April Update: What are you growing in 2006?

Curry_Queen

Rachie_B wrote:

:beer: i wouldnt have thought of that
im excited about being a "grower" :T :rotfl:

bet it so goes wrong

If I can manage to grow something then I'm sure anyone can! I am so NOT greenfingered and just about every houseplant I've ever had has usually met an untimely death! (saying that, my rocket doesn't look too great today either )

If you're anything like me, before long you'll be eyeing up everything, wondering if it would make a suitable container to plant seeds or seedlings into

kjl26

I have been watching this thread for a while and wondering if it's okay to join in?

I think I might have started some of my seeds off too early but they are looking okay (except for the spinach ) at the moment. So far I have:

Tumbler tomatoes (4 about 5 inches high - or long, as they have started growing sort of low down at an angle. does anyone know if this is normal for these? i am hoping they are just 'tumbling' rather than dying....:))
Chillis (very proud, all 20 (eek) have come up and are about three inches high)
Spinach (in a big pot, wilting/toppling over mostly, at about an inch high, any ideas why?)
Aubergines (just germinating)
Garlic
Sweet peppers

I have a load of other seeds waiting to take up the windowsill space too - courgettes, leaves of various kinds, etc.

All these are going into pots eventually or hanging baskets, although OH is suggesting making raised beds to go straight onto the patio - all our garden is concreted over and under the leasehold we can't change it. Is this a good idea or is sticking with pots best?

On a different note, I also have some sweet peas which are doing well. I repotted one that was growing miles faster than the others and it's flourishing in a toilet roll innard (!) under my dad's advice, but now the others are big and still in the tray (about 6 inches high I guess) and I don't know whether to give them the toilet roll treatment individually or do something else. I'd be grateful for any advice, although I know this thread is really for veg growing.

This is my first year growing anything and I would be really grateful for any advice on the above, and look forward to seeing how everyone else's efforts go too .

Katie

squeaky

kjl26 wrote:

I have been watching this thread for a while and wondering if it's okay to join in?

Hiya

Of course you can join in. Honest

What's that old Martini song...?

Anytime, anyone, any where... lalalalalala, or something

Everybody is welcome to join in any where at any time.

annie-c

Hi Katie

I started this thread, mainly because I'm a novice and want to pick up tips from others, so can't answer your questions, sorry, but am intrigued by the sweet pea/toilet roll trick! Have heard it mentioned before as well. How does it work? And is it too late to start sweet peas now??

Annie :T

serena

Hi everyone,

just found time to get on here again. I have now stopped sulking about the awful cold weather, and been down to the allotment yesterday and today for a couple of hours each time. I am clearing the weeds from the beds where I want to plant potatoes in the next couple of weeks. Not very entertaining, but got to be done! I have finished one bed, and have done half of the second. After that, I need to clear the weeds from the area where I want to put up my plastic cloche (like mini polytunnel, made from water pipe and plastic, which will bring back happy memories for anyone who used to watch Geoff Hamilton on Gardeners World!) and then I can plant out the carrots, beetroot and spring onions I sowed in modules.

Sweet peas - hurry up and sow them now, either in deep pots, or you could sow them direct. If you have ones that are growing too lanky, then pinch out the top of the shoot just above a leaf joint. The pro growers always do this because the new stem that will grow will be stronger and have better flowers. They only grow one stem, but for the general garden a bushier plant with more flowering stems is fine. You should be able to put them outside now to harden off for a few weeks before planting out, unless it starts snowing again...we have just had a hail shower here.

Spinach - look carefully at the base of the stem just at soil level. Does it look thin and brown? If so, it has a fungal disease, damping off, which can be a problem with seedlings.Try to keep on the drier side and the plants may grow out of it. Or you could sow direct in the garden.

Any newbies may like to borrow the Alan Titchmarsh book 'How to be Gardener Book One', which I think is great for beginners (and not too bad for me either!) The first book is the one on gardening, book two is more on designing.

Don't worry too much about growing plants - they do want to grow and survive!

I am hoping to get down to the plot again tomorrow, but have to do the weekly shop (boring - I'd rather garden). Sorry this is so long!

Happy gardening everyone.

Horasio

I grew some tomatoes and courgettes in a growbag in the greenhouse a couple of years ago. They did very well. I have to grow anything tasty in there otherwise the wild rabbits will eat them.

We also have apple trees and strawberry plants. Had a bumper crop of apples in 2004 and a great crop of strawberries last year.

I would like to plant some herb seeds direct into the ground but the weather is baltic here.

rowantoad

CCStar wrote:

I have to grow anything tasty in there otherwise the wild rabbits will eat them.

Rabbits......Mmmmmmm

xueta

annie-c wrote:

...but am intrigued by the sweet pea/toilet roll trick! Have heard it mentioned before as well. How does it work? And is it too late to start sweet peas now??

It's not too late to sow sweetpeas.

The cardboard tube of a toilet roll can be used instead of a peat pot or a plastic plant pot. Just fill it with compost and plant as normal. When it comes to planting out in the ground, put the whole module (cardboard as well) into the ground. The cardboard will bio-degrade. This method avoids having to disrupt the roots when planting out.

An alternative to using cardboard rolls is to make your own pots out of newspaper.

HTH

Strepsy

Boohoohoo, the frost got one of my tomatoes and a few other plants are looking a bit limp/frizzled at the edges. Cursed greenhouse Is there anything I can do to help the ones that aren't too bad recover?

Linda32

kjl26 wrote:

I have been watching this thread for a while and wondering if it's okay to join in?

Tumbler tomatoes (4 about 5 inches high - or long, as they have started growing sort of low down at an angle. does anyone know if this is normal for these? i am hoping they are just 'tumbling' rather than dying....:))

Of course its okay :T

Are the Toms on a windowsill? Thats correct by the way and if so the plants are leaning towards the light, which is natural. However the way to counteract that is to turn the pot around each day, so the side that was facing the outside is facing inwards.

That way the plant will reach over the otherside for the light, thus eventually straightening the stem

Hope that makes sence.

Whatever you do, don't put them out until the frost has passed. Which can be the end of May in some area's. Thats the case for me in Leicester, which is about in the middle, sorry don't know where you are.

When you do put them out, take then in and out for about two weeks during the day, this gets them accustumed to the outside.

Depending on the weather, (wind / rain) you might have to devise a system or area for protection. Stop them drowning or blowing away :eek: