veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

mutley74

Got myself some beetroot, swede and evening sunflower seeds! more work!

I planted some parsley and coriander seeds in the glass house last week - coriander has started to sprout, but no signs from the parsley.

Q: whats the difference between an annual seeds and perennial type?
I thought perennial means they will last year on year, but confused with annual type?

izzwizz_2

mutley74 wrote: »

Got myself some beetroot, swede and evening sunflower seeds! more work!

I planted some parsley and coriander seeds in the glass house last week - coriander has started to sprout, but no signs from the parsley.

Q: whats the difference between an annual seeds and perennial type?
I thought perennial means they will last year on year, but confused with annual type?

Parsley can take ages to germinate - even in the heated propagator it can be 3 weeks. It's one of the more difficult ones so don't worry, you are not doing anything wrong.

Annual - plant goes from seed to flower in one year and dies after producing seed (so only lives one year). To keep annuals flowering longer, keep removing dead flower heads to stop them producing seeds ("deadhead").

Perennial - plant usually produces flowers in the second and subsequent years, and they don't die after producing seeds. Hardy perennials can stay outside all year and usually die back in the Winter and come back in the Spring from underground. Half-hardy & tender perennials need protection from frost or they will die from cold.

Biennial - a third group, things like foxgloves. They produce their flowers in the second year after sowing, but die after seeding, so they live for two years.

Hope this helps!

CAFCGirl

mutley - can I just ask what the lidl offer on lavendar is? Im desperate to get some for our yard but the cheapest ive seen is green grocer's @ 3.99, and it wasnt that fragrant...

Vampgirl

Looks like I've come to this thread a little late....some great tips so far thanks - especially the flower buckets from Morrisons - will see if our local one has some coz they sound ideal for tomatoes :-)

We have a very small west-facing garden and we can't devote it all to veg....we need some room to sit out and entertain, we're also renting so we can't do too much, though we have dug up some of the borders and "stolen" a bit of the grass for our veg (landlord is fine with this - we'll make sure its returned back to a normal garden when/if we move).

One of the first things I did last year was set up a herb bed: mint, rosemary, marjoram, chives, french tarragon, thyme, sage and bay - all did really well but only problem I find with herbs is remembering that they are plants like any other and need pruning...I tend to only cut them when I want to use them!

We started trying to grow our own last year with mixed results.
Sucesses were:
- Chilies - indoor first crop in the Aerogarden, then I dried the seeds from the fruits and sowed some in pots. Pretty much every seed germinated and I ended up with far too many plants so various friends and relatives also received some! They did so well that we still have a half-full box of chilies in the the freezer. Eventually lost them as couldn't keep the whitefly away :-(
- Rocket and other salad leaves - outdoor in troughs from seedlings - can't beat fresh salad
- Peas - outdoor from seedlings, but only one fairly small crop before the leaves turned white and they died.
- Spring onions - outdoor from seedlings
- Carrots - outdoor from seed, very small ones but enough for 1 meal (think we planted them far too late though)

Failures:
- Radishes - outdoor from seeds....germinated fine, but then something ate all the leaves
- Brocolli and Brussel Sprouts - outdoor from seedlings....went really well at first, but then caterpillers destroyed them all so they were a total loss
- Garlic - outdoor from seedlings....bulbs never formed so we basically ended up with some leaves with a garlic clove at the bottom
- Peas - second try at peas, grown from seed. Started the seeds indoors and when I planted them out they were healthy, didn't take long for them to go white like the other ones did and die - no crop at all from these.

This year we're going a bit further:
- Garlic - got some seed bulbs from the Isle of Wight Garlic Farm and planted 3 different types last autumn (Solent Wight, Lautrec Wight and Chesnok Wight) two in the ground and one in a trough - all doing very well so far.
- Spring onions/leeks - these are more accidental than anything else...towards end of last summer I decided to plant some seeds in a trough but it was far too late in the year and though they germinated, by the time the cold weather set in they were still too small to eat. So I just left them and decided I'd sort it out in the spring....well some of them have survived and are growing well (no idea if its leeks or spring onions tho!)
- Potatoes - planted outside on 20th March in green potato bags - Sharpes Express (earlies) and Pink Fir Apple (main crop)...both doing well, foliage looks healthy and we've earthed them up to the top of the grow bags now. If my calculations are correct the Sharpes should be ready for harvesting around middle of June - can't wait to try them!
- Carrots - planted some at the end of March and some at the end of April - not many signs yet, but we have had cats digging around there so I wonder if these are a total loss. May just dig over the entire section and re-plant.
- Tomatoes - San Marzano and some stripey one's I can't remember the name of. Planted in little pots on windowsill and covered with clingfilm...germinated well and seedlings are now about 10cm tall. Will eventually be planted out into a 4 tier mini greenhouse. Plan to have some Marigolds to keep the flys away
- Sweet peppers - same as the tomatoes
- Brocolli and Brussel Sprouts - will try again this year - planted from seedlings a couple of weeks ago and all look to have taken well. Now covered in butterfly-proof netting!
- Radishes - will be planing these in some tubs once the spring flowers have died back
- Rocket - will be planted in a trough outside
- Horseradish - planted outside in March in a pot (coz I've heard it can take over if we're not careful!) Didn't do anything for a looooong time, but now has large leaves and is thriving.

Also this year in the Aerogarden I have basil, parsely and corriander as I find those can be quite temperamental on the kitchen windowsil - its an expensive bit of kit, but we used to live in a flat with no outside space at all so its had a lot of use!

We've had a lot of problems with cats over the last few weeks since we got some new neighbours....our solution is basically to make sure all the beds are covered with netting - seems to have worked so far!
For things growing/starting indoors I don't bother with propagators...I just use general purpose compost in pots and cover with cling film and put on a sunny window sill...never had any problems and in fact I think I've probably had almost 100% germination rate.

izzwizz_2

Hi vampgirl & welcome- gosh you've been busy. We have to net our stuff too to keep the hens off. We used insect mesh and it's had the added advantage of keeping the butterflies at bay so I'm hoping the broccoli & cauliflower won't be eaten by caterpillars! Just wondering - what is an Aerogarden please?

GarnetLady

soullessfire wrote: »

What a rubbish day

Got my slugtape from ebay - YAAY. Promptly sliced my finger open trying to flatten it onto the container

Still, Homebase had some bits and pieces that I wanted plantwise reduced due to neglect so I'm now the proud owner of a much bedraggled Rosemary bush (can't get mine to germinate) and a fourth and final tomato alongside half a dozen strawberry plants.

Hope your finger is feeling better. My slug tape has arrived too, think I'll wear gloves when putting it on!

Homebase have been great for reduced plants, had some real bargains. :T

Vampgirl

izzwizz wrote: »

Hi vampgirl & welcome- gosh you've been busy. We have to net our stuff too to keep the hens off. We used insect mesh and it's had the added advantage of keeping the butterflies at bay so I'm hoping the broccoli & cauliflower won't be eaten by caterpillars! Just wondering - what is an Aerogarden please?

Things have gotten off to a slow start due to the weather, but hopefully they should get going properly soon. Its my first year with a mini greenhouse so I'm wondering when I should put the tomatoes out there...think they're too small at the moment so I'm going to wait a bit longer. I must admit though - I'm a bit of a "try it and see" type of gardener (which probably explains the less than stellar results last year *lol*) This year I'm really trying to do a bit more research first

Aerogardens are hydroponic systems - like I said they're pretty pricey and don't do anything that you can't do with a bit of dirt and some time, but I've had it for a couple of years now and I find growing herbs and in them a doddle. They are great if you really have no outside space as the yield is pretty high for the space they take up. There's a thread discussing them here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/661723 I use my own seeds in them now, rather than the expensive seed pod sets they sell.

GarnetLady

I'm a bit worried about my broad beans...



Noticed this today, I've quarantined it for now. Should I be worried?


And these are my toms -



Some of the leaves still look unhappy, but that might be to do with the bug spray. Should I be removing anything from them?

mutley74

CAFCGirl wrote: »

mutley - can I just ask what the lidl offer on lavendar is? Im desperate to get some for our yard but the cheapest ive seen is green grocer's @ 3.99, and it wasnt that fragrant...

paid £2.79 be quick i was there at 10am and not many in stock! also be cheeky and ask for a free black plastic bucket from the flowers for yoru plant (to stop mess in the car!)

Chimera

Well I have French Beans growing on my Dwarf variety..
It's still in a potting on pot, an I best to plant in ground? bigger pot? or leave alone?
Just worried it might want more space/nutrients..