2026 Allotmenteers - have we lost the plot?!

[Seaitoverthere]

A thread for those of us with new allotments to discuss progress and swap ideas. All welcome , established plot holders and wannabe plot holders too!

@blackheartsgirl
@hockityponktas

That all looks brilliant @tizwozliz !

I chucked in the entire pack of swede seeds @hockityponktas and had to thin them out to my surprise. But are in a bed that last person had added lots of compost too.

Sorry to hear that @Troubledwords Could you rethink what you plant?

Oh no @Troubledwordswhat didn’t do well?

Ive had a lot of chard, spinach, kale, aubergine and tomatoes (although only a couple aubergine from each plant so far, I just had a lot of plants). My peas and mangetout I put in in Jan under fleece, and we had some every night u til they died. I’ve replanted some more for winter hopefully.

My raspberries and strawberries were rubbish since the heatwaves. And my plums on one tree got moths so I haven’t eaten too many of those. The other tree was younger but got about 30 delicious yellow plums. My brassicas have been woeful, and my perennial kales aren’t looking great also. Think I need to have a look at those again for next year.

But overall, first growing year, and I’m so happy with all we got to eat. Just looking at all the stuff I can pls t for autumn and winter now

I don't think I'm going to bother with onions next year, I tried autumn sets, and spring ones and still they didn't do well, so I think I'll give it a miss next year.

I quite like the idea of growing peanuts, I like to try something new each year, so may research and plant those in a potato sack.

Has anyone grown edamame beans?

I always like to do something new each year. I did asparagus peas this year. I'll probably grow them again as they were nice enough to eat if picked young and the flowers are quite pretty.

I had never heard of growing any of those but they sound lovely, so might give it a go.

My tomatoes have been prolific in output, but yesterday after all of the heavy rain, I saw some first signs of blight I think - shrivelled blacking leaves. I cut them all off, but not sure how blight progresses after this

We have had a good sweetcorn harvest but not much else this year apart from onions. We need to put some manure down over the winter and improve the soil quality.

What weird year it has been!
Lots of- raspberries, blackberries, beetroot, garlic, onions, sweetcorn, tomatoes, chillis , peppers, figs, cucumbers, peas, plums, damsons, currants, rhubarb - but so much watering
very poor- strawberries, spinach, courgettes, cavolo nero, celery
After the recent rain it has been a scramble to pick the stone fruit before it burst and fell off the tree
Some stuff seems to be having a second go after the rain like borlotti beans, Was really only enough to be seeds for next year
Who knows what next season will bring
Just planted brussel sprouts, cauliflower and beetroot

I think I have had my best year yet, despite losing most of my brassicas to flea beetle and the runner beans being as tough as old books, I have had huge success with companion (or should I say chaotic) planting. Whilst most plots around me struggled mine seemed to thrive. It’s been a lot of hard work though, with watering and the heat. Cucumbers and tomatoes have done really well, I managed to grow pepper outside too. I still have a lot left to harvest including beetroot (which I sewed every couple of weeks in random places), butternut squash, pumpkin, leeks and purple bush beans.

I put manure in my Asparagus bed today but worried it’s a bit early (and the manure wasn’t as rotted as I would like). I have taken runners off the strawberries for my plot neighbour and today started clearing some space ready for the garlic.

I am looking forward to a couple months off before the madness starts again next year. This years almost killed me but I shall keep going, it’s so worth it.

Good year here too despite the need for watering: tomatoes, cucumbers, climbing peas and beans (the latter still loads left), beetroot, asparagus and raspberries all good. Sweetcorn rubbish but that's on me- sat in pots too long, and I agree it was an unusually crap year for courgettes but that meant I got enough rather than too many! Leeks and 'blue banana' squash still to go and looking good.

Oh I meant to say also, aubergine have been really good! Peas and mangetout brilliant, but squash have been slow for me and loads of my seeds planted over the summer didn’t germinate

I had similar @january1244 . My aubergines have been a dream. Tomatoes as well. Onions and garlic ok. But any salad sown after may just didn’t germinate. Parsley has struggled. Cabbages are heat stressed and have not made nice compact heads. Beans went to seed v quickly, I grubbed up my green beans as they weren’t worth eating. So a mixed bag, but the abundant aubergines make up a lot for some of the disappointments.

We've been away for a couple of weeks but everything looks to have enjoyed the rain in our absence. Beans have had a late surge and tomatoes ripened.

I’m not a fan of the rain but it has been nice not having to water everyday!
our runner beans have struggled and barely produced anything this summer but this weekend they seem to have sprung to life and I picked a huge crop!

What are people planting now? I have some mange tout, some greens like perpetual spinach and chard, some golden beets etc. Tomatoes and aubergine still going strong but sure that’ll tail off at some point.

Garlic! Spinach and winter lettuce just coming up. Chard and parsley done but probably fine to sow now. That's just reminded me I was gonna do chervil too... I will.

This weekend we put in the onions to over winter I’m going to sow some peas, garlic and broad beans next weekend.

Life is overtaking my allotment time. I did make it there last a week ago. Kale doing well, swede look ok but are tiny at the root . One out of 2 squash varieties doing ok, butternut a flop.

The self seeded peas are doing ok and I chucked in more so hopefully they will come up. I have garlic and shallots saved to go in , put some saved sweet pea seeds in.

The borage has seeded everywhere near the stream and I have loads of poppyseed so hoping between them they will suppress the many weeds in that area a bit. My globe artichoke looks as if it may flower soon. Lots needs weeding and I want to merge 2 bed plus get some compost and manure in for others and I may collect some seed weed to chuck over some beds this winter.

Still haven’t painted my bench. Can’t believe I’ve had the plot for nearly a year now, time has flown.

Hello, i would like to join please. Im new to allotment life! There is not muchvti grow in winter (or is there?) and i was wondering about getting a small plastic polytunnel for one of the beds (350x120cm) to grow some kind of green leaves, maybe chards over the winter. Also as PP shared i might try onions, garlic etc..
Would that be a good idea? If i was to do that, is there something i need to look for in particular for the tunnel? Any recommendations?
i am in london and between the parakeets, the squiirrels and the slugs, i really need to protect whatever i am going to grow! Hence the idea of a tunnel (+ warmth).
ive cleared the raspberries bushes i have inherited and pruned the (old patio size) fruit trees. Ive planted some tulip bulbs at the bottom and some strwberry shoots from my back garden. Not sure what else i can do… thank you!

@tostaky welcome!
Definitely get a poly tunnel - as well as being great for tomatoes and things next year and will give you some shelter if you go in the winter. I bought 2 outsunny ones from Amazon.
Was also A good place to leave some basic tools, and some rough clothes to change into.
This time of year you can get good deals on fruit bushes like autumn raspberries, or current bushes (which can be on sale) also autumn is a good time to plant fruit trees- apple, plum (bare root can be planted Nov to March)
I suggest you clear a bed and get something planted- it will motivate you!
This time of year you can plant onions, garlic, and greens like cauliflower or brussels
as you clear other beds you can just put manure on them then cover them up and they will be all ready next year

@Breadcat24 thanks for this! What is the difference between PE cover and PVC cover? Any pros and cons? Thanks a lot!
The plot i was given already has fruit trees and berry bushes so i tidied them up.
in my garden at home i have two plum trees but the caterpillars infested all the plums. I bought some “tree grease” and put it around the trunk. Is this the best way to go about the caterpillars? Or is there a better way? Planning to do the same at the allotment

@tostaky you might be more knowledgeable than me when I started but initially I did not know that summer raspberries you cut the old canes leaving the new, autumn you cut down to the ground.
If they are indeed caterpillars (which is weird on plums) you could net them
after the flowers have finished.
PVC is usually rigid ( great for a lid of a cold frame)
PE is polyethylene which would be less subject to becoming brittle in cold conditions- better for a tunnel

Some PE ones have reinforcement so look like they have a criss cross pattern as opposed to being clear

@tostaky welcome! Chard is pretty hardy if it is established before winter, I’ve seen it with snow on it and it just went dormant and cracked on when the weather was better.

Would the caterpillars be plum moth caterpillars? In my head they are a thing and there are traps for them but I don’t know if that is true.

I got my current allotment early November last year. I planted garlic, shallots, meteor peas and broad beans soon after I got it that all did well.

The Outsunny etc polytunnels need strong supports on our site as the winds get horrific. The First Polytunnels type polytunnels generally stay intact but are expensive and I think not easy to put up. 5 of us were struggling with a cover on one last week. Bit of a nightmare but taller than one you would have on an allotment.

@Seaitoverthere yes thats the caterpillar/moth i was talking about. In the three years since we bought the house, we had an abundance of plums (4 trees) but none of them edible as all are infested. This year i decided to try a few things: a pheromone trap and the tree grease. Lets see if that works…

Thanks for the advice about the polytunnel. As @Breadcat24 recommended i bought one on amazon (PE). Not overly worries anout wind as three sides of the bed i will use it in are sheltered-ish.

thank you both for your recommendations on what to plant! Very intrigued by “meteor peas” such a stellar name!! I will definitely try them out.
Raspberry canes and berry bushes are all neat and tidy. Ive pruned the fruit trees too (not too hard)

When i walk past other plots some are beautifully maintained and with plenty of tomatoes, beans and other vegs.., i cant wait!!

Yes, mange tout, peas, chard, kale. You can pin fleece down or I bought some of the long low grow cold houses that can be moved around. My aubergine did great in them over the summer, and they keep the frost off greens in the winter.

Just had a lovely morning spreading manure