I've had an allotment for about 18 months, and I finally have to admit that lots of digging and crossed fingers isn't enough - everything keeps dying!
I'm now on my third attempt at Broad Beans - the second sown directly into the ground in the spring were better, but still a bit pathetic.
I've germinated at home, potted on into peat pots and hardened off in a cold frame (they're still all alive!!) and now I've planted them out with a little compost mulch. I've also made them a fleece tent while they settle in.
Should I keep this fleece on longer term - or just for a few days?
Help!!
PS I've also started peas in the same way - do they need more protection than beans?
I'd keep the fleece on as long as you can... it keeps the wind off them as much as the frost. The peas are hardy if they were a round seeded variety recommended for winter sowing but again a bit of fleece will help. Watch out that Mice don't dig them up!
If your crops are generally poor have you checked the PH and general nutrients level?
Many allotments have been cropped for decades and not all plotholders look after their soil... plenty of muck and mulches is better for the soil than just chemicals....
Don't give up on it yet!
::)
Thanks saddad,
I'm sure you're right about the soil; I'm gradually trying to feed it up. My biggest problem is ***Slugs*** - so I lose a lot to them as well.
But no I will not give up - I'm just not sure how long I can carry on claiming to be a beginner!
hi miniroots, I reckon we're all newbies in this lark - trying new ways, finding new plants to grow, moving to new plots - better get used to it ;)
what sort of soil do you have - sand, clay, silt, loam, peat?
wettish or dryish?
stony or smoooth?
just interested like ::) ;D
I think my soil is quite good - but very tired - it's not too clay, at this time of year it's wettish (!), not too stoney (seem to be as many nails as stones - why? where do they come from?).
Oh, and 1 million trillion zillion SLUGS!!
no shortage of iron then ;) and plenty of mulch and muck going down like dad says ...
the regulars on my plot reckon it takes three years or more to turn a plot around, so it's early days :)
don't think your broadies could be in better hands ::)
Quote from: miniroots on November 17, 2006, 18:12:51
I've germinated at home, potted on into peat pots and hardened off in a cold frame (they're still all alive!!) and now I've planted them out with a little compost mulch. I've also made them a fleece tent while they settle in.
;D
Thanks!
The wind is up here tonight - so I hope the fleece is still there tomorrow!
My four rows (2x2) are now four rows of holes and discarded green shoots where the mice have had the bean (or could it have been squirrels?). Anyway, sowing some in root-trainers at home now to transplant when they are too large to be mice-meals!
Made some wire mesh guards to protect peas this year, seemed to have worked well:
:D Like the mesh Jen must get some for me peas. I never covered my broad beans but I thought I'd take a wander around the lottie and others haven't covered theirs its pretty well protected from the wind, I even went to buy some fleece in our local garden shop and he said they didn't need protecting only time will tell. :-\ :-X ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D