Growing veg and herbs

[Hoggle*&*Ludo]

Hi everyone,

In an effort to save money, I want to grow veg such as carrots, peppers, cucumbers, maybe strawberries depending on how easy they are and herbs.

Can anyone give me any tips? Do I need a greenhouse or would pots in the garden do?

 

[CandyFloss]

Last year I had a big tub in the garden that I grew carrots in ..... to be honest the carrots were .... at their biggest about an inch or so long....but the carrot tops went down well....lol

Good luck ..... I cant even keep parsley plants alive though .....lol

x

 

[Lady Kelly]

we have parsley, mint, chives and coriander growing on our windowsill but they aren't in a brilliant way lol!

You can get hanging basket herb gardens etc from garden centres and they appear quite easy to grow.

You won't need a greenhouse for carrots etc but if you want to grow peppers then you may need to consider it

 

[Furries]

I grow my own veg. This is a big topic. I'd recommend getting a book out of the library.

Things I have found difficult to grow:
Peppers (unless you live in Bournemouth and have a greenhouse - they need a lot of warmth and sun - I have never had any success with them).
Carrots (tend to get riddled with holes from carrot root fly)

Cucumber does okay if you buy a special outdoor variety and grow it in one of those plastic greenhouses you can get for about ten pounds from any garden centre. They need to be grown in big tubs. Cucumbers, courgettes and tomatoes need special tomato fertiliser that contains a lot of potassium in order to make the 'fruits' - ordinary fertiliser contains too much nitrogen and they'll produce lots of lush green leaves, but no cucumbers, etc. Sowing time for cucumbers is now. Some garden centres or farmers markets sell cucumber plants later on in spring.

You can grow outdoor varieties of tomatoes in a very sunny, sheltered spot such as next to a wall on a patio.

Easy things to grow outside in tubs (you want the tubs to be wider rather than deeper):
Lettuce
Spinach
Radishes
Mixed salad leaves
Rocket (grows like weeds)

The sunnier the spot, the better they'll grow. Just keep them well-watered when it's dry, otherwise they'll go to seed too quickly and be spoilt.

Strawberries are quite easy to grow. Buy the pots of strawberry plants and put them into big tubs with some fertiliser (I use poultry manure). Keep them watered.

You'd need a greenhouse for basil, but other herbs do okay in this climate.

I use organic slug bait which contains iron phosphate - it does the job without killing everything else as well (your pets, birds, wildlife, etc). The slugs will happily eat all of your veg and leave you with nothing, if you don't find some way of controlling them.

 

[CiaraPatricia]

I bought the pots of herbs you can get in supermarkets, and planted them in the garden (in biggish tubs would work too) and they grew really well. It's kinda cheating but they're cheap and it's easier

 

[redd1800]

Chives and strawberries are hardy, easy care growers - mine survived being ignored in the back garden throughout that nasty winter, they are growing nicely now.

 

[Midge&Panda]

I brought cucumbers last year from the garden centre- £1.50 each, planted them out in large pots in a green house to protect them from the wind they grew very nicely till I went on holiday. It seemed that the more you picked the more the plant produced. Each plant produced about 10 cucumbers each. I might add the piggies had all of them so they were very happy. I also grew tomatoes and dwarf beans all rather sucessfully. This year I'm going to try sweetcorn and potatoes as well. Never had much luck with lettuce though- any tips.

 

[stripypig]

I've done veg before, didn't last year as was busy with the wedding, but going to do cucumber, carrots and peppers at least.

One of the cheapy plastic greenhouses will do, I have a tall one outside the back door.
If you start the seeds indoors they will fare much better.
Carrots require a lot of depth to grow, I use potato planters.
Sweetcorn is a nightmare as it gets so tall.
Try leaf lettuce rather than head varieties.

 

[Squigle]

Things I have found difficult to grow:
Carrots (tend to get riddled with holes from carrot root fly)

If you plant them in pots over 10inches/26cm, they should be fine Unlike their name, carrot flys can't actally fly that high.


Myself and my family always grow veggies for ourselves, and since I've had my squigles, it's really helped out! Hehe.

Most herbs do great outside, and they should survive the winters too!
Things like sprouts, cabbages grow good outside, but you have to watch for slugs and catapillers >>>
Lettuce & salad leaves also do really well, but again you have to watch for the pesties Birds can also be your worst enemy too! >.<

We also grow celeriac, which seems to do really well outside, and my squigs seemed to love it!
I found that tomatoes didn't ripen well outside, and peppers have proven impossible to grow here, although 10 mins away when my Grandparents live, theirs we're fab!

 

[donna265]

Poundland have lots of multi packs of seeds at the mo

a salad mix pack (lettuce, toms, radishes and cucumber)
a pepper mix pack
herb mix pack
and loads of others i cant remember

Lidl have those plastic greenhouses in cheap as well as gardening stuff

just thought this might be of use

Donna x

 

[CiaraPatricia]

We're going to try to grow carrots and lettuces and herbs and things this year

Even if the carrots don't grow well, the tops might, and guinea pigs love those! I might try parsnips too while I'm at it.