Is it too late to sow the seeds of pumpkins and squashes etc as i have some over grown ground come available to me to use, I was thinking to weed spray cover with plastic and plant pumpkins and squashes through. Have anyone have any ideas,As I don't like seeing an allotment go to waste when i can use it .
I would say you are just on the cusp..
Ideally they would be out growing by now but a lot of squash can be sow direct in June - so get some in today and you might get a crop!
I just bunged my pumpkins in my overgrown pumpkin patch and covered the surrounding area with newspaper/cardboard with weeds etc on top to hold it down. When the pumpkins grow they will make good ground cover.
I think you can sow courgettes up until July. The earlier plants tend to go rather large, long and lanky so I normally sow some later ones. They are normally cropping in about 60 days. I am just starting to crop the ones I sowed the end of April, and since the weather is warmer now it should be even sooner.
They are great for keeping the weeds under control. Not much seems to grow underneath. I also give them things like piles of weeds and old brassica stalks, they cover the mess.
Thanks for the replies i started a few off to day,Well quite a few. The seeds had sow by dec 2011 so nothing ventured nothing gained my sons taking this allotment over at the end of the year work commitments wont allow him any available time until then and i paid the rent for him as birthday prizzy so i have the use of it untill he takes over.... yay......
I would like to ask if it is too late to have any success with my tomatoes. The seedlings have just come through and are big enough to pot on (two little leaves). The reason I put them in so late is because the lovely gentleman who usually gives me tomato plants each year, for some reason, has lost too many of his plants to spare any. I had to hotfoot it to the shops to get some seeds.
I have just sown a couple more courgettes and cukes as I have some room to spare and it's true that sometimes the early ones have run out of "oompf" by the end of the season! If you sow pumpkin you may not get loads of fruit but the vine will grow enough to cover the ground. Another excellent ground cover (I have found) is nasturtiums. In just a couple of week, they spread like mad on open ground. When it frosts they just die of their own accord and you chop them up into teh ground, like green manure.
personally I would think ate for tomatoes but I have seen some lottie neighbours starting very late and still having tomatoes in late August...