I plan to grow my own veg this year...complete novice though

[Spiderplant]

Can anyone help me out at all? I'd like to grow potatoes, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes.
I don't have a particularly big garden so they will be all grown in planters or large tubs.
I hope to get a small plastic greenhouse type thing for the tomatoes.

When do I need to start planting? and is there anything important I should know?

Thanks

ooo, intersting. I'd like to grow in tunbs so can I join in?????

Of course we can swop tips!

I'd like to grow carrots, potaotes, beetroots, tomatoes (we did last year and ds was amazed!) courgettes (did last year) I have the length of my house that gets sun most of the day that I can line tubs up against (Can't use the garden as it's very small and the dogs do nasty things in it!

something like this

www.hellenicgarden.co.uk/planter-barrel.html but MUCH cheaper! Then I can get the depth I need -they do various sizes as these do look a little massive!

Oh they look ideal. That's the sort of thing I was thinking of.
I was going to ask around...maybe on freecycle or somewhere to see if anyone had any going spare. They are quite expensive new aren't they.

I like this as then I can lie them up more easily and they are like raised growbags. We used growbags last year and they did the job but looked awful!

Right, am off to research when to plant seeds...see you soon

found this and it says you can plant potatoes from Feb...

this seems good to tell you how many plants you need and it is for growing veg in tubs...
www.dobies.co.uk/GrowingGuides.htm

Oooooh it actually looks a lot easier than I thought.
I need to get on and get some planters/tubs. I had a feeling you could start at the beginning of the year.

The plastic greenhouse things are great. You might need to keep the cucumber in there as well as the tomatoes. It depends where you are and whether you have a nice warm, sheltered place to grow them.

Last year our tomato seeds completely failed to grow but I picked up some excess plants on freecycle from someone who had had better luck than me. It's worth keeping an eye out for plant sales etc where gardeners might be trying to offload things they've got too many of.

I'm hoping the patio at the back of our haouse will be sheltered enough. It picks up the sun until about 4pm in the summer. There is plenty of space there to put planters and a small plastic greenhouse.

Thanks for the cucumber tip....and I'll look out on freecycle too.

Grow the potatoes in old tyres (free from local tyre repair garages). Grow 3 different varieties (early, mid and late) so you have them through the year.

Tomatoes... if you have limited greenhouse space look for outdoor varities... they grow better IMHO (although will crop a bit later).

Make sure you sow lettuce seeds successionally (a few every couple of weeks), so you dont end up with tons.

If you like fresh coriander this is also really easy to grow, dont bother buying the expensive seeds from a garden centre, buy the big packs of whole coriander seed from indian shops, they work just as well.

If you are short of space, think about growing stuff that grows high like runner beans... you will get a high yield with very small ground usage, and they look fantastic.

HTH...

My Dad, who is a big grow your own fan, suggests planting garlic at this time of year.

Just need an ice pick to plant it at the moment!

mankymummy tell me more about potatoes in tyres...as some nice person has just flytipped a bunch of old tyres at the top of our road i feel i may have a use for them...
is one tyre deep enough for them to grow properly? doesnt look like it would hold enough compost......

You will need 2 or 3 tyres. However I have grown them in up turned grow bags really successfully. Just tip it on one end, support it at the bottom, take about 2/3 of soil out (keep it in a bin bag - you will need it). Put the 2/3 seed potatoes in the bag and cover with a few inches of soil. Roll the plastic down to let the light in but don't cat the bag. As they grow top up with more soil so just the tips are showing. Roll the bag back up as you go.

Once you are half way up just top then leave it to grow.

The topping up stops the potatoes going green.

Home grown spuds are great but you don't get much from one bag or pot. Maybe a meal or two from each for a small family. I do Earlies/2nd Earlies only. Maincrop take too much space for us.

dwarf french bean plants are good, they're quite compact bushes, and as you pick them, more grow. plant a couple of seeds every 2-3 weeks and pick the strongest one to grow on.If you're doing outside cucumbers you can train them like climbers. I only did them last year , but they were very seedy ( i had a male cucumber) . Going to try and find a female variety this year as less seedy supposedly!
I'd reccommend getting a packet of mixed salad leaves for your lettuce,bit more variety and less room needed.Also buying tomato plants, maybe from local maarket. I tried to grow from seed and it wasn't easy.

I love the tyre idea...brilliant, our local garage will be able to donate some I am sure...

Your tips are excellent...thank you all heaps!

I'd forgotten about planting garlic too...Ooooh I shall have to get busy!!

Hi! I went to the loacl garden centre to look at the rectangular wooden troughs but they don't have any in so I think I'll have to buy online.

Some great tips here, I wish I'd planted every 2-3 weeks as last year we had hundreds of lettuces!

Ds 1 is very keen to get involved so what would be the first thing we would need to do?

Would you advise in sowing from seeds or buying plants for a newbie??

I've always found this a good general site.

I grow everything from seed, except for onions and garlic when I buy sets ready to plant.

Good luck to all having a go this year, watch out it's addictive .