Veg to plant in January and things to do.

waltzingMathilda

I have been out today looking at my very overgrown strawberry patch. I had about 5 plants last year and loads of very delicious strawberries. Lots of weeds grew around them but as they were sheltering the berries from the birds I left them (mistake I think). Anyhow on checking today, it is a mass of weeds and loads of new plants from runners. Should I leave the runners, if so how many and should I separate them from the parent plant.
Thanks

LJM

thanks will plant some basil up on my windowsill today

jcr16

i love january in the garden. yes still cold but i like the fact new life will be growing and it won't be long until spring pops up.

i'm not planning on growing anything at the mo, i got my strawberries, but we might be moving so until i know for sure whats happening i don't want to plant up my garden only for someone else to enjoy,lol.

littlechezza

Just wanted to know where you all get your spuds, we started our plot quite last year in April but still think we did quite well.
We will just be trying the basics which we had success with last year which were:
Carrots, parsnips, lettuce, radish, onions.
We created 2 raised beds and will be adding another this year and will use this as our area to try new things.

Primrose

waltzingMathilda wrote: »

I have been out today looking at my very overgrown strawberry patch. I had about 5 plants last year and loads of very delicious strawberries. Lots of weeds grew around them but as they were sheltering the berries from the birds I left them (mistake I think). Anyhow on checking today, it is a mass of weeds and loads of new plants from runners. Should I leave the runners, if so how many and should I separate them from the parent plant.
Thanks

Yes, it's a good idea to separate the runners from the parent plants. Good gardening advice is that you shouldn't keep strawberry plants for more than 4 years as they start declining in strength, so if you keep the parents and the runners planted in separate locations if possible you'll be able to remember which is which when it comes to disgarding older plants. However, we've have strawberry plants which are 5 years old now which are still cropping prolifically although the fruits are now slightly smaller than originally. However, every spring I give them a good dose of manure and they keep on coming, so I'm not about to pull them up. Your strawberries will obviously perform and crop better if they're not competing with weeds so have a good clear-out and remove old damaged leaves as soon as you have a chance as this will help reduce the number of slugs and woodlice that lurk in them.

Sally_A

littlechezza wrote: »

Just wanted to know where you all get your spuds.

Bought mine from Homebase today, Charlotte as 2nd earlies and Sante as maincrop (disease resistant-ish), they were £3.99 a 1.5kg pack (25 spuds in my Charlottes - others are still unopened), or 2 for £6; so bought 2 packs of each for £12.

I've tried other varieties in the past, and these are the two I'm sticking with.

Just need to find some Rocket, or another variety of 1st early.

PS. Homebase also had Rooster, Desire, Maris Peer (or maybe Piper).

Primrose

Sally_A wrote: »

Bought mine from Homebase today, Charlotte as 2nd earlies and Sante as maincrop (disease resistant-ish), they were £3.99 a 1.5kg pack (25 spuds in my Charlottes - others are still unopened), or 2 for £6; so bought 2 packs of each for £12.

I've tried other varieties in the past, and these are the two I'm sticking with.

Just need to find some Rocket, or another variety of 1st early.

PS. Homebase also had Rooster, Desire, Maris Peer (or maybe Piper).

I've previously grown potatoes in containers, without much success in terms of a decent yield, but am not going to bother again. That's because I normally grow a lot of tomato plants in our garden and with potatoes & tomatoes being of the same family and vulnerable to blight, I'd be doubling my chances of losing crops of both. So as tomatoes are by far my more valuable crop, I'm sticking to them in the hope of reducing my vulnerability. I think potato blight normally strikes before tomato blight too, so hopefully this tactic will reduce the disease spreading.

Sally_A

@ Primrose - don't be off planting early spuds, as those dug up before end July-ish should avoid blight.

RAS

Sally_A wrote: »

@ Primrose - don't be off planting early spuds, as those dug up before end July-ish should avoid blight.

Blight early or late knackers potatoes and toms, it is the same fugus. At least with tatties, you can cut the foliage to the ground and rescue the tubers.

The problem is that if the potatoes get blight, the tomatoes will be knackered very quickly.

I have the same problem; some of our plot holders cover 80 percent of their land with tatties year after year and get dreadful blight, often quite early. No point whatsoever even trying to grow tomatoes.

I plan to grow them at home, where the absence of potatoes gives me a chance.

Primrose

RAS wrote: »

Blight early or late knackers potatoes and toms, it is the same fugus. At least with tatties, you can cut the foliage to the ground and rescue the tubers.

The problem is that if the potatoes get blight, the tomatoes will be knackered very quickly.

I have the same problem; some of our plot holders cover 80 percent of their land with tatties year after year and get dreadful blight, often quite early. No point whatsoever even trying to grow tomatoes.

I plan to grow them at home, where the absence of potatoes gives me a chance.

Sickening isn't it? You put all that effort in to nurture your seedings and then they get wiped out almost overnight. The joys of gardening :eek: