Growing your own - is it worth it?

[vinteuil]

... bit worried about your guttering / downpipe though!

[Zucchini]

... it's one of the latest space-saving potato barrels ...

[teamsaint]

Love the " Anonymous" cat flap.
Every right thinking mog should have one.

( our Asda rooted Xmas tree gets the same treatment and is getting very heavy, so good tip, EA )

[Dave2002]

I'll put it in a shadier place, and neglect it, and hope for the best, which seems to be the best advice so far. I'll leave the others inside for a while, and hope that they don't suffer any further problems.

Actually that didn't work. I'm now down to just one, though that seems to have been doing rather well. I simply left the survivor in our kitchen, watered it, then went away for some while. On our return it is noticeably bigger, and now looks quite healthy, but I'm now very reluctant to put that one out for the winter, as that might reduce my crop down to zero. The others which were put outside have disappeared.

I think the neglect treatment works best in areas where there is a range of weather. In recent years our location has had extended wet periods, extended dry periods, extended cold periods, extended dark periods, extended hot periods, etc. so clearly some plants find that rather difficult. I think parts of the UK from the Midlands upwards to Scotland are perhaps much less problematic, though they may present other problems.

[french frank]

I've been trying the rose-and-potato trick. It's looking as though I won't end up with the Number 1. aim - a new rose bush - but I suppose I might get a pot of potatoes.

[umslopogaas]

Its been a bumper year for peas and runner beans. Peas are now finished, and the freezer is so full of them that there is little room left for the runners, so I have been giving bags full away to friends and neighbours. I only have two wigwams of runners, as usual, but I cant recall ever having such a heavy crop.

[gradus]

Our runners have been v poor, not enough rain for them to prosper.

[jean]

Its been a bumper year for peas and runner beans. Peas are now finished, and the freezer is so full of them that there is little room left for the runners...

I am so jealous when I hear about other people's peas. Another year of almost total failure for us.

The runners have been prolific as always. I grow a sort with a white bean which is good to eat when you get back from holiday and the pods are too large and stringy.

[doversoul1]

I am so jealous when I hear about other people's peas. Another year of almost total failure for us.

I never used to have much success even with the gutter method. What I do differently now is that I plant them before the roots become pot bound. I used to think that the roots had to be able to hold the soil in the gutter so that the plants could be slid out without being disturbed, but I found that the roots never developed after they were planted out.

Now I plant them out as soon as the peas are handleable; about two inches high. They don’t seem to mind being pushed together as long as they are not actually on top of each other. I find that preparing the ground well helps. When it is prepared, I open a shallow trench (?) and push the plants out of the gutter bit by bit. If you are not growing as many as a gutter-full, plugs may make the job easier. Once they are planted, firm them very well in the ground, water well and support them straight away (you may be doing all this but just in case). Don’t forget to scatter slug pellets or all this will be a complete waste.

This year, because the weather was cold and damp early in the season, I never thought to water them. As a result (I think), they grew and cropped well enough but did not last beyond the first couple of picks. One lot of them grew so tall that I had to support them with the canes I use for runner beans. They still went over them.

[umslopogaas]

Apologies if I've posted this before, this thread has been going a long time. It would be hopeless for me to plant peas as seed, the field mice would have the lot. I raise mine in the greenhouse in plug trays until they are about 5 cm high, then plant them out. The mice still go for the remains of the seed, but the plants survive. I use plastic netting, as sold for covering fish ponds: its cheap and reusable, traditional pea sticks are hard to find and expensive.

The variety I grow is Hurst Green Shaft. You get longer pods with more peas than traditional old varieties like Kelvedon Wonder. That may be at the expense of less pods per plant, I havent made comparisons, but at least it reduces the amount of time spent shucking.

[doversoul1]

It may be the weather: the runner beans have come to a very sudden end this year. They usually go on until end of September, even into October. As the winter vegetables are not ready, we’ll be into a hungry gap for awhile. The Swiss Chard have grown into massive plants but I don’t quite fancy eating them everyday.

Come to think of it, the sweet peas were over very quickly, too. It must be the weather. There is an awful lot of mildew about in the garden.

[gurnemanz]

Runners have been the excellent after a slow start and still going strong. Outdoor tomatoes were doing pretty well but have suddenly all withered. I think the roots got sodden in recent downpour. We're on clay. Despite having grown outdoor tomatoes every year for a couple of decades I think I might call it a day. Just too risky. I grew Jersey Royal Potatoes for the for time this year and still digging. Found a nice and very simple recipe for them via Google from Jamie Oliver, roasted with rosemary and garlic.

[gradus]

Anyone got any thoughts or suggestions as to why a freshly planted hydrangea has given up the ghost. Its in the same spot as a clematis that did likewise. Nothing obviously amiss with the roots and no rotting smell, some sort of soil-borne disease? Between clematis and hydrangea I dug the spot over and added garden compost and it all seemed to be going so well......

[umslopogaas]

Clematis suffer from wilt (Phoma clematidina). Large flowered varieties are very susceptible. The fungus produces spores on wilted stems that are spread by water: yours may have been contaminated before you bought it, but only developed symptoms after planting.

Hydrangeas suffer from stem infection by the grey mould fungus Botrytis cinerea. This affects a wide range of plants - it could also have been responsible for the clematis problem - and also exists as a saprophyte, feeding on dead plant material. Under very humid conditions you will see an outgrowth of fluffy grey mould on the affected parts, but under drier conditions this wont be visible.

The fungicides available to gardeners are Systhane Fungus Fighter, made by Bayer, which is systemic and curative, and several versions of copper oxychloride, which are only protective. At least, I hope Systhane is still available, my bottle is a couple of years old. Check the local Homebase for latest info. If you can get Systhane, give replacement plants a spray as soon as you buy them. Botrytis is particularly a problem when the plants are stressed, eg after transplanting, once they are established it should be less of a problem.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

With peas and beans, I recommend starting them off indoors in these mini-plantpots. Once established, the whole pot can then be planted outside. It works really well.