veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

annie123

Coriander needs a pot at least 20cm deep as it has a tap root.
It does not like standing in water, so make sure you plenty of drainage at the bottom of the pot but it mustn't dry out either (fussy little thing!)
Too little water or a sudden drop in temperature can cause it to bolt and flower.
I grow mine in a west facing spot, in a pot about 30cm deep and wide with 5cm of drainage stuff at the bottom and it seems to do well every year.
HTH

Chimera

been in the garden this morning, and to be honest I'm getting a bit stressed - I just haven't got the space for all the plants!!
Puppy has eaten a variety of seedlings and full broad bean, and courgette plants!! Thinking I'm going to have to be a bit ruthless and stop sowing so much (just want one of everything!! lol.. )

I'm going t have another attempt this afternoon, and try not to be a stress head!!

mutley74

annie123 wrote: »

Coriander needs a pot at least 20cm deep as it has a tap root.
It does not like standing in water, so make sure you plenty of drainage at the bottom of the pot but it mustn't dry out either (fussy little thing!)
Too little water or a sudden drop in temperature can cause it to bolt and flower.
I grow mine in a west facing spot, in a pot about 30cm deep and wide with 5cm of drainage stuff at the bottom and it seems to do well every year.
HTH

Thanks for the tip - i have learned something new!;)

soullessfire

Can't stand Coriander lol Tastes like Soap to me and totally ruins curries for me if there's loads in. Strange really, because I like all the other herbs.

My spring onions (scallions) are ready... Kindof forgot about them but I looked the other night and pulled a couple of a salad and they were absolutely perfect size. I guess I can add that to my (small) list of successes. Radishes were finished too but I'm not a massive fan and my sister found them too hot, so I just planted out the BBC salad leaves since we're getting to the limit of what the pots I already have can manage. Another 12" square pot with salad should ease things a bit.

ausmummy

Chimera wrote: »

been in the garden this morning, and to be honest I'm getting a bit stressed - I just haven't got the space for all the plants!!
Puppy has eaten a variety of seedlings and full broad bean, and courgette plants!! Thinking I'm going to have to be a bit ruthless and stop sowing so much (just want one of everything!! lol.. )

I'm going t have another attempt this afternoon, and try not to be a stress head!!

I know how you feel. I was rearranging my pots last night so they didn't just look like they had been plonked down- garden centre style. After a few attemps just not looking right, I sat down for a good 40 mins just looking at the space and the pots. After playing around with heights and sitting some things on up turned pots I eventually got there.
I now have to get my dining area complete with raised beds done before my next lot of seedlings need somewhere to go. I managed to gain a bit of time untill I need the bed ready for most of my chillis and peppers now that I found enough pots to give them a bit more space.
I can remember on a bbc garden design prog a few years ago (home front or something - can't remember) where they did a sunken room in the garden. Thats what we all need - a 2 story garden.

frazzbo

ausmummy wrote: »

.....sitting some things on up turned pots......

That's a nice idea - simple but effective

izzwizz_2

Just to add to annie's comments - with coriander, you need to make sure you are growing the variety for leaves and not the one for seeds (Leisure is the one I've had some success with this year). I started it off in pots and got it planted out into good fertile soil fairly quickly, and got good sized plants with plenty of leaves for the freezer before it flowered. When it flowers, you can then save the seed too.

It's been a lovely, hot morning here but has now clouded over and we have rain forecast for tonight. Fingers crossed it won't be too heavy because I bravely moved some tall pots of tomatoes outside (have put them against a south-facing wall for a bit of heat at night). Really needed some space in the greenhouse, and they were so closely jam-packed together I started to worry about mould diseases spreading where I couldn't see them (needn't have worried really, they all looked pretty healthy once they were out in the open).

Uprotted some more bolting onions and chopped them up for the freezer. The bulbs are starting to get quite big now, so I saved those to make caramelised onion & goats cheese tartlets tomorrow.

Also picked another kilo of spinach leaves from my 6 window boxes. I think they have been the biggest success so far. Biggest failure so far is a cherry tree bought from B&Q that turned out to have bacterial canker. Had to cut most of it away so there's only about a foot left. What is everyone else's biggest success & failure so far?

soullessfire

izzwizz wrote: »

caramelised onion & goats cheese tartlets

sounds yummy izzwizz, don't suppose you have a recipe? I love goat's cheese and onion, even though I usually make onion marmalade to go with it rather than both in a tart, but I think they would work together well with a nice salad.

lolly5648

Izzwizz, I'd also like the recipe if you have one. (When I ask friends for recipes they usually say 'a pinch of this and a handful of that' which is no good for me as I am not a natural cook and have to follow a recipe exactly)

antonia1

Sounds marvellous izzwizz. Once I've mastered growing the veg, I'll have to learn to cook it properly!

On another note, how tall do cucumbers get? No idea what variety they are, but I only staked them last weekend and they're already halfway up the 4" cane!