veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

janibrown

Just bought 10 celeriac plants for £1.99 going to give it a try as I never seem to be able to buy it in our local shops anyone else grown this before ? Also got 10 baby sweetcorn plants never grow this before either will wait and see how it grows !!

antonia1

Okay, I've now actually just started making stuff up as I go along.

I have indoor chilli plants growing really well, but may have to repot them soon. They are currently in washed out "covent garden" soup containers (not mine, I'm way to stingy to buy that), but I think they may be too small.

Carrots are doing quite well outside. The first ones are looking very green, and sowed some more last week. Can't see anything of the second sowing yet, but the first ones too ages too.

Tomatoes have been relocated from the window sill to a plastic growhouse over the weekend and seem to be doing really well. I open the front in the morning and will shut it at night. Hopefully this will be good enough until they get too big and have to be planted outside. Aphids all over the place tho, so will try the soapy water trick.

Courgettes also moved into the growhouse, but they seem to be struggling to hold themselves up, should I be supporting them with something? They just look all floppy. Not sure if I might be over-watering them tho.

Only one of my lettuces managed to germinate properly, so have sown some more. I was probably over-watering cos I couldn't resist giving them some water even when they weren't dry. Must be better this time. The lettuce is outside completely now, will it be okay? I'm just outside London and the weather seems warm enough.

Peppers are also in the growhouse, how long until these need to be moved outside? They looked healthy on the windowsill, but maybe a bit small. They are still in 8cm pots and are only about 5cm tall. They aren't growing very quickly.

Sowed 4 cucumber plants about 2 weeks ago, but only 2 have come through. They seem to have very yellow leaves too. Should I be feeding them something specific or is it my over-watering?

BBC Grow Your Own french beans have just started to pop out of the soil, so I was thinking of leaving them inside for a week or two and then planting them out. I think someone suggested a large pot (30-40cm) with canes in a wigwam shape would hold around 6, is that right? Also, how tall will the canes need to be? The packet says 1.8m, but that seems way too tall.

Finally, sowed some cauliflower, cabbage and parsnips yesterday, so anxiously waiting to see if they work!

Thanks for all the help. I was feeling all relaxed when everything was just seedlings, but now they are proper plants its getting quite hard!

Optimisticpair

lolly5648 wrote: »

What did you use as beer traps?

You can use cut down plastic pop or milk bottles - sinking them into the soil with a rim of about an inch showing. Fill with beer and voila you have a slug pub.

blushingbride_3

hi everyone

well what a busy day i had yesterday!

i assembled & positioned by tomato growhouse, its much bigger than expected

Planted my strawberry plants, i've put a plastic closhe tunnel over them, is this ok? does it matter than the plants are touching the sides of it?

i've also planted my onions in rows with some carrots in between to prevent carrot fly

then in my other raised bed i have:

brussel sprouts
parsnips
beetroot
swede
brocholi

now i have run out of space!haha

where can i get some good planters for my patio?

i'm going to get some cabage plants from my carboot & i'd like caugettes & butternut squash although my seeds havent germinated

i've got lots of tomato plants so i'll have space for 3 in the grow house & then i'll plant some in grow bags & my cucumbers

oh its exciting but there's just not enough time or space in my garden!:rotfl:

janibrown

Something still keeps nibbling my spinach !!!! you can see tiny bite marks on leaves but no slime from slugs or snails
Very Confused still

moneymabel

lolly5648 wrote: »

What did you use as beer traps?

I was going to use cut down bottles but thought my dogs would probably just drink the contents so I bought a pack of four from Ebay- they are black and green and have little raised lids so they are protected from the rain and pets but the slugs can still get in the sides.
Im going to have to pluck up the courage to empty them soon!

Chimera

blushingbride wrote: »

hi everyone


Planted my strawberry plants, i've put a plastic closhe tunnel over them, is this ok? does it matter than the plants are touching the sides of it?

I don't think your strawberries will need protection, they are quite hardy. Mine were fine even after being covered in snow

misskool

janibrown wrote: »

Just bought 10 celeriac plants for £1.99 going to give it a try as I never seem to be able to buy it in our local shops anyone else grown this before ? Also got 10 baby sweetcorn plants never grow this before either will wait and see how it grows !!

I grew celeriac for the first time last year and got some small golf ball sized ones. They do grow big but they like lots of water. I've been told to water them after it's been raining. I'm trying again this year so fingers crossed will be a better crop.

Just a note that baby sweetcorn plants grow as tall as real sweetcorn (guess how I learnt that one!!).

[Deleted User]

moneymabel wrote: »

I was going to use cut down bottles but thought my dogs would probably just drink the contents so I bought a pack of four from Ebay- they are black and green and have little raised lids so they are protected from the rain and pets but the slugs can still get in the sides.
Im going to have to pluck up the courage to empty them soon!

Last year I bought my slug traps from the pound shop. 2 in a pack for a quid. Not seen them yet this year although we only have a tiny pound shop.

Chimera

Done quite a bit recently, but not posted..

Made first raised bed (60cm depth), half filled with garden waste, compostable stuff. Now awaiting top soil to add to compost and I can PLANT!! Yippee!!

Tomatoes had a bit of a moment after being outside allday. Sheltered them for a few days and they've picked up nicely and potted on again today

Gooseberry bush has starting fruiting very exciting.

Dogs ate half my strawberry plants, so ordered some more bare rooted off ebay for a bargain, and they are coming on nicely, plus I had more than before!!

Bought a pot of peas seedlings, they were looking a bit big for pot (already repotted once, so tried splitting today - they didn't like it but I'll just have to see how it goes! If not is is too late to plant some?

Corgettes are coming along nicely, but I've sown too many so many Give some away to friends.

Radishes are going great, and starting harvesting a few weeks back, and have a constant supply

Salad leaves doing the same - can't wait to pick a whole salad from garden

Herbs.. chives - still no joy, basil - getting there, Mint - didn't germinate for ages, so sowed more then all at one they've all popped out - so will have loads, but I do love mint, Parsley and Corriander going great guns, thyme - not doings so well.

Sweetcorn coming on great - love the fact you can tell it's sweetcorn already!

French beans - Getting very tall.. currently on windowsill climbing up small cames
Dwarf french bean - started flowering!!!! What do I do? Does it need to be outside re: pollination etc?

Blueberry - growing by the minute!!

Raspberries - Autumn fruiting - have two planted out and 3 potted ready to go in new beds

Blackberry that was hacked back when we sorted garden and going bonkers!!!

Spring onions - gone from looking like grass to chunky little things

Cucumbers - standard types popped through nicely, crysal lemon thingies are just showing signs of life (I hope)

Carrots - just poking through

Need to sow more of everything for sucessional crops.. lovin this whole gardening lark!!

Oh and front of flat - summer bulbs poking through.. and lovely man from council came and cut the grass, plus my daffs and the tops of a few of the new shooting summer bulbs (only a tint bit).. grrr so annoyed!!! You try and make the place look nice and that's what happens! Do you think this will affect my bulbs??

Anyhoo, been busy, can't believe how therapeutic it all is - love messing about in mud!!
Also can't believe how much I can fit in my tiny garden!!

Ooo and I planted some wild flower mix and left over bulbs in pots too!!