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August Update: What are you growing in 2006? Tips for fruit/veggies/flowers
annie-c
Posts: 2,542 Forumite
This is a (very belated) continuation of the 'What are you growing' thread.
Thanks to everyone who has posted throughout the year! Please join in below with updates, questions and queries on how to make your garden grow! :j
I have learned loads in this, my first year, of growing fruit/veggies and flowers in the garden. :T
Sadly I haven't produced loads....
but I've had respectable crops of new potatoes, chillis, peppers and tomatoes - all grown in buckets, and I have started off an apple tree and a selection of soft fruits that I hope will fruit well next year...
I am struggling at the moment because the heatwave ended before my tomatoes and peppers ripened... so now I have a lot of green produce out in my cold, wet back garden.. and I'll just have to start ripening it on the windowsill soon if the bad weather continues.
But it's been fun! I plan to stick in a few late crop spuds for Christmas and will keep a few herbs going for as long as possible, but once the tomatoes etc are done then, to be honest, I am almost looking forward to tidying up the garden and having a rest for a couple of months - I never realised gardening was such hard work!!!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
It's been a lot of fun though, and I am so grateful for the tips I received from these threads. I'm going to keep them going til the end of the year and then look back over them and compile a selection of the best tips and use the month-by-month sections to help me plan my garden for next year... well, I will need something to fill the time when I no longer have a brood of hungry tomato plants to tend to!!!!
Thanks to everyone who has posted throughout the year! Please join in below with updates, questions and queries on how to make your garden grow! :j
I have learned loads in this, my first year, of growing fruit/veggies and flowers in the garden. :T
Sadly I haven't produced loads....
but I've had respectable crops of new potatoes, chillis, peppers and tomatoes - all grown in buckets, and I have started off an apple tree and a selection of soft fruits that I hope will fruit well next year...I am struggling at the moment because the heatwave ended before my tomatoes and peppers ripened... so now I have a lot of green produce out in my cold, wet back garden.. and I'll just have to start ripening it on the windowsill soon if the bad weather continues.
But it's been fun! I plan to stick in a few late crop spuds for Christmas and will keep a few herbs going for as long as possible, but once the tomatoes etc are done then, to be honest, I am almost looking forward to tidying up the garden and having a rest for a couple of months - I never realised gardening was such hard work!!!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
It's been a lot of fun though, and I am so grateful for the tips I received from these threads. I'm going to keep them going til the end of the year and then look back over them and compile a selection of the best tips and use the month-by-month sections to help me plan my garden for next year... well, I will need something to fill the time when I no longer have a brood of hungry tomato plants to tend to!!!!
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Comments
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Hi Annie,
Just a quick note, as I have had the same problem with some of my tumbler toms (also my first year of growing) - my OH's mum mentioned that if you put a ripe red tomato in with/close to your green ones it will cajole them into ripening (something to do with a chemical which causes ripening?). Anyhow, someone will correct me if this is very wrong, but it seems to have worked with mine (some fell off the bush while green and after I put them next to a ripe one they've all gone red).
Katie
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My apples are coming along a treat - I have cookers and eaters
the courgettes and beans are tailing off.
I have two lovely sunflowers just flowering.
My toms are still green
My sage and oregano is going strongAn average day in my life:hello: :eek::mad: :coffee::coffee::coffee::T
:rotfl: :rotfl: :eek::mad: :beer:
I am no expert in property but have lived in many types of homes, in many locations and can only talk from experience.0 -
kjl26 wrote:Hi Annie,
Just a quick note, as I have had the same problem with some of my tumbler toms (also my first year of growing) - my OH's mum mentioned that if you put a ripe red tomato in with/close to your green ones it will cajole them into ripening (something to do with a chemical which causes ripening?). Anyhow, someone will correct me if this is very wrong, but it seems to have worked with mine (some fell off the bush while green and after I put them next to a ripe one they've all gone red).
Katie
Thanks Katie. I tried the tomato thing too, but it didn't work on the green ones, and the red one got over ripe and split! (didn't work quickly enough for impatient me anyway!!! ). Then I was advised to try putting them into a bag or a drawer with a ripe banana - I have done this now and am awaiting the results..... 
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Mmm, I forgot; I have sage too. Does anyone know if it is an annual or a perennial? I'd like to keep it going so I can have HM sage and onion stuffing for Christmas... along with my new pots!!0
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annie-c wrote:Thanks Katie. I tried the tomato thing too, but it didn't work on the green ones, and the red one got over ripe and split! (didn't work quickly enough for impatient me anyway!!! ). Then I was advised to try putting them into a bag or a drawer with a ripe banana - I have done this now and am awaiting the results.....
Oh I guess it's not that great a tip then!! (I think you can remove the red one once it's got the green ones started btw...if it ever does!!) Thanks for the bag/banana tip, might need that later on - lots of green ones yet.... (Any ideas on ripening chillis/peppers? My chillis all look great hanging off the plants but don't seem to be growing much bigger and/or ripening.)0 -
Oh, sorry to have bad news about the ripe tomato tip... To be honest, I may have picked the green ones way too early - they were not vaguely ripening, they were like green bullets!!!
My chillis and peppers are also green - but I have just been using them up green....
Hopefully they will still be alive and not floating off down the back path when I get home - we are getting torrential rain at the moment!!!!!!!0 -
Oh, no worries. I also have some cherry toms on plants that I think I grew too tall and leggy (in pots) that are always strewn across the path when I get home at the moment...they seem to be taking forever to go green. We seem to have avoided the rain so far today (unlike yesterday) -whereabouts are you?
I think I will start using the chillis green - there are enough to experiment with leaving some on the plants anyhow. My peppers haven't even flowered, I think traumatised by an early encounter with hungry insects.
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If I have a sprouting potato, can I put it into a bin with some soil and grow my own potatoes??? if so, when will I know when they are ready???
And any ideas for what I can grow in a studio flat would be much appreciated!!! (just one big window and sill) Official DFW Nerd no. 082! :cool:Debt @ 01/01/2014 £16,956 Debt now: £0.00 :j
Aims:[STRIKE] clear debt, get married, buy a house[/STRIKE] ALL DONE!!
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Hi Purpleprincess.
You can do this, I suppose, but it could get messy if you are doing it inside....and you will need to make sure it gets plenty of light and fresh air, and not too much warmth from the central heating....
As the potato grows, you'll need to keep filling the bin with soil to cover the growing leaves. Then it will continue to grow 2-3 feet higher than the top of the bin. You'll need to have put holes in the bottom of the bin for drainage and then you'll have to have some way of collecting the drained water each time you water it.
Personally I would try growing something a bit simpler for the windowsill. Next year you could do tomatoes peppers and chillies, for example. This year you still have time to grow salad leaves and herbs and garlic.0 -
**purpleprincess** wrote:If I have a sprouting potato, can I put it into a bin with some soil and grow my own potatoes??? if so, when will I know when they are ready??? And any ideas for what I can grow in a studio flat would be much appreciated!!! (just one big window and sill)
You can but with such limited space it probably isn't the best use of your space.
Too late for much this year but one window sill can be a great little mini produce provider. If you screw a couple of brackets into the wall either side and hang a couple of baskets you could grow tomatoes in them too ( next year though now)
Even now you could put a window box outside on the sill and a line of pots inside.
Grow radishes, herbs, chard, cut and come again salad and spinach. All these could be sown now to give you something to eat within weeks!Living on Earth can be expensive, but it does include an annual free trip around the Sun.0
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