why do people still use antiquated and nonbeneficial gardening techniques

[plainleaf]

why do people still use antiquated and nonbeneficial  gardening techniques.
here is list of techniques i have seen listed where the idea behind technique is wrong,
hurts production, dangerous and  point less.
 
1. chitting potatoes,
2. suckering tomato plants.
3. pruning tomatillo
4. firm soil around broccoli,cauliflower, Brussels sprout plant.
5. paraffin coating of peas seeds.
6. traditional row planning
7. not using set paths in the garden

 

[ceres]

Because for us non-obsessive types, our gardening is an expression of our personality with all its quirks and foibles.  For most of us, our starting point is the traditional method because that's what we are exposed to when we start.  If it does the trick for us, we stick with it, if not we look for other ways.  We get pleasure from conducting our own experiments and working out what best suits our particular combination of soil, aspect, climate and personal objectives.  We're mostly not professionals or scientists or driven to wring every last ha'penny out of our plots.

ETA - And most of us are generally receptive to new methods and techniques.  But such a lot depends on the skill and attitude of the teacher.  I'd have great difficulty accepting advice from someone who started off telling me how stupid and ignorant I am.  But that's just me - YMMV.

[Ellen K]

.... or, alternatively:

Human civilisation is absolutely stuffed with practices that don't stand scrutiny.  Why would you expect gardening to be any different?

[Hi_Hoe]

Chitting potatoes is wrong?


Well, bugger me sideways.......

[tomatoada]

Oh Dear.   40 years of getting it wrong.

[Ellen K]

Chitting spuds: not wrong, it's just that doesn't make much difference.

I would defend row planting but only because it makes crop rotation a bit easier to manage on a standard oblong plot.

[shirlton]

Thank goodness that we are not all the same. How awful would it be if all allotments were the same. I don't like raised beds but I wouldn't expect everyone to grow in open ground like we do. What suits one doesn't suit another.The objectives are all the same . We grow stuff to eat

[manicscousers]

Because gardening is fun and no two people do it the same way  

[Chrispy]

chitting potatoes: Various trials have shown this is benificial for first earlies, but not for 2nds or mains.

suckering tomato plants: I assume you mean side shooting, I get more of a crop if I don't but I have to fight my way in to get it, comes down to personal choice.

firm soil around broccoli,cauliflower, Brussels sprout plant: I was ammused by the difference of opinion on this on this weeks GQT, the so called exsperts can not agree.

traditional row planning & not using set paths in the garden: This is rather down to personal choice, do what we like.

[sheddie]

For me, I believe chitting does help - its got to give them a head start by letting them stretch their legs surely!

I also just kind of like tradition...if it keeps me entertained, so no harm done eh?
 

[non-stick]

Because gardening is fun and no two people do it the same way  

Absolutely - my allotment is my place to unwind from the rigours and stresses of life.

And I prefer straight (ish) rows and hate raised beds - but that's my (probably worthless) view!

[Digeroo]

I have found if  I do not chit the potatoes there are a number of storage issues.  One potato rots in the bag and the rest get infected, or they grow through the netting bags and are difficult to untangle.  Laying them out on a cool north facing window in egg box is for me the best solution.  I simply do not have the facilities to store them any other way.

We have 50 plots on site and no two are the same.  I am very idiocycratic in my methods.    Perhaps what I have learned is that there is no right way of doing things.  What works one year can be a disaster the next.  I grow on two lottie plots and my garden and each is totally different.   I use some old methods, some new ones, I have some failures and lots of success.  Some plot holders are successful and some not and I do not think that whether they sow in rows or not is a defining factors to their productivity and success.  

As for tomatoes they are more dependent on the weather,  some years I get loads and others a black slimey mess.

I grow on very light soils, no famer in his right mind grows brassicas apart from rape or turnip locally.  Yes I firm my brassicas in good and proper if not they simply blow over.

I use set paths - cuts down on the digging, and certainly do not put paraffin on my pea seeds.

Never grown Tomatillos.

I do not follow the rules, I potter round doing as I please.

[davejg]

Because they work, parraffin soak stops mice eating pea seeds, loose soil around sprouts & broccoli would cause blown sprouts heads because of windrock.

[aj]

I don't chit my potatoes. I lay them out with air round them and they do the chitting. All by themselves....it's what they do. 

[Flighty]

Here in the UK we use them because they're not antiquated and are beneficial.
The techniques are not wrong, do not hurt production, are not dangerous and are not pointless.

[winecap]

For antiquated, I would read traditional, and traditional wisdom so often turns out to be sound in the end.
As others have said , if you don't chit your potatoes, what do you do with them until Easter? I'm not sure anybody would prune a tomatillo unless they were getting overrun by it. (I have tomatillo and anchovy pizza for dinner - one of my favourites.)
My pet hate is raised beds. I don't dislike the practise itself, but I do hate being told I'm doing it wrong because I don't do it. As far as I can see the main advantage of a raised bed system is that you only have to cultivate half an allotment. As somebody who lives off the allotment and hasn't bought any veg or fruit for years I would happily copy anybody who had a more productive allotment than mine. A case in point  - I recently gave a spare sack of potatoes I'd grown  to a friend who didn't get enough from her raised beds. Not everybody is the same, but for me its productivity and taste on an organic allotment.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I don't do any of the things you want to discourage, except not all my paths are set. On the other hand, I don't see any harm in any of them. Each to their own.

I don't know when they sell seed potatoes in the States, but over here, if you wait till planting time you won't find much left. So Winecap is right, there is a storage problem.

Raised beds are good if you have a bad back or suffer from waterlogging, as I do. Often they're done because it's fashionable, but if people want the extra work, why not?

[aj]

For antiquated, I would read traditional, and traditional wisdom so often turns out to be sound in the end.
As others have said , if you don't chit your potatoes, what do you do with them until Easter? I'm not sure anybody would prune a tomatillo unless they were getting overrun by it. (I have tomatillo and anchovy pizza for dinner - one of my favourites.)
My pet hate is raised beds. I don't dislike the practise itself, but I do hate being told I'm doing it wrong because I don't do it. As far as I can see the main advantage of a raised bed system is that you only have to cultivate half an allotment. As somebody who lives off the allotment and hasn't bought any veg or fruit for years I would happily copy anybody who had a more productive allotment than mine. A case in point  - I recently gave a spare sack of potatoes I'd grown  to a friend who didn't get enough from her raised beds. Not everybody is the same, but for me its productivity and taste on an organic allotment.

I find I get more per bed than people who use rows....and as the new seedlings are growing, inbetween I can also bung other crops in that are going to be harvested before the space is needed...for example, I put my cabbages in before my overwintered onions are out, in a few spaces between the onions....by the time the onions are used the cabbages are just getting going and stay in til they are then used.



Blog if the pic doesn't work....

http://linearlegume.blogspot.com/2012/01/using-beds-not-rows.html

[winecap]

aj I find the illustration interesting and would like to make a few points for you to think about.
First of all, does planting in blocks require a raised bed?
If you use a raised bed, does your productivity relate only to the space within the bed, or to the bed space and path space devoted to it?
Also, can I plant my cabbages amongst my onions if I don't use a raised bed?

[aj]

Why do I have to think about those points?   I am perfectly happy but replies all the same....

Raised bed - just a bed that isn't walked on....doesn't have to be higher than the soil around, no. *I never mentioned raised beds, just beds

Interesting about the productivity - I grow claytonia and strawbs around the edges of my paths and in the summer, I use the paths to trail squashes down - I have 2 paths length ways and 2 widthways across the plot and each take the squash foliage off the actual beds....hence one squash = space about the size of a football as I plant them on the corners. So the paths are still productive without anything actually being grown on them [they have 2 layers of weed fabric and sawdust/straw on them - no soil showing].
I have no idea if you can plant your cabbages amongst your onions without a raised bed as I have never grown in rows - The cabbages are planted in the spaces inbetween [where the hoe would normally go to keep it weed free] and as I mulch, I just clear the mulch away, use the bulb planter to make a hole, pop the cabbage seedling rootball in, firm down, water and remulch. So probably not...as you would then be planting in your 'pathway'.

To say that 'growing in rows without paths' is 'growing without paths' is a myth - you do have the paths, [it's the distance between each row that inadvertently becomes a path] it's just each year you change them and re-dig them. And all year you weed them. Such a lot of extra work!

And I am still eating last year's spuds from my pathed lottie. Probably her method or original number of plants rather than just growing in beds that's the issue...