Hi All,
I have just moved house and have a back garden the I want to use to grow fruit and veg. Never done it before (apart from cress in an egg shell long time ago!) and am after some advice if possible.
I am growing sweet corn which I have now been told can get to about 2 metres high. I will put them in a squarish-block shape to pollination. What happens in winter? Will they grow more corn next year or do I just get rid of them?
I use a simple propagator to get the seeds started but am unsure on how to move them to a pot after - I did it with my round courgettes and was quite worried about damaging the roots - any tips? I tried moving my coriander! what a mess - chucked it and started again - but planted them in the only place I wanted them to grow - not in a propagator.
My girlfriend bought me 3 tomato plants from our local farm (about 50p each). They are in small pots and I think I need to get them out ASAP - water is drying out very quickly. I have no idea what type of tomato they are. Can I use the 2 piled up grow bags to plant all 3 then use canes to hold them up when they are bigger?
Lastly, (For now) I understand that water should be kept off of strawberry plant leaves - is this the same for my round courgettes as well? I always thought that the whole plant needed water (regardless of what plant it is).
Any help on any questions would be greatly appreciated
Sorry if this is too much (Mods feel free to cut it down!) And I am sure I will be plaguing you lot with more Q's in the future!
Many thanks
Liam
corn will only grow this one year. so harvest in the autumn then put on compost heap (get a compost heap, btw, or a composter :))
some plants dont mind root disturbance while others really suffer with it. have you got a good book yet? i can recommend joy larkcom's 'grow your own vegetables' for a comprehensive text book (lots of techniques, too) or dr. hessayon's (sp?) vegetable expert (lots of colour pictures, but too liberal with the chemicals in my opinion). also, the back of seed packs gives an indication. when it says 'sow directly into bed' this usually means they dont like their roots disturbed. with courgettes and other cucs (cucumbers, pumpkins, squashes) you can sow into pots and then plant out directly from that. so you have a compact root ball that doent get disturbed as it were.
yes to the tomatoes and grow bags as far as i know :)
to the watering - i would have thought most plants prefer watering close to the stem, or away from the stem, but close (i.e. into a bottle) and not on the leaves. the leaves get easily scorched if sunlight falls onto the droplets, also mildew can develop etc. also, don't forget that water only gets absorbed by the roots ;). and lastly, if growing in soil, spot or point watering will teach the plants to develop deep roots and search fro their own water (whereas liberal all over watering makes plants lazy with shallower roots). that is theory, at least. :)
good luck, and don't be shy asking (and searching) for answers :)
svea
hi Shaolin
Most vegetables are annual and die off after they have fruited. Most fruit are perennial and keep going.
(There are a few exceptions)
Anyway, your sweetcorn is a tender annual so you don't plant out until frosts have passed, and then it grows in the block (for pollination, as with most grasses it's wind pollinated) until the harvest or first frost depending on which is sooner. The plants die in the frost: you cut down the stems and compost them, and then sow new ones next year.
yes to the tomatoes. Cut a hole per plant through the top three layers of plastic and plant into the middle.
Some things don't like being moved. Some things don't mind. There are tricks which you'll pick up by lurking here or getting it wrong first time. Even after years of growing, you will still get caught out by something failing to grow. That's half of the fun - it's unpredictable!
Watering - do it close to the roots so less is wasted on weed seeds and bare earth, and it also means it goes deeper and helps the plant develop a better root system. You can feed some plants through watering it onto their leaves (best done early morning) but in general it's best to water the bases and avoid splashes which may scorch in bright sun.
Anyway welcome to A4A
moonbells
Thats a great help,
Thanks very much!
I am learning from everyone i speak to. I orginally had about 6 courgette plants in pot about 20"x20"!
I sorted that pretty quickly!
hallo there!
with tomatoes - check the bottom of the pot. If you can see some white roots poking through the holes in the bottom, it's probably time to pot on. Water them well and the gently take one of the plants out of the pot (put your hand over the compost with the plant between two fingers, turn it all upside down and pat the bottom - it should come out easily). Check for a good lot of roots in the pot and then plant into the growbags. If the roots are very congested, gently pull some away to stop the plant strangling itself. (sorry if this is to basic!)
And another tomato tip - when you've planted then, plant a small pot or an upside down plastic bottle with lid off and the bottom cut off next to the plant (mind the roots). Water into that so the water goes right down to the roots where it's needed, rather than running off.
Thanks thats not too basic at all - I have never done it before so it is all a bit foreign!
I will check to tomato roots tonight.
When I put in the bottle to water, should it be to the side, infront of, or behind the plant? Will this make the water only go to one side?
And how much water would i put in the bottle (lets say its a 500ml standard cola bottle). Would i fill it up and leave it to seep through or just judge it as best as i can and feel when the soil in the growbag seems moist enough?
I take it if i had 3 plants in a bag i would use one bottle for each.
I'm not sure if it matters where you put the bottle, as long as it's close. Oh and leave about one inch of the plastic above the soil level, or beetles might fall in and drown (they eat slugs, so we like them!)
I put one bottle in per plant to ensure even distribution.
Last year I was giving my outdoor tomatoes (no greenhouse) 2 pints of water a day (just over a litre) on very hot days and 2 pints every other day when it wasn't so hot. But the trick is to poke your finger in (right down to the knuckle) and have a feel. If it's moist (like a freshly squeezed out flannel) it's ok. If it's dryer than that - water. If it's really wet, hold off the watering.