Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: JayG on July 17, 2019, 08:40
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A bit challenging this year - all my tender summer crops were planted out at the end of May, and then sulked throughout a mostly wet and cool June. Since then, keeping up with the watering has been the main challenge.
Kestrel second early potatoes: just started harvesting these - good size tubers, no slug damage, and good taste, but they do break up very readily on boiling (may have to let them dry out for a few days before cooking to see if that makes a difference.)
Runner and Cobra French beans: both flowering and starting to set first pods - at least a couple of weeks behind where they normally are in a good year.
Sweetcorn (Incredible): Sulked and went pale in June, now looking better, but as others have reported, the male tassels are appearing despite the plants only being about 2' tall, which is definitely undersized for this variety.
Courgettes: Just picked first one - late again, but no doubt will be inundated before long.
Winter squash: Uchiki Kuri being persuaded to climb up a bamboo frame - a few flowers, alas all female at the moment.
Wizard field beans: plenty of pods set despite having to fight a rearguard action against blackfly.
Garlic (spring planted): Nearly ready (scapes picked a week or so ago) - no rust.
Tomatoes (GH and cold frame): June was a bit cold even in the GH, but they're romping away now and just setting the first fruits. As ever, Red Alert (in the cold frame) leading the way.
Cucumbers (GH, outdoor ones didn't make it through June): La Diva - thought about suicide, but now growing strongly and first flowers appearing.
Salad Stuff: No problems, apart from the perennial challenge of trying to find ways of stopping them all cropping at once.
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In the greenhouseeverything looks really healthy. My climbing and Dwarf French beans are doing ok but not cropping as much as normal. Sweetcorn tassels have reached the roof and am hoping for a good crop. Toms are flowering but not profusely and are very bushy, and I've had one cucumber. I got some new topsoil and compost on the bed this year so it may have an excess of nitrogen but I have been feeding with Maxicrop to help the balance. Outside, my onions, pots, spring onions, courgette, pak choi and fruit bushes are doing fine.
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Outdoor tomatoes are doing well, eaten the first couple of sungold and lots of fruit on black and red cherry. Roma are the tangled mess they usually are and have a few good sized fruit on each plant
Sweetcorn has a few cobs forming though plants not as tall as usual
Cucumber has plenty flowers and plenty powdery mildew, going to 'milk' it later
Beetroot done nowt, not grown past 1st leaves, probably down to watering
Climbing beans a disaster, again down to lack of water, dwarf purple queen feeding us already. Going to plant more dwarf beans where the climbers are. Peas look good, some pods filling out nicely
Fennel starting to fatten
Had to pull half of maincrop potatoes (kerrs pink) early as most of them had blackleg, tubers ok but yield not great. Earlies left in the ground to hopefully feed us early autumn (sharpes express and swift)
Pigeons enjoying brassicas, going to net them tomorrow, should have done it sooner.
Loads of basil but snails ate the coriander!
First tequila sweet pepper starting to ripen.
The winter garlic had rust so were pulled a bit early, might have to pickle the small bulbs as not sure they have enough skin to keep.
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Having to harvest Jazzy potatoes early as succumbing to blight but yield not too bad.
Beets are now online and are going to overwhelm us soon.
Courgettes coming on in a steady way (at the moment!)
Pak choi disappointing this year (usually overwhelmed)
Salad and rocket now gone to seed but have fed us well.
Managed to scorch the basil but hopefully it will recover.
Having to freeze raspberries as we cannot keep up.
PSB planted in vacated potato containers doing really well.
Gooseberries delighting our lunchtime salads :D
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Jazzy earlies, been eating for a cope of weeks, enough still,in for couple of good feeds
Beetroot and spinach got the beet leaf bug, beetroot recovered, will resolve all year spinach
Lettuce good, I’m still bad at succession sowing, first 2 tumbling toms picked today, plenty of fruit on Black Russian, sun gold and red ones forgotten name!
Cucumbers are babies, first courgette tomorrow, swede and parsnips look ok.
Brassicas, cavale Nero, kale and sprouts doing well under debris netting. Squash and pumpkins a bit hidden under foliage of roosters drooping over.
Peppers and chillies outside in gro bags plenty of flowers.
Need rain!!!!!
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Best year ever for sweet peas!
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Hopefully that's not a Spoonerism! :lol:
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Outside on the plots most things are behind where they usually are, even the courgettes, except for soft fruit which is more or less in line with usual harvest times and 2nd Early Potatoes, which are ahead of usual dates due to the recent long dry spell here. No amount of watering makes up for lack of rainfall really
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Runner beans doing exceptionally well just starting to get lots of beans now but plenty of flowers still. Tomatoes are just starting to appear.
I planted wild strawberries and they are just turning red but I'm not keen on the shape etc of them. I think I planted them in to small a container to start with.
Cucumber - the plant has shot up and has lots of flowers still.
Butternut squash - I have one pollinated at the moment. Lots of flowers so I am going to check the sex of them tomorrow.
Blood sorrel - Incredible I love the taste and had plenty for salads. Ate too much now so took down to the ground.
Baby spinach - I think I caused them stress and they bolted. However, I still ate the leaves but taken out now.
Spring onion - I flooded and killed :(
Perpetual spinach - I need to stop eating and allow to grow haha.
Potatoes - Still growing its been ages but still healthy. Waiting for the flowering. But I may have a little rummage to see how they are going tomorrow.
As per another post Kale and cabbage not so good plagued with pests.
My first every year growing, my learning so much and loving every second. I never thought I would. I'm also experimenting with many other herbs and edible flowers.
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Strawbs a bit slow, but they are new plants so I'm not expecting much this year. PSB kale and courgettes doing great - spuds have been huge and lovely. But the squash - omg they're like triffids. This is my first year growing them and i love them. Probably because you couldn't kill them with a stick and that's the kind of veg I need. Can't believe how fast they're growing. Here's 2 pics of my feistiest one taken 10 days apart - coffee cup for scale. (And I will pull that fat hen growing beside it tomorrow when I'm down there - so many weeds; they do better than anything else!!)
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Great pics of your squash Ethel. I love them too, they’re like my pets, they are so undemanding and grow so well. They are taking over my allotment again and its great fun!
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Getting overwhelmed with beets and courgettes :wacko:
Raspberries are nearly finished but have done well (lots in the freezer)
Struggling to keep up with the gooseberries
Blueberries coming on line but not a big crop. Lots of new growth so hopefully better next year.
Perpetual spinach now threatening to overwhelm.
Pak choi disappointing this year
AND I am definitely NOT going to try and grow basil again. So much effort and I have only one healthy plant to show for it :(
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French beans seem to be setting ok but are a bit shorter than normal, I'm hoping the recent rain will help.
Runners and shelling beans, are not setting well at all, flowers nearly all just dropped off. The French bean crossed runners are not s'posed to need pollination, so I'm assuming it's the heat/drought - even though they've been watered every few days :(
Squash were doing nothing, but have been going crazy since the rain a couple of weeks ago, setting fruit as well now. I've had just 4 courgettes from 5 plants :ohmy:
Sweet corn is very short with lots of cobs having tassels instead of silks again. I have a later planted batch that are growing taller, so the later harvest may be better. Fingers crossed.
Summer cabbage is full of tiny white caterpillars, despite being netted - so don't know what they are?
My late planted shallots are not up to much - onions are much better, just beginning to ripen now.
Pea yield was lower than normal, but what I did eat were lovely :)
Salad germination has been very erratic, and transplants dried out before they took - even with daily watering.
I had lots of fruit on the old summer raspberry plants, but the fruit on the Tayberry and Loganberries planted spring 2018 just dried up before they ripened :( Perhaps their roots haven't grown deep enough to cope yet)
Chard and Celeriac seem to growing ok, but they're near the tap, so easy to keep watered.
I planted my leeks 2 days ago, so hoping this weeks cool weather will help them take. Swedes are still in modules, as the ground was too hard to plant them, hopefully they'll go in over the next few days..
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Kestrel second early potatoes: just started harvesting these - good size tubers, no slug damage, and good taste, but they do break up very readily on boiling (may have to let them dry out for a few days before cooking to see if that makes a difference.)
2 weeks later; yield very poor, some plants have several good-sized spuds, but many have only 1 or 2.
Runner and Cobra French beans: both flowering and starting to set first pods - at least a couple of weeks behind where they normally are in a good year.
2 weeks later; first Cobra ready a week ago and before any runners, which are setting well at last.
Wizard field beans: plenty of pods set despite having to fight a rearguard action against blackfly.
2 weeks later; good yield, not sure I like the taste as much as the more familiar varieties of broad bean.
Garlic (spring planted): Nearly ready (scapes picked a week or so ago) - no rust.
2 weeks later; harvested - pretty good sized bulbs for this variety.
Tomatoes (GH and cold frame): June was a bit cold even in the GH, but they're romping away now and just setting the first fruits. As ever, Red Alert (in the cold frame) leading the way.
2 weeks later; Setting very well - long way from any ripe fruit though.
Cucumbers (GH, outdoor ones didn't make it through June): La Diva - thought about suicide, but now growing strongly and first flowers appearing.
2 weeks later; lots of baby cukes - as ever I'm nervous as to how long they'll decide to continue once the harvest starts (just gave up last year having gone great guns for a few weeks - am trying John's high nitrogen feed suggestion rather than tomato food.)
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Runner beans have had 'brittle bean' syndrome here...
Too much sun, and little regular rain'watering, have meant smaller dried up pods, but since the downpours, and a regular hose-attack, they're back on track!
Sweet peas are the same, with shorter stems, but now are rampant!
RAMPANT I say!
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Tomatoes: still green but abundant
Sweet corn: sweetastic
Courgettes: sulking after I went on hols for 10 days and returned to 3 giant marrows.
Beans: well behind where they should be, some trashed by slugs
Cauli and broccolis coming on well, but too early to say
Leeks: looking buff
Beetroot: good
Garlic: reasonably good crop of caulk wight and. Provence wight
Black currants: poor yields compared to last year
Grapevine: hardly set fruit
Raspberries: 8 out of 12 canes died
Straws: not very productive
stores
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Cool climate crops doing well - good blackcurrant and summer raspberry crop. Ditto potatoes.
Broad beans and peas about average. Beetroot good, turnips poor, finally got third lot to germinate. Runner beans starting about on time, french beans maybe slightly earlier, but only getting one variety at present.
Lettuces good for first lot, poorish for second.
Many other things slower than last year by about 2 weeks. Tomatoes especially, only now getting a few in greenhouse. Peppers the same, chilli yield well down. Outdoor tomatoes very slow. courgettes were, but now romping away.
The warm wet weather recently has set some things going, but the cold dull June did not help.