Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Casey76 on August 21, 2009, 13:29
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My tomatoes in pots and in 1 raised bed got blight; my 2 cucumber plants are on their last legs with powderly mildew; my two courgette plants decided they didn't like living in (large) pots and died weeks ago.
The chickens managed to get under the net protecting my brassicas, and in 1 day decimated my caulis, sprouts, and calabrese, leaving only stalks.
The baby leeks that I planted 6 weeks ago haven't grown (but are still alive - I think!)
My radishes, beetroot and swede wither died off or didn't develop any roots. My carrots got overshadowed by a rampant tomato plant and didn't grow.
The only thing I've had any luck with are my French beans and Swiss chard. Oh and the celery is coming on OK considering I just stuck it in the raised beds and have ignored it ever since.
Conversely, my dahlias which I stuck in and ignored are doing fantastically, even after the blackfly and slugs got at them, so I'm wondering if i should stop thinking about veg and just grow flowers lol!
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Hi Casey76,
I don't think you should give up on the veg at all! Persevere. We've had some odd results with some of our crops this year. After they were heralding a BBQ summer in the UK, my first sewing of coriander failed completely and my second took sooooooo long to do anything. My basil was also really slow to get going and we had the some total failures in the likes of land cress and even carrots. This is all not the way things normally happen, which makes me feel that it has actually been quite a cool summer but not particularly wet (until the past week or so in this part of the world :ohmy:).
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Dont worry, its your first year. Next year will be different after tending the soil etc.
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It can be very disheartening can't it. It is my first year too and I have lost all my tomatoes to blight and had shocking germination and growth with carrots, spring onions and turnips. All my spinach bolted and the peas were pathetic. On the plus side, beans have been brilliant (all kinds), onion harnest acceptable, lots of beetroots, sweetcorn looks good, fruit was good for first year. Potatoes were pointless (low yield). My fennel looks interesting and I am trying swiss chard for the first time. I love it tho!
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And my first year growing as not been very good :( To date, I ve had about 6 courgettes, plants now covered in powdery mildew!, toms looking pathetic, little, small & green, about 3 broad beans, 1/2 dozen peas, strawberries a joke, 1/2 dozen rasberries, pot of not too bad spuds, some lovely garlic, but I'm going to try again next year! my problem...too much rain, too many slugs, oh & a sevre attack of cabbage white butterflies!! :(