Topic: really bad year

[donaghy77]

i love my allotment - and up until last year had brilliant results for  not a huge amount of effort - the last 2 years I have had rubbish results- only my potatoes and soft fruit have been any good. This year not even my squash came to anything - I know I dont water enough ( every drop has to be driven there) but why the sudden drop in productivity ?
I did dig in loads of horse manure last year, it was well rotten ? the PH has been good everytime I have tested . it is a wind swept site and next to open ground so loads of weeds . WhatI need to do to get back on top form next year?
thanks in anticipation guys  :-*

[ceres]

Hi donaghy
Welcome to the forum!

Did you mean to put red all over your post - I find it quite difficult to read.

[betula]

Did you do a test with your manure by growing a few beans on it.A lot of problems with manure.

cold nights earlier in the season did not help.

Need to know exactly what sort of problems you have had but welcome to the forum and I am sure the more you read the easier it will become ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

The more information you can give on what happened the better. Did you get any peculiar-looking growth on anything?

[pumkinlover]

Hi donaghy, and welcome to  the forum.

A lot of people have had problems this year, squashes have not done well  for many. Also beans esp runners.
The weather has affected a lot of plants with the hot spring but  cold nights, then a long dry but not very sunny.
Never really got going.
Don't be disheartened :D

[donaghy77]

THANKS GUYS , no idea where the red came from LOL.  I am blaming the manure to be honest -  but so disappointed - not sure how to get my head round planting next year - to enrich the soil this year or not ? hey ho !! such is allotment life  8)

[pumkinlover]

Green manures- field beans can be planted into October ;)

[Crystalmoon]

Hi there, I stopped using manure 3 years ago & now use liquid seaweed to feed crops. I also grow my own comfrey & make 'tea' by adding it to a water butt & letting it stew for a season, it makes a great feed too.
I plant out squash etc with blood, fish & bonemeal mixture in the holes. I would even say my yields have increased so my plot doesnt seem to be missing the manure. (my soil is heavy clay) x Jane

[SPUDLY]

Manure really is getting a bad press lately. It's now being blamed for the red in your post. ;D ;D ;D

[Aden Roller]

Hi donaghy, and welcome to  the forum.

A lot of people have had problems this year, squashes have not done well  for many. Also beans esp runners.
The weather has affected a lot of plants with the hot spring but  cold nights, then a long dry but not very sunny.
Never really got going.
Don't be disheartened :D

This just about sums up my year  ::) although the potatoes were good so were a few other crops.
There we go. Better luck next time.  ;)

[pansy potter]

Some years are better than others .Probably next year you will be talking about your bumper harvest ;D

[Aden Roller]

Some years are better than others .Probably next year you will be talking about your bumper harvest ;D

That would be nice.

[Ellen K]

This is my 3rd year and it hasn't been too bad apart from the slugs and the onion rot and some were worse affected than me.

My first year was great and then I had a "regression to the mean" effect and my second year seemed rubbish in comparison.

A lot of gardening is about dealing with disappointment but the upside is that you are part of the group depression and, a bit like a group hug, it's nice to feel included isn't it?

(sorry if this isn't what you want to hear  :) )

Oh, and welcome to A4A.

[pigeonseed]

Hi donaghy - welcome.

You're never alone with these things. I had a good potato year in terms of yield, and onions were amazing in spite of white rot. But squash and courgettes have done very badly. I agree with the others - it'll be something to do with the weather.

But the astonishing thing is the way it affects neighbouring gardens/plots so differently. Some people near me have had bumper crop of courgettes, they've been composting them. Mine produced one or two a week and then died of mildew.  :'(

As they say - next year could be a bumper year. Could be pants again. But if you like the gardening and the sense of hope - keep at it! Over the years you'll have many wonderful crops. And lots of fun planning.

[non-stick]

Hi Mate - keep your chin-up we all have our problems

Amongst the Good this year

Beetroot - rubbish last year
Potatoes - no slug damage at all
Pumpkins - 4 nice size ones, more than enough for us
Tomatoes
Runners - loads stacked in freezer
Parsnips - best ever germination
Carrots
Courgettes
Garlic


Middling

Broad Beans - sadly we went away just before they were ready and blackfly got 'em
Peas - still learning on these
Sweetcorn - better than last year but not up to much.
Blackberries - wet weather has caused so many to rot
Gooseberries - loads dropped in dry spell earlier this year
Raspberries - not up to usual crop, again damaged by wet

Rubbish

Cauliflowers - haven't had a decent crop for years
Aubergines - still can't crack these
Squash - brilliant last year but tiny fruits late this year. Will try another variety as back-up to butternuts
Onions - Pretty cack crop for second year running

It's been a tough year with early drought and a cold summer. Other crops have been hit and miss but the thing is to enjoy the success. Still there's another season to come and a late, hopeful sowing of peas are looking promising

[electric landlady]

This year has been a wierd old year

Good:
Onions and garlic - enormous, best I have ever grown
Lettuce - grew like mad
Sweetcorn - yum
Cabbages - first time I've grown them, looking good so far
Apples, pears, plums, gooseberries - massive crop
Summer squash - they just kept on coming
Potatoes - good size crop, although have got a touch of blight in the tubers  >:(
Carrots - now that I've got the hang of thinning them properly, got a good size crop

Bad:
Squash - after last year's bumper crop, this year they are tiny, and only 4 from 6 plants.
Beans - pathetic germination rate meant only a handful of dwarf french beans for me
Beetroot: tiny, just not growing despite feeding and watering
Tomatoes - really struggled with the temperature fluctuations and cold August - plants are only half the size they usually grow to. No blight though!

Terrible:
Courgettes - from 3 plants I managed to get a grand total of 2 courgettes - yes that's right, 2 courgettes. I didn't know it was possible to get less than 5000 courgettes!!
Rhubarb - it's old and spent and didn't do much at all. I'll be digging it up and replanting the newer bits this winter.

But....NEXT year the weather will be lovely, nothing will die or get eaten, and it'll all be fine! Onwards and upwards  ;) ;D ;D

[Linnea]

Good
Onions - best ever
runner beans from second sowing - having to give them away (and running out of people to give them to!)
Courgettes (green ball ones) - way too many but have gained some courgette muffins & cake from the extras :)
Fruit - blackcurrants/strawberries/rasperries/rhubarb. gooseberries would have been fab if the pigeons hadn't got them before me!
Butternut squash - about 30 fruit from 5 plants (first year of any kind of success)

bad
Calabrese - no large head but ended up with lots of small bits so at least got a crop
Leeks - leek moth got them - need to mesh for next year


abysmal
Sweetcorn - plants only 2ft high even now!
cauliflower - no flowerhead
Lettuce

Had a really bad start to the year with almost 100% failure of first seed sowing but gradually picked up and hopefully have enough to see me through the winter!
It's all a learning expirience which is part of what I enjoy about growing fruit/veg. there is always something new to learn ;D

[antipodes]

There are always some things that go wrong!  I had success this year by persevering with successive sowing. The spring here was too hot and dry so peas were rubbish, and all the green fresh things soon died. Early crops of beans, beetroot etc were unsuccessful.
Then the summer was too wet causing mildew and tomato blight.
BUT early strawberries were wonderful and Late beets and carrots have been pretty good. Late beans gave (and are still giving) a fantastic crop. I got wonderful alliums and good spuds and the squash has been rampant because it got lots of rain while fruiting.
|There are always some things that grow and some that fail, successively sow over the whole sowing period as the different successions may give different crops. 
It has taken me 4 years to get a decent crop in my veg patch so don't give up.