Show Us Your Veg Patch - You Know You Want To!! (Merged Thread)

hathor

Hi Saveit
I've got some sweet peppers growing in pots on the bedroom windowsills which seem to be fruiting. One looks particularly impressive for a first-timer, the others may catch up. (I'm amazed if anything flowers, let alone actually fruits!)
My question is this: would you say that by growing them indoors this way, the "season" doesn't have the same relevance? I'm hoping that they will continue to increase in size and eventually ripen (I don't like green peppers, but I love red ones!). I have also been wondering if I could start some more in pots indoors in a few weeks, which would take them into the winter. Do you think they would chunter along quite happily, or should I abandon the idea and wait till Spring?
I had a vague notion that if I could get a winter crop of indoor peppers, they might add a bit of colour and crunch to December salads - based on growing rocket & mixed leaves indoors on the window sills.
What do you (and everyone else, of course) think?

Saveit

hathor peppers harvest from Aug to Oct, it would be nice to have a crop in Dec perhaps one of MSE's more experienced gardener's can advise. The greenhouse I had wasn't heated so everything used to die off by the end of Sept. The conservatory is heated so it might be possible I am flash freezing my peppers chopped up for soups and stir fries, once frozen on a tray I transfer them to a freezer bag, that way they don't all stick together.

Primrose

Hathor - I tried growing peppers indoors in winter on a windowsill, sowing them in August, but the problem was that as the light levels diminished during November & December they seemed to weaken and and were overcome by whitefly. If you have a warm conservatory you might be luckier as long as you move them away from the cold window frames at night. Like Saveit, I've got a really huge crop of outdoor peppers from my six plants and as and when they ripen, I'll chop them up, open freeze them to stop them sticking together and save for stir fries and salads, etc. They do freeze very well whole, but just take up too much space in the freezer

Primrose

Saveit - I wonder if the problem with your chillies was lack of pollination of the flowers by insects if you've grown them indoors. As soon as it got warm enough I put my three Hungarian Wax chilli plants outdoors against a sheltered wall so that the insects could find them but I also cheated a little and "finger pollinated" the flowers, (gently moving a finger from one flower to another on different plants. I had lots of flowers. Some inevitably didn't set but probably just as well because the weight of the chillies would have caused the plants to topple over. One gardener once suggested to me hanging a small piece of meat or sausage near plants needing to be pollinated as this would attract lots of flies and other insects. I've never tried it so can't say whether it's likely to be effective. Chillies need a very long growing season. I sow mine indoors in February and grow them outdoors in pots. Hungarian Wax is a large rather mild chilli and is very decorative to grow, turning from green to yellow to orange to red and so far, even in bad summers, it has never let me down.

hathor

Good thought, Primrose.
I use a fine brush from a redundant make-up brush set and carefully go from flower to flower. You can see the pollen clearly on the "hairs" of the brush; so far I seem to have convinced the peppers that it's a rather clumsy bee.
Will do the same on the balcony if my female courgette flower ever opens.... (I have seen a bee out there a couple of times, but I think trusting to luck will be as effective as for every raffle ticket I've ever bought, so AI it is!!)

KAAT_LADY

SKIPPY54 wrote: »

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This is supposed to be a cantaloup melon,BUT it looks like an onion so no melons this year folks,they are the ones outside that were eaten by the slugs.*This must be an onion sqaush.*

*Dont tell me its an Atlantic giant pumpkin,I lost one somewere,it will have the roof in.

Hi,all,
Do you remember this when it was hanging in the greenhouse?I was'nt sure what it was,well I was right first time ONION SQUASH,the orange one on the photo below the cut one is off the same plant,and so tasty.




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Pattison squash,Gherkins,Round courgette,Onion squash you can see where it gets its name from.Some Plums and asmall Cucumber.

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The small onions still drying and the larger onions baged and ready for storage.



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You have quite a selection there SKIPPY

what sort of cucs are you growing ,,have you tried the burpless

See ya
KAAT

hathor

Anybody heard from Bexbex lately? She was going to explain to us how to grow tomatoes in an upside-down Coke bottle.

I'd love to know how hers has progressed - last seen in June - and to get her tips/ask questions in order to have a go myself next year.

For example: do plants suffer from light getting to the roots if they happen to grow through the compost to the bottle walls? Do you start them off the right way up till they've established a strong stem through the neck of the bottle and them invert them, or do they start off upside-down?

You can see why I've never bothered with gardening before, can't you? I'm rubbish at waiting!:D

kazwookie

Wow,

What wonderful photos of all the stuff you have been growing.

My one cucumber is about 5" long now! I have 2 (yes that is right) 2 small corgettes! and about 6 toms growing!! spuds have done well.

cammumof3

Hi all
Remember me, I haven't posted on this thread for a few weeks as I didnt subscribe to thread and I couldnt find you lol.
Tried again just now and found you.
My carrots seem to turn out funny shapped too.
I have photos of my carrots, tomato plants, (several off) and my cucumbers.
I will try and add the link
Hope all is well
Cazhttp://carolinesallotment.blogspot.com/

Lotus-eater

hathor wrote: »

Anybody heard from Bexbex lately? She was going to explain to us how to grow tomatoes in an upside-down Coke bottle.

I'd love to know how hers has progressed - last seen in June - and to get her tips/ask questions in order to have a go myself next year.

For example: do plants suffer from light getting to the roots if they happen to grow through the compost to the bottle walls? Do you start them off the right way up till they've established a strong stem through the neck of the bottle and them invert them, or do they start off upside-down?

I tried this year and it didn't turn out very well.
Firstly it must in a place that is very sheltered from the wind.
2nd Do not ignore advice and put loads of sweet peas in the top, the tomato plant just runs out of water all the time,

Apart from that, I could see that it would work, I ended up pulling out my tomato plant and just living with the sweet peas, which have a wonderful display atm.
But I can't see any advantage over growing in the ground or growbag, unless you have massive problems with snails and slugs.

Oh yes questions....... a coke bottle won't be big enough, roots, light.......... no and they start upside down.