Talkback: Learning from 2012 - Talkback

happymarion

07/01/2013 at 16:25

I have vowed only to grow early potatoes anf harvest them before the dreaded blight, and only Gardeners; Delight or similar tomatoes and yellow varieties which were the only ones that escaped the blight. I too will be growing my veg, plants indoors till they are big enough to withstand slug attacks. My new raised beds were a godsend as they needed no watering at all and kept free of slugs. Having acquired a new peach tree for Xmas which has buds swelling on it already i have read that rain brings peach curl disease so it is coming in to the conservatory in a big pot. There is room if I bring some of my houseplants out into the house!

Adam Pasco

07/01/2013 at 19:29

A peach tree will be lovely, happymarion. I have one outside, and it's teh variety 'Avalon Pride' that is naturally resistant to peach leaf curl. What variety do you have?

happymarion

07/01/2013 at 20:24

It is a Peregrine, Adam. It is ten feet already but my conservatory is very lofty and already has a fig tree in it in a big pot!

Adam Pasco

08/01/2013 at 11:11

Peregrine is a lovely peach. Get ready with the soft paint brush to dab open flowers to improve pollination, as there are never any pollinating insects around at flowering time to help.
I've done this with a potted nectarine in the past, and then got such a heavy fruit-set that I've needed to thin out drastically.
Oh what a treat you'll have later this summer when they ripen! Well, that's what gardening's all about, isn't it?

Sue H

08/01/2013 at 12:08

2012 was a strange year. Fantastic early weather where everything got off to a flying start. Then late frosts . Then momentous amounts of rain drowned the lot. My tomato plants - several different varietys - grew to about seven feet tall, flowered, then 6 fruits from 5 plants!
Some things were a success - salad leaves aplenty. Broadbeans did well too.
I am just hoping that 2013 will be a brighter, drier year.
Whatever. Looking forward to it. With a capital 'L'

lovetogarden

09/01/2013 at 22:10

After the miserable weather we had in 2012, we said we would only concentrate on things that did well in the wet. Broad beans, runner beans, salads and early potatoes, but as spring approaches we will no doubt be saying" I think we'll give so and so a try again" we usually do. All our fruit, both soft and apples etc did well, so let's hope for a drier year and more crops. I think we will need to be growing as much as possible to try to save money!

We have got a Peregrine Peach, but have not had a lot of success so far, either the frost has got the blossom or it has been stricken with leaf curl. The few fruits that did set, then dropped off, but maybe this year.......

Purple sprouting broccoli is looking good so far.

Chris.

Calendula

10/01/2013 at 16:16

I'm with Sue H. Extreme weather can mean extreme heat, or extreme drought, or extreme cold, not just extreme wet. We could experience all or none of the above in the next few years, just like in the last few. Using last year as a benchmark is very short-sighed IMO.

Just keep on growing what you like and will do well in your soil conditions.

Adam Pasco

10/01/2013 at 18:57

Absolutely! Keep on gardening, and hedge your bets. You never know what the weather has in store, but surely it won't be another wet one. Have fun everyone.

plotter6

10/01/2013 at 20:52

I'd a great crop of enormous Sarpo Mira potatoes - all from potatoes kept from the previous year. Adjacent plots had blight, but mine escaped, as I sprayed lightly with Bordeaux mix when I saw the signs nearby. I checked the stored S. Mira & Kestrel yesterday and all are fine - no rot, but Mayan Gold had rotted. Onions and shallots were very poor and only a few have kept until now. Climbing beans were late, but crop was reasonable. French beans - very poor. Beetroot - worst results in 6 years. Carrots best in 6 years - kept covered with light fleece all season. We'd a very wet, cool 2012 season in Central Scotland.

homebird

27/01/2013 at 19:18

We had a terrible year in our veg plot last year. We have never seen so many slugs. Nothing did really well. The runner bean flowers were late setting but eventually gave a reasonable crop. This year we are going to sow everything indoors or in the greenhouse and plant them out when they are really strong. Goodness knows what we will try next for the slug problem.....lol. Still, I'm looking forward to starting the sowing and growing....think positive everyone, we going to have a great growing year.......

plotter6

27/01/2013 at 19:48

Try this defence barrier to 'deter' if not get rid of slugs completely :-

Collect shells from a beach, preferably where there are lots of broken ones already - encourage the kids to help. Once home, smash the shells up and sprinkle the bits in a complete ring around things like seedlings, lettuce, etc.

homebird

28/01/2013 at 15:54

Will try that Plotter. I put crushed baked egg shells around some of my nicest Hostas and found that the ones treated like this didn't get as munched as the ones I didn't treat. Similar principle I expect. Thankyou.

Shaun Lees

28/01/2013 at 22:52

Only been gardening for 3 years and that rain didn't put me off at all although it was a miserable summer. I grew plenty in the poly tunnel and planted out when they bloomed so I had an instant explosion of colour to enjoy under my umbrella.

Learned loads of lessons from last year and I couldn't care less if it rains that bad again cos I'll still get in the garden rain or shine.happy gardening people.

happy gardener5

31/01/2013 at 09:47

Had the same slug problems and due to lack of sun my annuals really struggled but then I had the benefit of having a late flowering of cosmos and antirinnhums which went on until late November. The fuschias also lasted much longer.

Still 2013 will bring different problems but also more unexpected delights.

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