Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Stork on May 08, 2006, 22:52:15
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My greenhouse is full to bursting. I have just about everything you can imagine ready to go out.
So - what can I plant now and what should I keep under cover for a couple of weeks?
My plot is in north London.
This is my first year with an allotment and it's becoming clear that I may have got everything going too soon in my enthusiasm.
Stork.
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praps Metcheck can give you some idea?
http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/HOME/
Regards, Lishka
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This is my first year with an allotment and it's becoming clear that I may have got everything going too soon in my enthusiasm.
Don't worry, everybody does it the first year. Just remember next spring, seeds don't have to be sown on the very earliest date shown on the packet.
Being in London you should be OK to plant most things out now but it's always a gamble. Brassicas will be fine if that helps
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I am longing to get my toms and squash out, but advice on the chat last night was to wait until night temp doesn't go below 8 degrees. So I will wait a couple of weeks >:( ::)
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Ambient temperature is much higher in London
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In Peterborough I get the cold wind whooshing over the fens MT :P But I might sneak in a couple of beds of toms and cover them with mesh AND fleece, and just see what happens (have plenty spare). All part of the fun eh ;)
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Hi all,
My brassic as have been in their permanent beds for 2 weeks now,and are "rattling"away,all are good size,and good and strong.I am near Wig an,Lancashire.
Regards,
Mark.
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Hi Stork
Depends where you are in North London. I think the further out you are, the more risk there is, but if you are running out of space, plant out the more hardy item like the brassicas and keep some fleece handy but I would be inclined to keep the tender plants like Toms, Cucs, squash, beans etc until the end of the month.
I'm in West London and although this is my first year growing veg, I always wait until the end of May to put out my hanging baskets, so am applying the same principle to the tender veg. ;D
I have had peas and spring cabbage out since Mid March and fingers crossed all OK so far.
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I have had peas and spring cabbage out since Mid March and fingers crossed all OK so far.
Yes but peas & spring cabbage are hardy plants anyway so they would be OK anyway. It's unusual to plant spring cabbage out at that time of year though, when do you expect to harvest them?
When I lived in London I planted most tender things out around this time in May, never had a problem in 12 years, but as I said, it's always a risk but Personally I'd go for it. I'm 30 miles up the M1 and my tender stuff will start going out in about a week or so depending on the forecasts
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Depends so much on your microclimate, too. I'm on the south facing side of a hill (a very small one, this being Cambridgeshire). The water meadows at the bottom of the valley (less than 5 minutes walk) have frosts maybe thirty or forty nights more each year than my garden does.
Haven't had a May frost in 8 years in my garden, so tend to assume around now is OK to plant tender stuff out. Last year, though, we had a frost in June, which wiped out quite a few things and blackened dahlias, bananas etc. So you can never be 100% safe.
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I developed this chart with the aid of a few people over the 'net', see if that can help;
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Misc.Data/Frost%20Zones.htm (http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Misc.Data/Frost%20Zones.htm)
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I wouldn't rely on it here yet in the sunny midlands, at the moment! Only cucurbits and Toms would really suffer now but almost everything else can go out!
:)
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I developed this chart with the aid of a few people over the 'net', see if that can help;
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Misc.Data/Frost%20Zones.htm (http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Misc.Data/Frost%20Zones.htm)
Fascinating Tee Gee. One of my lottie neighbours (a very ancient Italian gent) is uncannily spot on with his planting and sowing dates and gets magnificent crops, especially tomatoes. This morning all his runners and tomatoes were planted out on his plot with no protection :o. So I checked your chart, and lo we are in Week 19 and your chart shows 19 for my area. I said last year I would copycat my neighbour's planting and sowing times, so I'll put out some tommies this week and see what happens ;D But mine will go out under mesh cosies, just in case.
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I developed this chart with the aid of a few people over the 'net', see if that can help;
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Misc.Data/Frost%20Zones.htm (http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Misc.Data/Frost%20Zones.htm)
So I checked your chart, and lo we are in Week 19 and your chart shows 19 for my area.
Thanks for that feedback.
Statements like that makes me feel that it was worth while going to the trouble.
There is nothing very scientific about it it is just a chart made by a gardener for gardeners.
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thanks for reposting that chart, i was just remembering about that yesterday and hoping i could find it, since i've moved i have no idea about frosts here! thanks for doing all that work!
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It's unusual to plant spring cabbage out at that time of year though, when do you expect to harvest them?
MT - I was running out of space, the weather was good and so planting them in situ seemed sensible. Re harvesting I thought their name was a clue ;D No idea really, I'm taking the 'bung em in and see what happens' approach. When they have a heart, they will be ready - assuming the slugs don't get there first.
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It's just that I won't be sowing any of my spring cabbage until July at the earliest
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Just been to check the seed packet.........Greyhound spring cabbage, sow Mar-May (OK mid Feb was a bit eager...) harvest June-September. Hmmm, so that should be summer cabbage then.......
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Right that explains it, Greyhound is indeed a summer cabbage :)
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I have overwintered Greyhound this year and they are just coming to maturity now. Greyhound is a 3-season cabbage in my opinion.
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Yes, but when did you sow the seed?
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As my spring cabbage were growing too well last back end I actually bought some spring cabbage plants from Marshalls, they were rubbish, they put on next to no growth all winter then bolted at the first chance in spring... ok some of mine got frosted because they were too far on but at least we got something to eat !
:-[
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Yes, but when did you sow the seed?
The ones coming to fruition now were sown about September as spring cabbages - my August sowing was all eaten by slugs and snails before they got off the ground and the September sowing was helped by the long autumn. The ones maturing now were kippered by the pigeons during a net failure so have had to recover from that too. Got my March sowing planted out now and going to plant out Whealers Imperial and Excel (sorry F1 :-[ ) at the weekend.
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Thight it was called Greyhound because it matured fast - or was it because it tastes like a sweaty dog!
My packet agrees with SMP and mine are going out at the w/e to brave the elements
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Spring cabbage = a cabbage which matures in spring, not one which is planted in spring
What I'm saying is, if you plant a cabbage in the spring it's not going to ........................oh why worry ::)
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Greyhound does mature fast but it still stops overwinter and if has not hearted, it is frost hardy so stands to mature in the spring - a spring cabbage.
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Yes, but the whole point of my comment was to say that a cabbage planted out in March is not, nor ever will be a spring cabbage. It may well be possible to grow that variety as a spring cabbage but I don't think many cabbages will stand for 12 months somehow.
Read the thread again & you'll see what I mean
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You learn every day.
Greyhound frost-hardy? No argument. Just surprised. An early Summer Cabbage??
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Yes, but the whole point of my comment was to say that a cabbage planted out in March is not, nor ever will be a spring cabbage. It may well be possible to grow that variety as a spring cabbage but I don't think many cabbages will stand for 12 months somehow.
Read the thread again & you'll see what I mean
Not arguing MT - just using your correct definition of a spring cabbage to show that Greyhound can be treated as one.
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OK