What have you learnt this year?

Before I got my allotment last year I used to grow many vegetables in containers in my garden. Most things did really well including, to my surprise, sweetcorn. Once I got my allotment I started using toilet roll inners to start off seeds before planting out. My sweetcorn was rubbish last year and is none existent this year. The only thing I can put it down to is starting the seed off in toilet roll inners. The seedlings seem to lose their green colour as they grow before planting out and this is why I'm putting it down to this, they didn't lost their colour when I used plant pots. I don't have any problem with germination though, so next year I'm going to start the seeds off in plant pots as I did when growing in containers and see if this makes a difference.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Rideout on August 22, 2010 at 11:51

Some loo rolls contain fungicide which can inhibit/effect seed growth, also they can dry out quickly and sweetcorn needs steady supply of water.
I have learnt not to take the nets off the brassicas too early, even if you can't see any cabbage whites they are all hiding behind the shed waiting for you to leave so they can lay more eggs than you can shake a stick at (or ever hope to pick off by hand). The plants recovered remarkably well though so its worth giving them a chance.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Beach on August 22, 2010 at 21:19

I've learnt that Pumpkin plants need a heck of a lot of room and that moving them doesn't work so well.

Actually I've learnt that I need to give everything more room, it's our first year on the allotment and we put everything way too close together. Live and learn :)

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Permalink Reply by James Bartlett on August 23, 2010 at 14:18

I learnt that courgettes don't like being in containers unless you water them....a lot - no courgettes at all this year.

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Permalink Reply by hillwards on August 23, 2010 at 14:25

We've learned that it's better to take the time and choose exactly which varieties of peppers to grow - both sweet peppers and chillies - rather than be tempted by the variety promised by the mixed packets. We have ended up with too many bitter purple "sweet" peppers - very beautiful but too bitter to enjoy raw - and no idea what type the chillies are and therefore whether to expect them to change colour, when to harvest them etc.

We've also learned that cabbage white butterflies are more crafty than us, and can do more damage than we dreamed of to our cabbages. Smaller netting and even more vigilance next year.

And yes, a few lettuce seeds sown every couple of weeks throughout the whole summer (and likewise radish, rocket etc) to avoid the gluts and lulls - must try harder indeed!

Our sunflowers and sweet peas sown in loo roll inners struggled to get started, next year we'll try without the loo rolls I think!