The ups, the downs and the insides out of growing your own in 2024!

Blackjack_Davy

Kantankrus_Mare said:

My tomatoes have been planted out into my greenhouse for about two weeks now. They are tiny compared to some of my fellow allotment holders but I seem to think they were like it last year and I still ended up with a good crop.

Same I planted mine out into the greenhouse at the weekend now I'm tearing my hair out at the weather and especially the weather they don't like the cold at all they literally turn blue with it was hoping for some more warmth this week. They will recover eventually but it checks their growth and basically they'll be a week or two behind. Quite envious of Monty Don's toms on GW he obviously has a heated greenhouse theres no way they could be that size without it I've had mine on a heated mat and they're still nowhere near that size

kimwp said:

I've not managed to sow these so far, is it worth sowing carrots, broccoli and sweetcorn in Nottingham at this point, or will it get cold before anything can be cropped?

Go for it sweetcorn might be a bit late start under glass or better still get some small plants if you can but otherwise yeah. I sowed carrots weeks ago and they're only just starting to come up now its been so cold they just havn't stirred

goldfinches

Bloomin' weather here, the downpour on Wednesday and the cold yesterday have really made everything look miserable on my plot. To crown it all the pesky slugs have had a good munch on one of my ridged cucumbers so I'm afraid I was very generous with the blue pellets yesterday although I'm not sure they work that well really.
Still, I planted out some nasturtiums and more sweet peas and did another good stint of weeding but noticed that the area I'd hoed on Tuesday had more weeds seeds germinating yesterday so I had to go over that bit again. I then had a good look round and found yet more thistles sneakily coming up from bits of roots that had broken off so when I first weeded so all those had to be hoicked out as well. Still the wet soil was a bit easier to pull roots from so that's a small silver lining.

goldfinches

Blackjack_Davy said:

kimwp said:

I've not managed to sow these so far, is it worth sowing carrots, broccoli and sweetcorn in Nottingham at this point, or will it get cold before anything can be cropped?

Go for it sweetcorn might be a bit late start under glass or better still get some small plants if you can but otherwise yeah. I sowed carrots weeks ago and they're only just starting to come up now its been so cold they just havn't stirred

I spotted some pots of sweetcorn seedlings at the local garden shop this afternoon so it might be worth having a look around in your area for some.

leftatthetrafficlights

Harvested a few spring cabbages yesterday for making sauerkraut and for dinner - several of them have been decimated by slugs and we ended up throwing a lot of material into the compost bin (I don't mind that so much as you can never have enough compost!!😉). We’ve decided that we won't grow cabbages again - they take up a lot of space, we've had a massive slug issue every time we've grown them, they're dirt cheap to buy at the shop and I'd rather use the space for higher value and more productive brassicas like sprouting broccoli and cavolo nero. 

Most other things are doing well - we've struggled to get beans to germinate for some unknown reason but managed to get enough done eventually and they are thriving now along with the peas; the tomatoes, aubergine,  peppers, chillis and cucumbers in the greenhouse are doing well, we've planted out the calabrese, brussel sprouts, beetroot, salad leaves, celery and radishes and they're all growing nicely. The butternut and spaghetti squash plants are getting really big and the courgettes are catching up after a slow start! The onions and garlic we planted last autumn seem to be pretty healthy too. 

We were going to do some direct sowing this weekend but it has rained consistently and heavily since 3am yesterday so I think that it will have to wait for a few days - we've still got a lot to get done, just need the weather to play ball! 🙄🤦‍♀️

KajiKita

@leftatthetrafficlights, the one thing I have managed to get germination of is beans (saved seed from last year) - I’m drowning in them! 😂😂😂😉 Sweet peppers otoh … total waste of time, yet again! 

I’ve been meaning to ask …. I found a lovely, little, colourful squash at a farmers market last year and saved seeds from it. They also germinated and have grown well, but when I looked up the variety the seeds I saved had come from an F1 variety so won’t come true. Will they produce edible squashes at all now or should I just bin them as there is a risk of them being very bitter / mildly toxic / indigestible as I have heard can happen with courgettes?

KK

-taff

They'll still be pumpkins and probably not bitter, but they may be tasteless and completely different in growth habit [more vigorous but less fruit for example]  and size to the original. they may also have cross pollinated with something else. Not something I normally suggest but if you wan the same pumpkin, you have to get that pumpkins seeds. 

KajiKita

-taff said:

They'll still be pumpkins and probably not bitter, but they may be tasteless and completely different in growth habit [more vigorous but less fruit for example]  and size to the original. they may also have cross pollinated with something else. Not something I normally suggest but if you wan the same pumpkin, you have to get that pumpkins seeds. 

Thank you. Off to the compost heap with them then! No point wasting time and growing effort on them. 😊

KK

ArbitraryRandom

There's a chance the seed will be even better than the originals as well - You could always let them grow on the compost heap (if you've an older nearly cooked one)... waste not want not  

KajiKita

ArbitraryRandom said:

There's a chance the seed will be even better than the originals as well - You could always let them grow on the compost heap (if you've an older nearly cooked one)... waste not want not  

I suspect that the official compost heap is too shady for them to grow well, but I could possibly do it in the old one at the back …. 🤔

KK

leftatthetrafficlights

My spaghetti squash is grown from seeds I saved from a shop bought one - the seeds have produced squash for the last three years (the plants are rampant this year too!!) and the fruits have been lush! I'd definitely try them out  - you may be as pleasantly surprised as I was 😁