My little container garden. A couple of questions :) plus one allotment question

Hi,

I've started to grow in containers in my little garden and it seems to be going well.  I have a question about my Broccoli (calabrese).  I am growing them in clay type soil taken from a friends house build as I was told the local clay soil is perfect for brassicas.  They seem to be doing well, I haven't noticed any pests yet, but on some of the leaves there is some white spotting.  Is this a potential problem?





Another question about my courgettes.  They seem to be growing ok.  But the first initial fruits(?) have grown very stunted and have seemed to stop growing although there are new growths. is this normal?



Thirdly, I've made another raised bed out of scaffold planks to grow some autumn carrots.  Should I use the clay type soil like I have for the broccoli or should I use a compost?  Would carrots prefer a lighter soil?   

And lastly, I'm going to view an allotment next week.  Apparently it is very overgrown with lots of rubbish (warden will clear this), what should I look out for.  To be fair no matter how bad it is I'll probably take it and understand it could take a fair bit of work till I get it suitable for growing.  But just some idea of what I'm letting myself in for.  What type of weeds should I be looking for etc.

Many thanks



Edited to squeeze full subject title in.

I'll pass on the brassicas because I don't have room to grow them so don't know much about them, although I am wondering whether they are a bit close together, and possibly also a bit dry at the moment.

The courgette problem is almost certainly due to lack of pollination - they have an annoying habit of producing flowers which are all of the same sex at any given time, which if there are no male flowers means the females don't get pollinated (the fruits start to grow but then rot off.)
The fewer the plants the greater the chances of that happening - hand pollinating using a cheap artist's paintbrush can help if and when a male flower is bold enough to appear.

There are a few parthenogenic varieties of courgette which don't need pollinating, but you would probably know if you had those.

Carrots would probably struggle in clay soil, and unless your bed is more than a foot deep I suggest growing a shorter variety.

Lots of marestail would not be a welcome sight on a new plot, but any severely neglected plot is likely to involve some hard work.

There are lots of helpful articles in the main part of this site - HERE is a good place to start.

Good luck. 

Yeah the brassias are a little dry in the photo, it was taken when I got back from work after a hot day.  They are planted in 1 square foot each, following the square foot plan.  But i agree they do look a little too bunched.  We'll find out.

You're probably right, I have yet to see any male flowers yet.  So if there are no male flowers will I never get a decent fruit?

I'll use a bagged compost for the carrots and hope for the best.

Thanks for your help

Quote from: stee1e on June 06, 2015, 13:50

You're probably right, I have yet to see any male flowers yet.  So if there are no male flowers will I never get a decent fruit?

Technically, no, unless a bee that's just visited a male flower from a related plant just happens to visit yours -  they usually sort themselves out having made you sweat for a while though. 

OK, fingers crossed.  Thanks

Thanks guys, when I got back home today I noticed that there have been some male flowers and the fruits are growing larger.