|
I'm taking up vegetable growing as a complete beginner for the first time this year. I'm renting so I don't really want to dig up the garden lawn, thus everything is being grown in pots. We had some warm weather early this year (southern England) so I sowed into trays directly outside and had lots of very successful germinations. I've now transplanted everything into bigger pots, it all seems happy and I'm feeling good about it. My worry now is pests. Currently everything is exposed with no protection. What sorts of things do I need to worry about and what steps can I take? I have already had some of my carrot seedlings dug up and left lying on top of the soil - not sure of the culprit but I suspect squirrels. I'm also aware that slugs and birds are potential enemies but beyond that I'm not really sure what to expect. Does anyone have any tips for a beginner?
|
#
¿
May 3, 2019 10:52
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 04:39 |
|
|
Has anybody experienced peas "surfacing"? My plants are about 5 inches high now and the original peas on some of them have risen to the top of the soil and are now visible and exposed. They were originally planted 1-2 inches deep. I don't think this is a good thing? I'm just wondering if this is natural or if some critter has been trying to get to them.
|
|
#
¿
May 9, 2019 11:13
|
|
|
Has anybody ever used moss as a sort of mulch before? I have a fig tree in a big pot and I think it would look great with moss filling out the surface of the pot. However I'm worried that it might disturb the tree in some way or interfere with watering. I'm also wondering if it's really possible without killing one of them as the moss would probably require much damper soil?
|
|
#
¿
May 18, 2019 19:38
|
|
|
Does anyone know what's up with the purple discolouration on my coriander/cilantro? There's a few more pots of them doing the same thing. I'm vaguely aware that it's something they do when they are about to flower, but they don't seem ready for that to me. They are in general purpose compost - there's not many in each pot so I wouldn't have thought nutrients would be an issue, although I haven't given them any extra fertilizer so maybe that is the problem?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 3, 2019 17:47
|
|
|
Duzzy Funlop posted:Man, it feels good to see the fruits of your labor flourish. When people ask me why I love tending to my plants I just scream incoherently amid piles of dead and dying trash
|
|
#
¿
Jul 24, 2019 00:02
|
|
|
I'm looking forward to my second year of container vegetables. Last year I planted everything I could think of just to get a feel for what worked well. It's sure going to be nice to do a year with a sense of what I'm supposed to be doing instead of fumbling around and yelling at all the plants determined to die. I'm still on the fence about peas though. They looked great and it was interesting to build frames for a climbing plant but the amount of effort that went into a tiny harvest of 3-4 meals doesn't seem worth it for food value alone. I could just grow a couple for decoration but that's less space for more amazing potatoes.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 3, 2020 22:30
|
|
|
Arrgytehpirate posted:Even covered, my basil died in that freak freeze we had on Friday night. I think I’m going to rip them up and use the container for a radish harvest while the weather warms. I also just lost all my basil to an unexpected cold snap. Basil is the one supposedly easy plant that I always manage to kill. It's definitely the first plant to make me take temperature seriously as a somewhat new gardener. My tomatoes also suffer from the British weather outdoors but I just plant enough of them to accept the attrition. I'm on my second year of amateur urban vegetable growing, and once again attempting to grow a ludicrously unsuitable variety of vegetables in plastic pots. Thankfully all my seeds are free so I can go nuts on futile endeavours like trying to grow aubergines outside in 5°C because if I just plant enough one or two might make it. Parsley is the true super herb though, it survives winters outdoors in little pots no problem and carries on producing the following year. I'm just going to lean into that and have fresh parsley with every meal from now on whether the recipe calls for it or not. My potatoes, courgettes and onions also do brilliantly which takes the sting out of everything else.
|
|
#
¿
May 12, 2020 22:22
|
|
|
Endie posted:Mint will sidle up to your parsley, suffocate it in its (flower)bed, then continue to take over the garden like a tastier version of Japanese Knotweed. I've actually got a mint plant on the edge of my lawn that self-seeded last year. This year it's now ten stalks... I know I should dig it out and pot it but part of me wants to see it go wild. I hate lawn anyway.
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2020 10:23
|
|
|
Do those of you growing coriander/cilantro manage to get a good "cut and come again" system going with it? If so, what's the trick? When I've tried in the past I've just gotten a single harvest and then it gives up or bolts. Compared to other herbs it seemed to give a really low yield to me.
|
|
#
¿
May 15, 2020 22:15
|
|
|
Kaiser Schnitzel posted:It was actually sort fo satisfying to hunt those little fuckers down, but I don't want to make a habit of it. It's in my front yard so I didn't want to do row covers. I'd intended mind to start spraying with Bt when they started blooming but I forgot I'm pretty squeamish with this sort of thing which isn't a good trait in a gardener. I've gotten over a lot of it but this kind of bug surgery is beyond the pale for me. I think I'd give up on Squash forever after encountering that.
|
|
#
¿
May 26, 2020 09:29
|
|
|
Well I feel like an idiot for the number of spring onions I planted and always pulled up whole. You just cut them near the soil level and leave them to it again?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 3, 2020 22:02
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 04:39 |
|
|
DrBouvenstein posted:I noticed one of my container potatoes has some very slight yellowing on a few leaves: Looks like a healthy plant to me, and not spotty or patchy like a blight would look. Potatoes always turn yellow before the surface plant dies off (as it should) at the end of the growing season. Depending on where you are and how long ago you planted them it's probably too early for that though? If nothing else it could be water-stress, maybe check that they aren't getting significantly under- or over-watered? They're generally pretty tough though and I wouldn't be worried with potatoes looking like yours.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 8, 2020 19:38
|
|
