throwing fleece over if it looks to get cold overnight ( I must admit , I have only ever grown them in a greenhouse, but I know there are outdoor ones too )
I have spent a fair bit of time pricking out seedlings the last few days - I seem to have slightly oversown on cauliflowers and savoys ...!
But all the sowings seem to be doing okay now - all the leeks , extra sprouts etc are coming away now . Just need to keep fingers crossed on the french beans I sowed on Thursday .
I am carrying on planting up - all the calabrese and sprouting broccoli are now in situ , the insurance broad beans are in . I was given some celreiac seedlings , so they have been planted out , and I am now giving away spare plants myself ( I'll keep a few for insurance purposes)
Thinking of leaving out sweetcorn ,courgettes and squashes overnight this week , ready to plant out in a weeks time .
I just need to sow some more beetroot - the second succession sowing is all up , and nearly ready to be planted out .
Picked some more cauliflowers - not pretty looking , but they eat well.
I have potted up tomatoes into their big summer pots now , and also giving away the spares , so I have a bit of room in the greenhouse to spread out the aubergines , peppers and cucumbers

I got to the plot yesterday, dodging the showers and planted out my tomatoes, more sweetcorn, sugar snap peas and courgettes. The sweetcorn I put in last weekend is looking healthy and thriving fingers crossed-

Thanks for the tips @bookbook, I’ll pop to the garden centre on my lunch break and pick up a bit of fleece, we’ve only planted a couple of each to see how they go.

Morning all,

It's been a while since I've been active on here. Work duties and mum duties have taken over my life.

I planted my potatoes a good few weeks ago with no signs of life till this week!! Hurrah! Lots and lots of sprouting shoots everywhere.

My carrots have taken 2 months to germinate. I'd just given up hope but I'm guessing this rather cold spring is to blame. My herbs are all just germinating now too.

My beans all snapped in the winds last week even though they were supported so I'd better sow some more.

Cucumbers have all but died after being transplanted out and my courgettes are now turning white and losing all their leaves. I read it's some type of rot and to remove affected leaves, the problem is they've only for 2 leaves left . They were fine indoors so it might be due to the heavy rains we've been experiencing.

I do wonder whether it's too late and start fresh with sowing my courgettes, cucumbers, tomatoes, and beans. Anyone have any advice? My tomato plant was bought as a seedling and has never grown. My suspicion is it suffered transplant shock when it was repotted for me to take. It hasn't grown at all and neither has it died. It's just frozen in time. So bizarre.

Wow I just read back on my post and it doesn't seem to be a great year for me does it . It's my second year growing anything and this time I thought I'd attempt more than just tomatoes. Perhaps I should have stuck to them

Hope everyone has a great week

Not too late for courgettes or cucumbers, they are pretty fast at germinating, I often have to plant a 2nd lot due to planting my first to early, same with beans.

I’ve been rushing around this morning trying to plant things before the rain comes, planted some carrot seeds after pulling up my pak Choi which had bolted. Have also put my corn out (hoping it survives), filled some gaps with some lettuce and planted out a courgette that wasn’t looking very healthy so may not survive.

I have a patty pan that’s growing like crazy indoors, looks much healthier than my others, I know I will have to eventually move it outside but I’m worried I will kill it 🤣.

Aubergines? Do people keep them indoors or out? I have never successfully grown a aubergine but I’m feeling hopeful this year.

I sowed aubergines back towards the end of the March, using my heated propagator to germinate them. Potted them on ages ago and they've been in the greenhouse since then (heated on the extra cold nights) but they are still tiny

Not very hopeful that they'll ever get big enough to actually produce anything They're nowhere near big enough yet to move onto the size up from the very small pots that they're currently in

Thanks for the responses. Guess I'll sow some more today. This rain is drowning my current ones.

Perhaps repot your aubergines and they'll grow more? I found that helped. Mine are growing slowly but surely and I'll move them into the greenhouse in the coming few weeks hopefully. If all else fails I may just buy a potted plant and feel better about it

@prettybird

I sowed aubergines back towards the end of the March, using my heated propagator to germinate them. Potted them on ages ago and they've been in the greenhouse since then (heated on the extra cold nights) but they are still tiny

Not very hopeful that they'll ever get big enough to actually produce anything They're nowhere near big enough yet to move onto the size up from the very small pots that they're currently in

I planted mine in feb, they are a good size now, they were tiny for ages so I reported them and gave them a one off feed with tomato feed and they seemed to double in size over night. Last year I think I was too late planting and they didn’t flower until October, then the cold got them before any fruit formed.

Afternoon
hello again Notsogreenthumb - well , I cannot remember where you are , but I suspect the cucumbers and courgettes got caught by cold in truth - they go white when hit by any low temp , sadly . You definitely have time for more for beans ( see my trials - have just resown french beans for the third time ) , and tomato plants are easy to pick up cheaply at the moment - I have just given away all my spares , so look out for some . All the veg plants are for sale around here at the moment - in greengrocers , garden centres , market stalls , so don’t despair .:)
pretty - I sowed my aubergines at end of March too , they seem to be doing okay , but I was bringing them in from the greenhouse until last week - it had been so cold overnight . I didn’t have any success with aubergines the first couple of years I tried , but it seems I am doing okay
the last couple of years , and I have no idea what I am doing any differently. It may be worth feeding them though - they may not be getting enough from the compost if they have been in the same pot a while .
I was down at the plot this morning - I planted out my second succession beetroot , and direct sowed a row too ( then did some more at home in plugs - we do love beetroot) .
I did a bit of weeding - the rain has really encouraged them to get going , and picked asparagus .
I must get my strawberry bed strawed and netted up - plenty of flowers popping out on them , so thats a job for the next trip .

Thanks for the reply @bookbook

I'm north of London, so the South East. Yes I think I'll resow everything quickly and see if I can get my hands on any seedlings.

I made sure to check any frost have passed but yes the cucumbers seem to have succumbed to the cold. Two courgettes are still going strong so I'll hold hope on them.

Hi. I'm in the SE and my weather app is showing 3 degrees at night for Sunday and Wednesday next week, so not past the risk of frost here. We are high up. The wind has been very strong today, not sure that has been appreciated by those plants being hardened off.
In better news, the second lot of asparagus are in finally. I just couldn't put them where I knew they couldn't thrive, so fingers crossed their stint in the fridge didn't damage them before they were even planted in a lively deep bed. I already have 10 spears (which I can't touch) from the first planting poking through.

Lovely not lively

So windy here last night (and today), I’m unable to get outside due to recovering from surgery yesterday but I have feeling I have lost my courgettes and possibly patty pan ☹️, I have some spare yellow courgettes in the greenhouse, not sure how my beans are, hopefully all ok.

Just back from a week away. I'd chucked some things in the ground before I went, kept some stuff in pots and rigged up self watering systems for some indoor things. Everything has survived, a few nibbles but nothing fatal, but it's only the potatoes that seem to have actually grown.

Hoping for some warmer weather soon.

It’s so windy here that some of the leaves have blown off the poor little climbing French beans I planted on Tuesday ☹️

Evening all
Horrible isn't it? Yes , windy here yesterday , but literally hasn't stopped raining for 2 days .
Wednesday morning managed to get the grass cut , before it was knee high , today ran in to pick veg - asparagus , the small runts of cauliflowers , and slug nibbled spring greens
Everything is doing well in the greenhouse , stuff is hardening off outside ( though the sweetcorn is looking a bit yellow ) and the french beans I sowed last week are popping through .
Roll on some warm ( oh , and yes , I have a warning for Saturday night temp drop too )

Our forecast is for 2 tomorrow night, and often we're a couple of degrees lower so will be hauling everything back inside overnight tomorrow and putting some fleece over the courgettes I've got in the ground. My potatoes in the ground aren't up yet, and the others are in bags so if I move them to the back wall of the house they should be fine.