Topic: Have you given up on anything in the heat?

[dicky]

As I write this it is now raining in Essex (at last)

Much as I like the sun i've had my share of problems with it as well.

Radishes go woody before they get big enough to use
Tops get burnt of swedes and beetroots as soon as they emerge
Lettuce planted out get cooked no matter how much you water
Good old blossom end rot on larger tomatoes.
Leek tops are burnt
My arms are stretched from lugging the watering cans around!!!!!!

Fleece has hopefully got round the swede and beetroot problem, the arms will strink in the rain


Any body else got similar problems?

[calendula]

every year something fails but every year many things excel - for me, this year, my parsnips failed to germinate, possibly due to the heat, but also due to the heat and enforced extra watering everything else is wonderful, which makes up for the loss - half the fun is never knowing what will happen

[Svea]

the radishes are no-go at the moment - but my squashes, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and sweet potatoes are doing great!
and the fruit has been plentiful and early this year

[djbrenton]

I'd given up on loads of things I sowed late. 6 parsnips germinated, none of the lettuce I sowed directly, first two carrot sowings hit and miss ( 3rd OK ) and no sign of my florence fennel. A few cool wet days and hey presto. A few months after sowing, finally they're all showing.
I'm starting to wonder if having been late this year was a mixed blessing though. The people who I'm normally current with have blown brussels, leeks that look like they'll have to come up soon and splitting cabbage. My later sowings look like they may make the Winter after all.

[Jill]

Well, runner beans have done nothing at all, although french beans have produced enough for a meal for four, courgettes are doing very well but butternuts have decided to sprawl rather than flower.  Tomatoes and lettuces are still growing but those sown last week haven't shown any signs of germinating.  Minimal rain still and my water butt is virtually empty still :( 

[busy_lizzie]

My lettuces have now all bolted, and I had three parsnips germinated out of 20.  My radishes also went to seed really quickly.  My carrots in my tub didn't amount to much, and my plot is a bit like a jungle at the moment, because it has been too hot to work on it.  I suppose If I had gone at 4 am to do the weeding or 9.30 pm at night it might have been bearable, but I didn't. Like a lot of people, things like my courgettes and my squash are doing great.  Now we have had torrential rain for the last two days so I perish to think what I will find when I pop in to see it tomorrow, if the rain has stopped,as it is from one extreme to another. busy_lizzie     

[OliveOil]

its funny coz on the news it said about how the farmers veg is suffereing due to the drought and heat in thsi country... went on to say that courgettes were the worst affected veg....

I wonder what the 'farmers' are doing wrong - that we are doing right???? None of us seem to have courgette probs.

I get an average of 5 courgettes a day of 4 plants.

[robkb]

The main thing I've given up on is digging! It's been way too hot, and my heavy clay soil is like concrete at the moment :(

Also the spinach and rocket bolted, baby leeks and PSB got fried as soon as they were planted, radishes and beetroot not looking very well, lettuce not germinating at all, carrots are a bit pants and the blackcurrants had gone over before I got round to picking them.

On the plus side, all the spuds I've lifted so far have been fantastic, I had a huge haul of borlotti beans last week, the runners are nearly ready to pick, the courgettes are going beserk, onions are great, brussells are growing like crazy, and last week my kids picked 8 lbs of blackberries with more still to come!

Good fun isn't it, this lottying lark!

Cheers,
Rob ;)

[Garden Manager]

I havent managed to get beetroot growing this year - I think its been too dry.

My french beans are cropping OK as are my tomatoes (outside at least, slow ripening in the greenhouse), but the runners arent setting well and my courgette isnt doing that well either (seems to have got a touch of blossom end rot). Onions are fine if a little small. First crop of lettuce are still going strong, yet havent managed to get many of a second crop going. Spinach and rocket have grown fine but soon bolted.

Basicaly anything wanting lots of water and/or coolness at the roots havent done well at all except where i could provide the right conditions artificialy.

[plot51A]

Later sowings of peas just gave up trying! Early sowings fine, and my Alderman tall peas got enough of a start - until their support collapsed coz I underestimated how big they'd get! Early beetroot - transplanted modules, produced nothing.  Most of my spinach beet and chard bolted - but apart from that, this has been a fantastic season for me so far. Will have to wait and see if the swedes and celeriac cope!

[Robert_Brenchley]

Never give up, especially in our climate! I was moaning about toms ceasing to flower the other day, now some of them are flowering again in the cooler temperatures. At this rate, if the weather lasts, they may produce another round of fruit in time to make green tomato chutney.

[Squashfan]

digging! but now it's nice and cool I may start again...

[RSJK]

In the words of the great Sir Winston Churchill,   I shall never,never  never surrender

[OliveOil]

I think i've given up on tomatoes - nothing so far has set... i'll water them for another week and then the chooks can have them!

[Garden Manager]

Now its cooler (and damper) I feel like doing things in the garden again, rather than just harvesting, watering and deadheading. Hopefully some of my crops will feel like growing and producing again.

Of course this weather is also good for nasties like blight  as well, so I have had to spray tomatoes and potatoes with 'Bordeaux'!

Another sign of cooler weather is that i have just started on a new little project in the garden, something I have not felt like during the various heatwaves.