[Smudgeboy]

Wotcha all - like many others I'm sure, I'm a newbie finding my way around growing veg - and Munty's Growing Tips sticky thread is a constant source of good info - thanks Munty.

However, reading through them, I keep finding I'm asking myself typical newbie questions such as "what does he mean by that?" or "yeah, but when do I do that?" etc.

So, with the good Munty's agreement (thanks again!), I'm going to post a series of those questions here, for others who may have the same thoughts - and hopefully as an aide memoir for Munty to further improve his Growing Tips thread.

[Smudgeboy]

. . . starting with his post on Leeks!

I've picked out the things that I don't quite understand, here goes nutt'n!

LEEKS

you can plant em straight out as they are,

Right - straight in at the shallow end - what does that mean?

i grow mine to about pencil thickness before planting out in a seed bed in the garden.

Just to clarify - you start your leeks in the greenhouse, then into a seed bed, and finally into the dibbed holes - is that right??

So when do you plant your leek seeds?


That's all on leeks! I'm fer me bed now, more Growing Tips questions tomorrow!  

[muntjac]

that means sow the seed straight into the ground you intend to grow them on .

 i make  a seed bed to put my leeks out into . i dig the soil over rake it down level and fine then i firm it with a duck walk and then mark the rows out for planting the leeks

preperation is everything in gardening i think  

[DD.]

You still missed out the WHEN, Munty!

There are other methods & this is how I do it. (Copied from a previous posting of mine). Time wise - early March for me.

"Now this might seem a bit painstaking, but I find it well worth the effort......

As I said I use cat litter trays, as they are nice & deep,be sure to make holes in the bottom though - a hot skewer will do the job. I use compost from grow bags, as it seems one of the cheaper ways to buy it.

Now here's the painstaking bit, I plant the seed individually 1" apart 1/2 deep. That way they don't crowd each other out. I get nearly 100% germination in the green house. One of these trays will produce 96 plants. Compost has to be kept moist. When a reasonable size they can be moved outside to grow on. I then transplant when they are the thickness of a pencil.

It's something I read somewhere, I didn't make it up my self, but when they go in they are real sturdy plants.

Once they've gone in like this, apart from watering, there's nothing to do until they're ready to go out!

[Annie]

I sow in march to plant out end of june.

[muntjac]

april ......... sorry    i just dump a load of seed in a small bed  and then transplant em to my final bed that i prepared as a seed bed  

[shaun]

dont know what it is with leeks but they seem to get stunted in trays/pots,they grow sow big and thats it(might be me)also they take up room in the greenhouse.
so I sow em in march/april in a tray then in about 6-7 weeks scoop the lot out into clumps of baby leeks into a bit of well prepaired ground on the plot,you can pick em out one by one but it will take forever.
leave em there until july and transplant them to there final position by this time they are as thick as a pencil.
werks for me  

[Smudgeboy]

Right, moving on to Beetroot, Munty spake thus:

How I grow them is as simple as putting them in the soil with a raked in pre-feed of potash (4oz to a 15ft row).

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, when do you do this then?

Ta muchly.

[DD.]

I know it's 'Ask Munty', but I like interrupting.

I do sucessive sowings from April onwards and harvest them when golf ball size, or slightly larger.

[GrannieAnnie]

And as this is a very useful thread, I turned it into a sticky, so it stays where it is and doesn't get moved down the board.  Please let me know if there are any objections!!!

[Jim T]

And as this is a very useful thread, I turned it into a sticky, so it stays where it is and doesn't get moved down the board.  Please let me know if there are any objections!!!

My feeble attempt to grow corgettes this year produced a single butternut squash which scrambled over 2 square yards.
We loved the few squashes we harvested .... didn't know anything about them before.
So next year I want to grow loads and loads of em.(I'll plant proper squash seeds this time)..... but can I make better use of the space by planting something else (eg caulis) in the soil surrounding the squashes? By the time the squash leaves grow over the caulis, these should be well established and might do well in the shade of the squash. Does this make sense?
I love a bargain

[muntjac]

absolutly .. plant them any place you can to grow .if you have a small space dig a hole fill with manure and then plant ur squash on top of it .just keep watered .sulphate of ammonia as a feed halway through the season and i reckon ur gonna have plenty im still picking bay courgettes n marrows   even a bucket standing on the surface of the soil will do fill with rotted manure n plant a squash  

[Jim T]

absolutly .. plant them any place you can to grow .if you have a small space dig a hole fill with manure and then plant ur squash on top of it .just keep watered .sulphate of ammonia as a feed halway through the season and i reckon ur gonna have plenty im still picking bay courgettes n marrows   even a bucket standing on the surface of the soil will do fill with rotted manure n plant a squash  

  Wow, Muntjac, That's terrific :!: I can't wait but I know I have to.
When's the earliest I can plant them in the spring :idea:
 :idea: Hey I guess the ones I'll put in buckets could be put early in the greenhouse and just carried out ? April?

[muntjac]

i dont bother till end march mate sow em then and keep in the greenhouse till may   oiff to a great start and you get loads early fruit .also sopw some in end  april to plant out so they carry on till october /loike what mine do  

[love-my-plot]

absolutly .. plant them any place you can to grow .if you have a small space dig a hole fill with manure and then plant ur squash on top of it .just keep watered .sulphate of ammonia as a feed halway through the season and i reckon ur gonna have plenty im still picking bay courgettes n marrows   even a bucket standing on the surface of the soil will do fill with rotted manure n plant a squash  

Does the bottom need to be cut out of the bucket?