growing veg

ameliarate

Hi, I am sure this has probably been asked on here before but though I did a search I couldn't find it.

I am very new to growing veg and not terribly successful so far. My carrots, beetroot spring onions garlic have all grown but been so small as to be not worth bothering with. My spuds have been great, though I gather I need to plant them deeper in future.

I haven't really bothered this year as I am feeling a bit disheartened but if anyone can advise what I might be doing wrong I would be grateful.

Thanks.

sassyblue

Hi ameliarate, l'm no expert but l would have dug some well rotted manure into any patch where l wanted to grow veg first. I don't feed anything l grow, only water it, l haven't got the time to feed but the manure in the ground first really helps. If you get fresh manure dig it in over the autumn/winter ready for next spring. BTW, my fruit and veg is smaller than stuff in the shops because l don't over feed it, like mass growers do.

It has been a rubbish year with the weather so you may not have done anything 'wrong'.

madjackslam

Don't give up! You may not have been doing anything wrong. As sassyblue says, it's been a dreadful year for growing. I've tried to sow carrots four or five times this year and so far have two carrots to show for it!

Your potatoes have been a success. Congratulations. Concentrate on that and ignore your failures. Next year, try them again, because conditions might be better, and add in some more things that you like to eat. So far you've only tried a few things and others might like your garden more - what about peas/beans, cabbage family, courgettes and squashes?

If I had to make one suggestion, it would be to try mixed salad leaves. With the different kinds of seeds that you get in one pack, some of them are bound to be happy and grow. They germinate quickly, and if they're watered and protected from slugs and other pests they can be cropped in just a few weeks. With the price of salad bags in the shops, you can be saving yourself £££, and they actually have some flavour!

sveedy

re your potatoes - earth them up to increase the depth of the soil. Plant them in a trench that has lots of manure dug in and cover them. once the leaves are a decent size earth up around them to cver some of the leaves.

i think the cruddy weather will have impacted on your success...next year will hopefully be better!

ameliarate

Thanks for the replies - I did put some well rotted manure in but it doesn't seem to have helped much. I did grow runner beans last year, they were great but I think I put then in too early this year and they got damaged.


I will keep going - if only for the flavour of home grown new potatoes.

mothershipton

im in my second year on a allotment and this year has been much worse than last year. I have only had strawberries and broad beans so far. The weeds and slugs are doing well.

Leif

mothershipton wrote: »

The weeds and slugs are doing well.

If only someone could breed edible slugs and weeds we'd all be sorted.

This year is appalling. Only my courgettes and chard look to be doing okay. Gales, rain, slugs and birds have done for the rest. I planted 25 sunflowers for fun. Not one survived.

cootambear

this year has been a disaster, so dont get disheartened, we have them all to readily

the global warming mob predicted a med style climate for the uk - balls. we have typical uk weather now, ie unpredictable

Davesnave

cootambear wrote: »

the global warming mob predicted a med style climate for the uk - balls. we have typical uk weather now, ie unpredictable

They predicted a wider range of extremes in a shorter time frame, which could be about right.

And with the jet streams further south than is usual, this unpredictable weather is set to continue....err.. predictably.

The best insurance seems to be having an area under cover, like polythene, either conventional, or maybe self designed if flexibility is the key. I'd guess my old Chase cloches would have been good too.

A quick note to the OP: manure is good for soil structure, but has relatively low nutrient levels.

Lotus-eater

This year has been a total washout for alot of stuff, I'm still hardly eating anything from the garden and usually I would be up to my ears in gluts about now.

Stick some more manure down, as Dave says it's great for the soil structure.

You can use blood fish and bone as a fertliser as well and make your own liquid feed from manure or comfrey, or seaweed, as an extra as well.

But this year isn't a good one to treat as a usual one, hopefully next will be better or we might have an indian summer.

culpepper

Sowing lots in the hope of getting some seems to help.
I sowed about 30 each of Kale,Brussels,cabbage and broccoli and was left with one broccoli and 3 Brussels after all the rain and slugs(even though they were in the cold frame). I have sown another batch straight into the garden and they are surviving with the help of slug pellets and a cloche covered in garden fleece.
I had 5 cucumber plants and after planting out,only 2 are left(slugs again)and are pathetically small.
However,the 8 courgettes I sowed all came up and are all thriving and the 3 Pumpkin seeds I sowed(from a 5 year old packet) are growing like mad.
I have about 50 spinach plants in the garden. Every few days ,I go and cut 2 or 3 leaves off each one and pinch out any flowering looking thing on them and they still taste fine(not gone bitter).
If I had only sown 7 or 8, I would have considered them a disaster.
Lettuce I sowed in the cold frame in a seed flat and I just cut off a few leaves when we want them,they last for months providing you don't leave cutting too long.
The lettuce I sowed outside was devoured by either birds or slugs or both.
Onions this year have been good but in previous years hardly grew in size from the sets that were planted in the Autumn.