[shaun]

and wont make any sense of it when you find it  

[Heather_S]

broccoli(too close together, slugs), cabbage (slugs and too close together again), spring onions. Caulis I claim I do fine because I did get heads albeit smallish ones. Spring onions refuse to germinate in the ground so I'm going to try them in the rootrainers this year maybe. Worked for carrots.. parsnips in homemade newspaper tubes started off inside worked okay too except they hit a lot of rocks so they turned into squid-shaped parsnips.

the stranger stuff I can't grow: I can't get perilla/shiso/beefsteak plant (a japanese herb) to germinate. I've bought multiple packets from various places. I've tried putting them in the fridge to try to break their dormancy.. everything. "plant like basil" indeed  :evil:  It's silly, I can get nearly everything else to grow at least in pots.  :roll:

[Annie]

Sorry to dampen enthusiasm Heather,tried to grow spring onions in root trainers,got excited,they germinated,they grew,I planted them out,they stalled,they did grow eventually and I now have an edible crop but I think 9 months was a long time to wait!

[Ann]

I can't get borage seeds to germinate, not having much luck with peas either :cry:

[Annie]

I gave up with borage an in a fit of pique threw them down on a path,still trying to dig them out now!

[Sadgit]

Basil for me... got loads on the go this year in various locations throughout the house/garden/greenhouse and every single one is limp and dying off.. I just don't get it..

[Sadgit]

oh and purple broc.. every time it just bolts not had a single edible stalk and I planted loads as i love the stuff..

[Heather_S]

Oh i forgot about peas. I can get nice peapods but the pea moths eat the peas eventually.

I forgot to bother planting out my spring onions in rootrainers so now I just have a spring onion in each rootrainer. Not very big around so I guess I can market them as baby spring onions. Glad to see I'm not the only person who can't get spring onions to crop as quickly as the packets and books claim.

Dill I've not had a good time with either. They keep sprouting then randomly disappearing, even with slug protection, or they just fall over and die. Borage I had one or two plants growing, they went huge and woody, dropped seed everywhere and had to hoe all those seedlings away.

sadgit maybe your basil is chilled by cold windows? or maybe just the lack of light. Basil is one of those things that are better left until well after last frost date.

[hermon]

sadgit, is your basil too wet i noticed the seedlings like it on the dry side coming from the med i suppose thats why.
as for problems bl**dy peppers they flower then drop off will i ever get a sweet pepper?! i will keep them in the greenhouse this year and see.

[Trillium]

Ann, borage really doesn't like indoor planting at all. It's very cued to grow by the weather so plant it direct outside only when the weather is warmer.

Sadgit, basil is like toms and peppers and needs it warm all through the growing process. If you start them indoors, make sure the compost is room temp, same with the water you use and keep sprouts warm until planting out time is warm enough - might even need cloches at first to get through some cool nites. They're quite sensitive to cold.

[Ann]

I've tried it inside and out Trillium and no joy, maybe it was the seeds I had.  

Thanks Annie I didn't realise borage was that invasive.  Only have a small area to plant so maybe I had better give up on it.

[agapanthus]

My Sig. referred originally to carrots,my first ever crop planted in spring only produced baby carrots in time for Christmas,no slug damage and I made everyone who laughed eat one and they were tiny but delicious!Now I have mastered the carrot there is the spring onion!I plant in the ground,I plant in trays then plant out,nothing much happens until winter when neglected onions and dormant seeds begin to grow so about now I get a crop,but why cann`t I sucessionally grow like it says on the packet?

I'm exactly the same. Have so much enthusiasm and faith....but get bummed out every time
This year I have grown far too many onions (regular onions not spring) and am growing them to eat as spring onions.....  

[Trillium]

Aggy, every single gardener learns by doing all the wrong things first, even when you think you've got it all right. It's all dependent on your area, particular climate, geographical setup, your own miniclimate at your plot, weather, etc. So many factors work against the gardener that it's impossible to be all-knowing or perfect, so just keep trying your best and it'll all make sense eventually.

Heather_S, dill prefers cool weather sowing in April, directly outside, at regular intervals for continuous crop. I know I get some kind of green caterpillar feasting on my dill and you might be getting this sneaky pest as well. Sow lots and be sure the seed is reasonably fresh, and you should do okay.

[agapanthus]

Aggy, every single gardener learns by doing all the wrong things first, even when you think you've got it all right. It's all dependent on your area, particular climate, geographical setup, your own miniclimate at your plot, weather, etc. So many factors work against the gardener that it's impossible to be all-knowing or perfect, so just keep trying your best and it'll all make sense eventually.

Understand What you're saying Trillium.....but have been trying to grow these for nearly 20 years!!    

[MisterPlough]

Hello All,

For those interested in tips for growing swedes and struggling I received my May issue of Grow Your Own yesterday and guess what was on the front cover?.....

Didn't read it as swedes are gross and if they are that hard to grow not even going to try. But just in case anyone else is interested.

p.s. a new skip has appeared on my walk home and there are about 20 2.5mx0.30mx0.3m plastics troughs just waiting for me to plunder. They will make excellent protective cloches. Just got to try not to muddy my suit carrying them home!

Happy Easter.