Help MBE grow his dinner 2011

katholicos

mrbadexample wrote: »

Great stuff. Keep 'em coming.

Are you sure you've got enough beans?

And where did you get the trays the tomatoes are in? They look great.

Thanks! I like beans

The green trays? My darling Dad gave me them last year and they have become invaluable in the garden. I really would like to know where he got them from as i really, really want some more, but Dad passed away recently, God rest his soul...so it's too late to ask him now.

Strapped

mrbadexample wrote: »

I don't grow cucumbers as a rule, although I have one this year. Are they particularly fragile, or are you just cursed? Perhaps you shouldn't have slapped them?

I don't know - I had stacks and stacks last year yet everyone was telling me that they are difficult to grow, and I wondered what they were on about. Must have been beginners luck.

Sambucus_Nigra

Strapped wrote: »

Yesterday I picked up two (admittedly sickly looking) cucumber plants left over from the Church plant sale. Slapped 'em in the greenhouse overnight...and one is pretty much dead already! Hmmmmmmpf.

We had a really cold night last night, a frost was predicted....and the thing is you don't know if the person who originally grew them hardened them off properly....well, you can tell after a few years when whether a plant is 'harder' or 'softer'.

Anyway - you can still sow cukes; and get a good crop. They really don't take long to get going so pop a few in a pot, put in the airing cupboard and get some started.

mrbadexample

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

We had a really cold night last night, a frost was predicted...

And again tonight. So despite me saying that I'd finished mollycoddling the beans, they're fleeced again.

mrbadexample

katholicos wrote: »

but Dad passed away recently, God rest his soul...so it's too late to ask him now.

Condolences. Really sorry to hear that.

I get sooo much stuff from my dad when I go to visit. I keep looking in his shed to see what he's got that I need.

Strapped

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

We had a really cold night last night, a frost was predicted....and the thing is you don't know if the person who originally grew them hardened them off properly....well, you can tell after a few years when whether a plant is 'harder' or 'softer'.

Anyway - you can still sow cukes; and get a good crop. They really don't take long to get going so pop a few in a pot, put in the airing cupboard and get some started.

Yes, I think I will have to do that. Although I stuggled to get the seeds to germinate with the variety I bought this year (the one that did was 1 left over from last year). Will they germinate OK in an airing cupboard, as I thought they would need light?

Fortunately, the second plant I bought looks OKish (fingers crossed) and we are in sunny Devon so no frosts here at the moment (and no rain either unfortunately!)

lemonjelly

nopot2pin wrote: »

My tomato plants are still tiny
Not a sniff of a flower
I think I put them out in the green house too soon.
Ironically, I bought one back in the house today to see if it came on any
I haven't been able to spend alot of time doing anything recently, because of all the rain
Here's hoping it will get better

Fear not, you are not alone! Let us join together & commiserate with each other cos almost everyone else on the thread seems to be waaaaaaay ahead of us...:)

My toms are still tiny, no flowers or anything.
My beetroots have just sprouted through, as have the carrots.

I am relieved to see that my beans are approximately in line with some of the other peoples on here (unless they're using old photo's to fool me!:mad:)

Weather has restricted me too.

But I will be patient.:A

lemonjelly

mrbadexample wrote: »

I don't really know. My mate's just given me a courgette plant - I haven't grown one for about 5 years :think: come to think of it, he gave me that one too! I don't even like the flippin' things very much!

It's in the greenhouse at the moment, but has been outside hardening off for the last two days. It looks pretty healthy. I've got one spare scrap of space it can go in, and after that it's on its own.

I had 6 courgette seeds in a pack last year. I planted them all, thinking half would grow. They all grew & I had bloomin loads of courgettes. It made me get very creative in the kitchen with them - there are some amazing threads on MSE about what to do with courgettes!:)

mrbadexample wrote: »

I don't grow cucumbers as a rule, although I have one this year. Are they particularly fragile, or are you just cursed? Perhaps you shouldn't have slapped them?

I grew cucumbers last year & the year before. Pretty straightforward imo. First year I thought they were struggling & gave up on them. Suddenly they flowered so I tried nursing them. Unfortunately they were in pots that were too small, so I didn't do great off them, but the fruit was nice. I tried again last year & after a while planted then out. They grew a lot better!:cool: Again the fruit was really tasty! In fact, my cucumbers were one of the most popular items.

Beautiful large yellow flowers - really attract the bees.

If you are growing them, have something for them to grow up, including a means of supporting the fruit, as they are heavy & weigh the whole plant down. If the fruits are on the floor, the slugs will strip them.

mrbadexample wrote: »

And again tonight. So despite me saying that I'd finished mollycoddling the beans, they're fleeced again.

Wuss!:p

Lotus-eater

mrbadexample wrote: »

Go on, be whole-tempted.

Go on then. I'm not sure you can see much. The ones at the front with straight poles are my own hybrid F2, waiting to see what they are going to be like.
The ones at the back, my main french beans, with a couple of runners thrown in for good luck. A few different types of frenchies, the cosse violotte from real seeds is the furthest in the photo and the most ahead, as promised on the blurb.
I also have growing, blue lake, trail of tears, self saved trail of tears, can't remember what the runners are.

mrbadexample

lemonjelly wrote: »

Wuss!:p

I'm not a wuss. My bean, on the other hand, is a namby-pamby shandy-drinking big girl's blouse. So I wrapped it up warm, gave it a kiss goodnight...

9°C in the greenhouse last night, so it didn't need it anyway. :doh: