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

@Seaitoverthere that’s so lazy of people, completely get why you wouldn’t want to keep cutting the grass for them on the paths. Pea pods already, that’s amazing!

@Frumpyunicorn a berry arch sounds brilliant!

I have a question, my tomato plants on the windows are starting to flower. They’re only a foot or so high. I’ve repotted them again in case they’re too root bound, they are indeterminate. Has anyone else got this happening yet? Should I pinch them off or leave them?

My onions are up! My radishes are doing ok except I think I’ve sowed them wrong and they’re all in massive clumps 😂. Some of them have died along the side of the raised bed but possibly they might have been scorched as I had them under plastic for a few days and I couldn’t get to the plot.

put more potatoes in..second earlies I think.. jazzys. No idea if they’ll come up but I’ve whacked them in anyway. Done lots of digging.

my lovely elderly plot neighbour fixed my shed window for me..gave me a piece of glass and put it in himself. Yayy.

I’ve got that. I have planted the 2 with flowers outside on the plot. Time will tell whether that was a good idea.

Thank you @january1244 and fingers crossed it stays put! I haven't done any more on the allotment, but my half barrel has now arrived for the mini wildlife pond I am going to put in the garden and I am ridiculously excited about it

My tomatoes are all still quite small I am hoping they take off now I have repotted them. I don't have a greenhouse so they are in my conservatory but the nights are still very cold here.

My sprouts are doing ok and last year I had some early success with kale but it got too big for the netting support we had so this year I need to get more. What do people recommend? A lot on the allotment use blue piping but it is ridiculously expensive.

I got these @Frumpyunicornthat you just use with bamboo https://www.amazon.co.uk/GardenSkill-Build-a-Ball-12-Pack/dp/B004QIWR8A/ref=mp_s_a_1_20?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kJYH1yWZPp6Zx2mAxnajOvWUl63Iwx5L0162mTfLVjPKaaTbYZsqYV_c51CSopYYmhGrUq3YRbtUH4Fkz46TBCRJu3wnfP2oXggezFrgerm2Nn0yvSMK7C7e0CfxX2iYXFaERKc19Bb24Q7RapUtn_uL_KfbRRrXePL9eUyE1tNabaiJ_CO8aiLkpQmFbHnJ2a7sv0JEfvYYJj94g1S9jA.CLyBZytWAnoYLcpdnp7p2FWb_jZMXI3EzROZq8CDa0o&dib_tag=se&keywords=bamboo+cane+connectors&qid=1777452659&sr=8-20

you can just make them as tall as you’d like and there small to store. However everyone on my allotment has that big blue piping also

I’ve discovered a Robin’s nest with at least 1 egg in it in my nest ( at awkward angle in a bag and didn’t want to look too closely). Hope it hasn’t been abandoned. Not sure what to do except minimise my use of the shed for a while. I know it’s a Robin as one has been following and observing me whenever when I went in the shed.

I planted out all my brassicas this lunchtime.

The kale and pak choi and mizuna and spinach is all growing so fast I’m getting a harvest every other day. It’s so hot I’m wondering when it’ll bolt. I need to get some tomatoes out of my house! Might take some of them in their pots in the tunnel and then bring them back next week when it’s meant to get cold again at night

Thanks @january1244 I might give those a go this year as I am on a budget!

I need to plant more seeds this weekend I am a bit behind. My sprouts, tomatoes, aubergines and chilli are all coming along nicely, my onions are planted and my potatoes are starting to show. But I am on quite a windy exposed site in Yorkshire and it's still very cold at night so I am not really planting out yet

I'm in North Yorkshire- very warm during the day but cold overnight and still an occasional frost. I got impatient and planted out my sweet peas- they do not look very happy I'm afraid. The broad beans are out, potatoes are coming up, and the rainbow chard is fabulous. The strawberries are flowering, the gooseberries are forming, and the pears are starting to form. The apple is still flowering, and the blueberries are still growing leaves, but one branch has flowers already.
Cosmos, corn marigold, stocks, and sunflowers all ready to go out.
My tomatoes and sweet peppers are puny little seedlings. A neighbour has offered me 6 sturdy tomato plants cos he feels sorry for me lol
I have pak choi that I want to plant out, and sprouting broccoli is very much ready to go out, but am worried about the cold/frosty nights.
Another neighbour has some dahlias for me, he gave me four last year and I only managed 1 flowering crown, so he has more faith in me than I have.

My weeds are doing splendidly damn them!

Yes @Sproutling are weeds are doing fabulously too! it’s a never ending task!

Went down for the day yesterday and the fruit bushes/strawberries are flowering already. Going to net the bushes this year as the birds had the lot last year!

Had another asparagus harvest and some kale.
The kale has got a lot of caterpillar eggs on, does anyone use washing up liquid spray to get rid? That seemed to be the least chemically solution on google. Does it actually work?

The peppers that I took down last week have survived the week in the greenhouse, so I’ve taken half of the window sill plants down now to the greenhouse now and potted them on.

I realise I have a problem with being to eager to do everything now instead of being patient😂

@Sproutling my pak choi has been out for weeks and seems fine - we get a harvest every two days using cut and come again. Maybe plant a test one?

I put another tomato plant out in the tunnel, but in its pot. It seems okay so far. Two of the four actually planted in the soil died and had to be pulled up, two are starting to recover. How’s everyone else’s looking?

The crazy thing about this weather is I have strawberries already! Green still, but end of April seems very early. My plums are 2-3 cm big already. I have apples starting to form. AI is telling me this is all so early. I’m worried all my spinach, mizuna, kale and oak choi will bolt soon

My Pak Choi germinated recently outdoors pretty quickly.

I have little green strawberries as well @january1244 which is exciting! I looked back through photos and last year I was picking strawberries at the end of May so hopefully it will be the same this year. My raspberries are not looking very sprightly though. I have put up my pumpkin arch this weekend as I have lots of small pumpkin plants rather than the big carving ones so hopefully that will be pretty this year.

Joining here as the previous thread I was on appears to be dead

This is our 4th year with our allotment. Last frost date here is not until mid May so potatoes have not long gone in.

I've direct sown some beans and peas but starting some off at home as well along with various varieties of squash, beetroot and onions.

We have lots of mares tail and bindweed on our plot so that's a never ending battle but I made some good progress yesterday.

@tealandtealthat sounds gorgeous! Ooh fingers crossed re the strawberries then! Yeah my raspberry canes aren’t looking too sprightly either, although flowering, so 🤞

@tizwozlizwelcome!

@tizwozliz welcome!

I have spent the last 17 days solid getting house ready for sale. At the start I had a unpainted plastered kitchen with a collection of unpainted units, boiler not boxed in, missing skirting and no flooring, a fire place that needed painting, 6 pieces of furniture to paint, old water stains needing to be painted, couple of doors to paint, silicone to be removed and renewed, caulking and painting various places, a conifer to come out, patio to be jet washed, garden tidied , a large wardrobe, washer dryer, bed, toilet, 2 bar stools and 2 bikes to get rid of. It was a touch ambitious.

It is all done. Photographer came yesterday, I was touching up the outside light 10 mins before he came and the window cleaner came after as couldn’t get him before. Sale board goes up today and house goes on Rightmove tomorrow and we will see what happens. If it doesn’t work out we’ll stay and enjoy living in a completed house.

As a result my poor allotment is hugely neglected and I am behind with seed sowing so will try and buy pumpkin, sweetcorn and butternut squash plants at the weekend. I imagine the lettuce I planted out Saturday before last on a flying visit will have keeled over from lack of water or been eaten by slugs and the grass is going to need another cut. Who knows how bad the bindweed and mare tail will be.

@Seaitoverthere that all sounds very stressful! You deserve a weekends peace at the allotment now.

Do you have a space where people leave spare plants/seedlings at your site?

We’ve sown all our own this year but last year we were able to get quite a bit from people’s spares as we were late in the season to get the allotment.

I don’t think we do so it is the local farm shop for me at the weekend.

@Seaitovertherehow was the allotment looking? Wow that was a mammoth effort to get it all done. Sending good luck, hope you get a sale soon!

@january1244 I haven’t been since weekend before last. Hopefully this weekend. Always a worry if haven’t been for a bit…

So excited about my allotment this year, it’s the first year I have used all my space (last year i left a bit covered). This is my 4th year after starting with a small plot and I now have 1 small plot and one larger plot. It’s all still very much an experiment and I am winging it 🤣.

My asparagus is on its 2nd year and I am trying hard not to pick any…next year I will pick half.

I have just discovered ‘she grows veg’ for weird and wonderful seeds. I like to grow a lot of traditional veg but also love trying new things, so this year I am trying purple carrots, pineapple courgette and yard long beans. Also trying the 3 sisters (corn, beans and squash) and other companion planting. This year is about mixing everything up and not planting in near rows….other than potatoes.

Cant wait to start harvesting things. I am already living in rhubarb, the lettuce is looking almost ready and I a, looking forward to the first peas.

Here’s to a good growing season.

Welcome @tizwozliz

My kitchen windowsill tomato plants were starting to look too big for their little pots so I replanted them into big pots outside today after school. I have a 'grow your own herbs' kit from flying tiger to take their place in the kitchen.

The cherry tree in the front garden has started growing cherries but I am not 100% if they are ornamental or eating cherries (I am leaning towards eating cherries as the blossom white).

Actually ignore me...Google tells me there are also white blossoming ornamental cherries so I am none the wiser.

On a tea break . Don't leave your plots for 2 weeks is my advice of the day 😃 Will strim in a minute and it will hopefully look much better.

My pond is less murky, lettuce survived. Brambles, nettles, bindweed and horse tail is thriving

Grass strimmed around the fruit treas, mange tout, sweetcorn and leeks planted. Plenty berries on the way, potatoes just peeking up.

Lots of weeding of course, need to make a trip to the tip to get rid of the mares tail and bindweed we've pulled up.