The Vegetable Patch

[MereDintofPandiculation]

Now bookbook has sadly left us, and stirred into action by @DobbleDobble, I think it’s time to start a general thread for those of us who try to grow edible produce, fruit, veg, herbs, to share successes, failures, questions and answers

@notsogreenthumb, I don't know, lost 2 over the last couple of years in the same way. Leaves turning brown and the plant just withering, one branch at a time Love them and have tried to stop the malaise by removing the dead parts but hasn't worked. 😢

My tomatoes aren't doing much either. Most have germinated but I'm not seeing a lot of progress.

Cucumbers are looking fab and I'm about to ppt those on. My greenhouse hasn't arrived yet, what sort of supports to people use for their cucumbers?

Aubergines and peppers have come up well but again not doing a lot of developing. I wonder if the warmth followed by the cold snap we've had has set them back a bit? They are being coddled in my porch still.

My sweet Williams are romping away and my honesty (both sown in autumn last year).

I've got a plum tree to plant today. It's the same variety as a tree my mum and dad have had for 30+ years but there's suffered serious damage in Storm Eunice so DH and I decided to plant one to take over from it once it finally gives up the ghost.

I've been tickling my quince blossoms with a paint brush in the hopes of aiding pollination!

Hello!
I saw this thread in active last night , so just wanted to pop in and wave - lovely to see some familiar posters .
As a quick update - I gave up my allotment at the end of December . Between myself and DH , we have dug up and prepped up a veg bed at home ( equivalent to a 4.5m x 2.5 m bed , and a further 2m x 2.5 m bed ). And I have my greenhouse 😊. I have started to plant it out ( cauliflower /cabbages /sprouts/beetroot ) , have leeks to put in , along with sprouting broccoli , savoy and calabrese. Also going to be using spaces in my flower beds for a climbing french bean wigwam , and courgettes . Tomatoes and aubergines doing well, but not growing away quickly - I have changed to peat free compost , so not sure if that is a factor. . Cucurbits seem to be taking their time to germinate , but just seen the first signs of a couple of cucumbers.
Now I have such a smaller space , I will have to be better at succession growing - little and often .

My tomatoes are not coming up,
I've just been offered a bit more space -
Both outside and poly tunnel .
What sweet corn / aubergine do people recommend?
I liked Vivaldi potatoes last year so may get those
I know I'm running behind but giving it a go !

Sorry all ,
have deleted and reinstalled the app , finally able to see posts watched / on .
tried to update this and got the “failed”
screen.
Then came back to website and found it’s not only posted but duplicated.
sorry

same here Diplodicus !

@bookbook !! Lovely to see you pop up. Welcome back, and lovely to see you're still carrying on with what you love at home.

Hello @bookbook , sounds like a great plan and I’m glad you said hello again !

Sorry @MrsBigTed my post was in response to this one (with a bold fail!)) I'm growing the house ones myself. @Noodlekugel might like some seeds though

All the brambles have been chopped down and burnt on the overgrown allotment apart from one little patch.

I fortunately noticed a little robin nest complete with eggs and mother before I tackled the last little bit so we put back some of the chopped brambles for added protection and will wait until the babies leave.

Contrary to everyone else's experience, my tomatoes are fairly abundant. The aubergines I sowed from old seed in January are quite large. This year's new seeds are only very small still.

However my solitary physalis is looking tiny and pathetic and I'm having absolutely useless luck with broad beans this year. The autumn sowings never appeared and my spring sowings have been massacred by slugs. Slugs have also got my son's giant sunflower seedlings in the greenhouse 😔.

The quince is in flower and the sage has buds - the bees loved it last year so I'm quite excited for the flowers. The apple and crab apples are in flower together so I'm hoping for good pollination and the first year of fruit for the apples despite my complete inability to prune them properly.

My tomatoes are rubbish, too. Sowed them in the third week of March, a few germinated, many have not, and some are only doing so now.
So I bought a heat mat a couple of weeks ago, which has been a massive help, @Noodlekugel.
But for me it’s been like pulling teeth this year! I suspect the cold.

hi, has anyone bought from here?
www.rootsplants.co.uk/

as we've missed some of the deadlines for planting some of the veg we wanted, husband looked in this website, which i know is more expensive than regular seeds. Any other similar ones?

Depending on whether you're looking for anything specific, big supermarkets and garden centres also sell seedlings, especially tomatoes. The main cost is transport so if you can get them yourself, it'll be lots cheaper! Also ask friends/neighbours whether they have spares, it's easy to sow too much...

Is anyone growing pumpkins? I keep repotting them but am seriously considering just putting them in the ground with a cover on the ground to help insulate them. Is it still too cold? Am I asking for problems?

I have some that have germinated outside (from last years pumpkin) so I’m think they may be ok outside but harden off first? I don’t usually plant them out until I put the courgettes out (middle-end of May).

notsogreen - i did that last year and they never recovered. they just sulked all summer or died. this year i'm holding off and planting everything much later.

I’m growing pumpkins @notsogreenthumb although I don’t like the taste but promised my teen I’d grow some to carve.Haven’t needed to repot yet but will be putting everything out in 2 weeks I’ve decided!
i have only 6 cucumbers left from 12 started, they went same way as tomatoes and got frostbite :-(

Ive grown pumpkins the last two years and they went out as soon as the last frost date passed and we're fine. My garden is pretty sheltered though

My pumpkins are out and doing well (and my courgettes). I hardened them off first. I'm west mids.

My cucumbers were mostly fails, I've planted some more in the hope they can catch up.