How many.............................

[Doris_Pinks]

of you have one thing, that no matter what you do or try to do, just will not grow!
For me it is carrots, I have tried and tried, various methods and types, and they just never appear, if I get nothing yet again this year, then they are out of my planting for next year!
What about you all??

[Doris_Pinks]

[tim]

Carrots? Just drop some at the end of the row, in error, & they'll all germinate!

But yes, they are my bête noir!!

[kenkew]

Sow them in soil & sand...50/50.

[tim]

That certainly helps the growth, but germination??

[johcharly]

carrots and swedes are  my problems, never harvested a swede from my current lottie in 4 years.

[sandersj89]

For me it is spring onions, hopeless at them.

This year though sown in trays and modules, good germination so far and I hope to have a crop. The first batch sown early feb are now about 5" tall!

Fingers crossed.

Jerry

[moonbells]

Purple sprouting broccoli. Only just about my favourite veg.

I thought I'd cracked it last year after forgetting to sow in previous years. Only to go away leaving plants just about the right size for planting out and finding them shrivelled when I got back a bit too late to sow more.

I shall try *again* in a week or two.

moonbells

ps it *was* carrots though, till I hit on the compost v-trench! And I'm not very good at seed-grown onions (though leeks usually are fine).

[redimp]

I am hoping not to have many - but fearing I will have a few. 

I have had trouble with carrots in the past but have never grown them on a scale to call them a failure.  I now have stony soil so will be trying all the trench and cardboard tube methods.

I am sure you will soon realise if I develop a true nemesis by questions posted on this board.

[Jesse]

Herbs from seed. They all germinate but then struggle to grow from seedlings to usable plants. I'm okay with growing herbs already at a decent size from the garden centre, but from seed, no! My coriander seedlings and parsley seedlings are looking pretty pathetic at the moment. But, my basil seedlings are looking quite healthy, so fingers crossed...

[terrace max]

Onions - from seed. Totally beyond me...
Angelica - every year I sow it, every year I waste another £1.15

[Clayhithe]

Peas

Usually they don't germinate.

If they germinate,  they usually die off.

One year they grew several feet high,  produced 3 or 4 pods and no peas.

This year more than half germinated;  half of those were eaten and the rest are 3 inches high.

Fingers (toes,  legs,  arms) crossed

[legless]

erm so far...

- peas (last year they grew to 6 inches high then flowered and produced about 3 pods to the row)

- carrots (not a sign of the ones i sowed last year)

- spring onions (not one, but i did find one lurking yesterday that i must have sown last summer)

- brussels sprouts (no sprouts - lucky i like sprout tops)

hopefully i had a bad year and this year (my second full year) will shorten that list  :D

[busy_lizzie]

Our big failure are peas.  They germinate but then despite our precautions they get nobbled and disappear.  Had about  four attempts last year, -  rethinking our strategy for this year, but not giving up.  :D busy_lizzie

[Roy Bham UK]

My first attempt at Spring Onions this year was a disaster, they got leggy and keeled over, having read about the failures of Peas on here so far has knocked the wind out of my sails ??? as I got some to germinate in a jam jar with damp tissue :'( I'd better not hold my breath ::)

[Merry Tiller]

Spinach, always bolts or comes to nothing, carrots used to be a problem but now they're not and I've no idea why, parsnips sometimes don't show up but now I sow a little later & they seem to be OK

[terrace max]

Spring onions only started working for me when I gave up planting them outside and pricked them out into the greenhouse border. They grow really happily between the tomato plants or, as we speak, the last of the winter lettuces.

Thanks to A4A I can grow peas - especially now I've realised the first thing that appears when you pre-germinate them is a root not a shoot. I planted my first batch upside-down!

[Roy Bham UK]

Thanks to A4A I can grow peas - especially now I've realised the first thing that appears when you pre-germinate them is a root not a shoot. I planted my first batch upside-down!

Ooh err! I have just sown some pre-germinated peas, I must have missed that thread on whats root 'n' shoot ::) and just bunged em in :o won't they root themselves down and shoot themselves up then? ???

[terrace max]

No worries Roy - mine did just that. Only my gardening pride suffered...

[Roy Bham UK]

 ;D Tee hee  ;D Thanks terrace 8) (phew)

[aquilegia]

It's too soon to tell. I'm only really in my second serious season (after three years of dabbling previously). Last year - everything failed. But I blame the weather. My biggest disappointment was the parsnips. they did a grand total of nothing. And I love them. Oh and the fennel bolted. I will sow both later this year...