Planting Flowers, Fruit & Veg

[Xales]

Coming back to this thread as I've just bought an assortment of salad seeds, would also like to start growing some fruit and veg. My problem is I'm a bit useless, only thing I've managed to grow from seed is 2 sunflowers last year.
Wary of planting in the garden as next doors cats use my garden as their toilet
Considered buying one of those mini greenhouses but the biggest reason for me growing my own is to bring down costs so not sure.
Is salad veg easy to grow? I have
Cucumber
Tomato
Spring onion
Iceberg
Radish

If you have window sills you can start most seeds on them rather than a mini greenhouse.

I haven't tried growing cucumbers.

Tomatoes need a lot of water. Water the bottom not over the leaves as it can cause tomato blight. There are 2 types one that doesn't stop growing so you need to pinch out the top to stop them. They need supports. They seem to be growing well then succumb to blight. Nothing beats a fresh tom straight off the plant.

Onions and radishes are pretty easy. Not tried iceberg. I have done other lettuces and they grow pretty well. I tend to grow a lot and pick the outer leaves so they keep going and growing.

My veggies are starting to grow. Onions, potatoes, garlic, broad beans, lettuce, radishes, all starting to come on in the garden. one patch of potatoes seems to be going insane!

Peas, tomatoes and brussell sprouts coming on in the greenhouse. Planted some more peas, kohl rabi, beetroot, courgettes and runner beans this weekend.

 

[SpindleWhorl]

Anyone know what these are? I planted some cheap "woodland" bulbs in this pot but can't remember what they are and no sign of any buds yet just constant leaf growing. I think one of them may be fritillaria. If they're not going to flower I'd rather just turf them out now and re-purpose the pot

 

[50sGirl]

Anyone know what these are? I planted some cheap "woodland" bulbs in this pot but can't remember what they are and no sign of any buds yet just constant leaf growing. I think one of them may be fritillary. If they're not going to flower I'd rather just turf them out now and re-purpose the pot

View attachment 1166976

No idea as I’ve never grown them but googling images the leaves do look like that. Don’t give up yet if you know there are bulbs in there. I’m still waiting for one variety of daffs and tulips to flower plus some alliums.

These were from 2 weeks ago…

 

[Whatspopping]

Coming back to this thread as I've just bought an assortment of salad seeds, would also like to start growing some fruit and veg. My problem is I'm a bit useless, only thing I've managed to grow from seed is 2 sunflowers last year.
Wary of planting in the garden as next doors cats use my garden as their toilet
Considered buying one of those mini greenhouses but the biggest reason for me growing my own is to bring down costs so not sure.
Is salad veg easy to grow? I have
Cucumber
Tomato
Spring onion
Iceberg
Radish

Lettuce seems pretty easy and radish is both easy and quick to grow.

I'm trying onions and cucumber for the first time this year, growing the seedlings in coir this year. Tomatoes were a disaster as my plants all got blight last summer.

 

[PumpkinKing]

If you have window sills you can start most seeds on them rather than a mini greenhouse.

I haven't tried growing cucumbers.

Tomatoes need a lot of water. Water the bottom not over the leaves as it can cause tomato blight. There are 2 types one that doesn't stop growing so you need to pinch out the top to stop them. They need supports. They seem to be growing well then succumb to blight. Nothing beats a fresh tom straight off the plant.

Onions and radishes are pretty easy. Not tried iceberg. I have done other lettuces and they grow pretty well. I tend to grow a lot and pick the outer leaves so they keep going and growing.

My veggies are starting to grow. Onions, potatoes, garlic, broad beans, lettuce, radishes, all starting to come on in the garden. one patch of potatoes seems to be going insane!

Peas, tomatoes and brussell sprouts coming on in the greenhouse. Planted some more peas, kohl rabi, beetroot, courgettes and runner beans this weekend.

Thank you for this, would they be OK planted in large plant pots instead of my garden?

 

[Xales]

Thank you for this, would they be OK planted in large plant pots instead of my garden?

I reckon most of it will be OK in pots.

 

[Bereb45]

Sowed some sunflower seeds direct today. I’ll pinch out the tips so I get more smaller flowers like I did last year.
My trailing rosemary didn't survive the winter.
So nice seeing everything else starting to grow again.

Ive still got cosmos to sow but I don’t seem to have much luck germinating them. I’ll just buy a plant this year if I fail as they are easy to take cuttings of.
I’ll scatter a mix of seeds where i’ve got some patches.

 

[Nolongerjustalurker]

We planted potatoes at our allotment today, under the watchful eye of the lady next to us who is part of the allotment ‘committee’ (?) and likes to tell us off for not doing enough..
Wish we had enough room at home so we didn’t need the allotment, she makes it feel like school

 

[Saddlesoap]

My tulips are looking lovely, just maybe a little tall!

 

[HaggisInMyBin]

We planted potatoes at our allotment today, under the watchful eye of the lady next to us who is part of the allotment ‘committee’ (?) and likes to tell us off for not doing enough..
Wish we had enough room at home so we didn’t need the allotment, she makes it feel like school

Is that part of your allotment agreement or is she just an interfering pain in the arse? If the latter, politely ignore her and crack on - if you’re fulfilling your contractual obligations ignore her. You have as much right as she does.

 

[Moongirl69]

Ive had a few days off so planted potatoes, onions and cabbage. I also have tomato seedlings on the go and courgette and runner bean seeds in. Its still a bit cold where I live so Im keeping those inside for a bit longer.

 

[Eurgh]

Has anybody planted fruit trees this year? I saw some pear and plum trees in Wilko yesterday. Would love a cherry tree but will the birds eat them all?

 

[Nolongerjustalurker]

Is that part of your allotment agreement or is she just an interfering pain in the arse? If the latter, politely ignore her and crack on - if you’re fulfilling your contractual obligations ignore her. You have as much right as she does.

Hmm I’ll have to have a look, I think we do pretty well considering we’re both working full time and not retired with all the time in the world like her!

 

[SpindleWhorl]

Bulb update, this is my first year having any outside space at all and I always dreamt of growing tulips so I'm particularly proud of the red tulips

 

[or JusRollWithIt]

Has anybody planted fruit trees this year? I saw some pear and plum trees in Wilko yesterday. Would love a cherry tree but will the birds eat them all?

A family member has cherry trees. They put netting up to prevent birds from eating them. The birds still get some but if they don’t use netting, few cherries would remain. Obviously wait until after pollination to put the nets up.

 

[Bobby Chariot]

Has anybody planted fruit trees this year? I saw some pear and plum trees in Wilko yesterday. Would love a cherry tree but will the birds eat them all?

We bought 2 last year, B&M were selling 2 for £10, bought one cherry, one apple and I put them in quite large pots on the patio.
They seem to be doing ok, nice flowers on them this year.
Cherry

Apple

 

[BorisBear]

Has anybody planted fruit trees this year? I saw some pear and plum trees in Wilko yesterday. Would love a cherry tree but will the birds eat them all?

Yes, I got one from Tesco a cherry tree it’s started to get leaves

 

[50sGirl]

Watched an old Alan Titmarsh programme last week.
He said if you buy one plant in flower (I assume shrub or perennial because they’d need to be hardy) every month for a year then you will always have something flowering in your garden all year round.
What a great idea. I’m going to give it a go.
This month we bought a Glandora “Heavenly Blue”.

 

[Renegadedancer]

Today I bought a couple of Hostas in Wilko , £3 each and they are very healthy looking. Thought they would fill a couple of gaps I have in the borders. This weather is perfect for gardening, not too hot. I’ve planted some seed trays today lupin, foxglove and some sunflowers, will see how they come along. My luck with seeds is hit and miss but I thought I’d give them a go seeing as I’d bought them !

 

[Moongirl69]

Watched an old Alan Titmarsh programme last week.
He said if you buy one plant in flower (I assume shrub or perennial because they’d need to be hardy) every month for a year then you will always have something flowering in your garden all year round.
What a great idea. I’m going to give it a go.
This month we bought a Glandora “Heavenly Blue”.

I planned my garden like this. As one thing stops or dies off, something else is popping up. The rest is easy shrubs...I like it low maintenance.