The Veg Plot.

[Adam Ef]

Not many of my seeds have germited this year. Got a couple of courgette plants on the go, but aubergines and peppers aren't looking like they're going to happen.

[redtrummy]

My Chilli seeds are still germinating , its been too chilly. I was transporting them to the greenhouse during the day and had them on a heat mat at night 15min in every hour but only now some are beginning to show. The hotter the chilli the longer they seem to need. Courgettes, aubergines and sweet peppers are all through although small. Things should pick up now hopefully.

[redtrummy]

Loads of Tom/cucumber plants came through - gave some away and some will have to take their chance outside. I did set some saved Tumbling Tom seed, next year will hope to get a lot more plants they look very attractive on the slabs in old chimney pots at the back of the house (suppose posh would be patio)
How did I become a gardener - I blame Covid lockdowns

[EssEllTwo]

Originally Posted by redtrummy

My Chilli seeds are still germinating , its been too chilly. I was transporting them to the greenhouse during the day and had them on a heat mat at night 15min in every hour but only now some are beginning to show. The hotter the chilli the longer they seem to need. Courgettes, aubergines and sweet peppers are all through although small. Things should pick up now hopefully.

I got very into growing chillis a few years back. Superhots really need sowing in January (in fact all types benefit from this). I germinated them in a propagator and then had them under a 125W CFL daylight bulb for about 20hrs a day to make them nice and bushy. I cropped about 10lbs of chilli that year (about 16 different varieties!). The previous year I had sown when advised on the packets and was still waiting for them to ripen in October!

[redtrummy]

Here towards the end of May and we are still eating last years marrows. One left after this one. Had a job other years to get past March.

[redtrummy]

First broad beans of the season! Glory be.

[garynortheast]

Originally Posted by redtrummy

First broad beans of the season! Glory be.

Lucky man! I'm still hoping to be moved house in time to get something on the go this year. Going to have to work quickly when I do move though, to get veg beds sorted!

[Adam Ef]

We've been enjoying some very wirey lettuce leaves, basil that my daughter grew and the courgette plants have suddenly gone into overdrive. Courgettes are one of my favourite flowers (along with chives) so good to see plenty of them on the plants. Potatoes being grown in bags seem to be doing well and leaves are starting to die back.


I've also had some success with aubergine plants without realising they need a lot of heat and protection. I didn't know that when I seeded them and now have nowhere to plant them on to?

[garynortheast]

A couple of months back I sowed a short row of carrots in the greenhouse. The seeds were in a seedtape I was given a couple of years back, and when I got the tape it was already 18 months old.
Well, they all germinated and I've just pulled one of them as a baby carrot, which I just washed and ate raw. I remembered one of the reasons why I grow veg when I ate it. The flavour is like nothing you get from the shop. Shop bought carrots are pretty flavourless; this was bursting with flavour.

[Sir Trev]

Nice. Carrots are so temperamental for me and generally hate my slightly stony soil. Last year I set them off in cardboard tubes and transplanted them with reasonable success but now I can only get peat free compost the stuff dries out so fast the seedlings mainly died off as I could not keep the soil damp. Same problem with the beetroot and lettuce this year too. Will try adding lots or perlite to the mix for late sowings to see if that helps. I can see the environmental plus for peat free but there's a good reason we've been using it for so long.