God I love growing our own

[Amari]

We have had two massive Robinson's greenhouses. The first stated at the house we sold and so we bought another for our present abode. We have a big cheaper one too. There is no comparison. The only hard thing about the Robinson's s getting the cover strips on once all the glass is in! But it has withstood huge storms. The cheaper one not so much!!!!!

Ours is 16x8'. We engaged a local man to erect it - he only does greenhouses, not even sheds etc - there's no way that we could have done it ourselves even by recruiting our two able-bodied sons who helped us erect the Alton.

 

[JamezF]

The ones I prefer are Bedfordshire Champion - it's a brown round onion, not too strong when pickled, a packet of 200 does a square yard of bed and that gives me about 18 jars.

I've grown those before, though this year I have Yellow Rynsburger. I can get some more seeds and find a spare bit of bed to sow them in. It has to be worth a go.

James

 

[pargyle]

Now that's good idea. I grow those for ordinary onions. I put the sets you sent me in far too late and then it started raining for weeks but lo and behold many of them are through.
I pickle my shallots in sweet balsamic vinegar and they are sublime.

I got my sets in during November and put some chicken wire and polythene over them to keep some of the weather off the (and the blackbirds who seem to love pulling them up !) and I got 100% coming through .. so I took the polythene off and the rain started and has hardly stopped since ... I was a bit worried about them as the soil is more or less constantly wet but they seem to be thriving and the leaves are now about 6" or so. I found another net of Ssenshuyi that I didn't know I have - when the wet weather started I put them into plug pots of compost in the greenhouse (I'm not sure whether these sets are this years or last years !) more in hope than expectation -they have all started sprouting so I'm going to have to find room for 20 more onions in the beds ! The shallots and garlic are also all doing well. My broad beans in the beds (despite being covered in fleece) are looking a bit sad after the frosts of the last couple of weeks but I've got a second lot started in 3" pots in the greenhouse so, if the ones in the ground don't do well I've another lot to follow on.

 

[philipm]

Put some Sweet Potatoes to spout this week. Hoping to grow on in the poly tunnel once I get the slips grown on.

 

[pargyle]

Put some Sweet Potatoes to spout this week. Hoping to grow on in the poly tunnel once I get the slips grown on.

I've grown them for a few years now but my crops have varied and I wonder whether it's worth the effort ... I get a few decent size tubers but a lot of new potato sized ones which, by the time 'er indoors has peeled them they are more like radishes ! In the years we have had long decent summers they give a better volume and size of tubers, I only grow them in 50 ltr tubs but I feed them well .. blood fish and bone in the growing medium and a tomato feed (cumfrey juice) when the plants are established but I think what they need is more heat.

They really are tropical crops and even in our Southern UK climate need the continual warmth of a polytunnel or greenhouse. If I had a bit more space I wonder whether the best way to grow them in the UK outside is to create a deep bed (3 feet at least) and fill the bottom half with horse manure and fresh compost to make a hot bed and grow the sweet potatoes in a sandy soil/compost mix in the top half. Sadly, at present, I don't have enough room in a sunny position to try ....I don't have a polytunnel so .. I may be giving them a miss this year.

Have a look here: Gardening

and here: Sweet potatoes

 

[Erichalfbee]

Put some Sweet Potatoes to spout this week. Hoping to grow on in the poly tunnel once I get the slips grown on.

I’ve tried for three years and given up. They took over half the polytunnel and I got only a few decent tubers.

 

[JamezF]

I've considered trying to grow sweet potatoes as we eat quite a lot of them, but I suspect the weather in the UK is just too marginal to get a decent crop. Lack of warmth we can deal with to some extent using a polytunnel or greenhouse, but I suspect the more significant problem is insufficient daylight over a sufficiently long period.

I wonder if the way forward might be to plant them one year and allow the foliage to develop, protect them from frost over the winter and harvest after the second year's growth. That seems like an awful lot of work though.

James

 

[pargyle]

I've considered trying to grow sweet potatoes as we eat quite a lot of them, but I suspect the weather in the UK is just too marginal to get a decent crop. Lack of warmth we can deal with to some extent using a polytunnel or greenhouse, but I suspect the more significant problem is insufficient daylight over a sufficiently long period.

I wonder if the way forward might be to plant them one year and allow the foliage to develop, protect them from frost over the winter and harvest after the second year's growth. That seems like an awful lot of work though.

James

The top growth usually dies back in the autumn after it has flowered and if it doesn't it's very susceptible to frost ... if you try and leave the tubers in they will all throw up new topgrowth the next year if you keep them frost free but they use the old tubers to provide the sustenance for the new years growth and they don't grow bigger. It's a thug of a plant and they need space in the tub to grow. Slips are by far the best way of growing them ... you can get an early start by getting your slips started in December or if you have somewhere frost free - get your slips started in autumn and overwinter the young plants for a head start as soon as it's warm enough for them to go unheated,

It's like evrerything in gardening - trying to grow something in a location or climate that it really does not like rarely works.

I still think, a hot bed is probably the best option in our climate - get the slips started early, get them into the hot bed as soon as there are no heavy frosts - perhaps build a polythene tent covered in fleece over the top of the hot bed to keep the heat in and pray for a long hot summer ...

It's still going to be a lottery ....

 

[enrico]

I’ve tried for three years and given up. They took over half the polytunnel and I got only a few decent tubers.

We grow in large pots and for some reason get great crops! They have lasted longer than normal potatoes in storage and we still have loads left. We tried in open ground but won't do that again! We keep rooted cuttings from the previous year and also plant small ones to shoot.

 

[Erichalfbee]

We grow in large pots and for some reason get great crops! They have lasted longer than normal potatoes in storage and we still have loads left. We tried in open ground but won't do that again! We keep rooted cuttings from the previous year and also plant small ones to shoot.

You have greener fingers than me. Ours were in huge pots in the tunnel. The roots got through the bottom and produced little sweet potatoes in the ground.

 

[Goran]

Hi, I'm sorry to change the course of theme. I am curious, does anyone have experience of growing maracuja and is it worthy of trouble. If also does it taste good ( I never tried any). Thanks if someone know and willing to tell.. Since we have couple seasons bananas outside alive, I started to look broader.. Climate changes are real..

 

[pargyle]

Hi, I'm sorry to change the course of theme. I am curious, does anyone have experience of growing maracuja and is it worthy of trouble. If also does it taste good ( I never tried any). Thanks if someone know and willing to tell.. Since we have couple seasons bananas outside alive, I started to look broader.. Climate changes are real..

Never a problem changing lanes on here Goran !

We know them as passion fruit - not often grown in the UK as a fruiting plant.

When we lived in our first cottage, 50 years ago now, our garden butted up to the neighbours gable wall which faced due South and had a chimney running up it ... someone who lived there previously had planted a passion fruit vine which produced some edible fruit that ripened around the end of August. Sadly, I discovered that I'm allegic to Passion Fruit when I tried one - and my mouth swelled up ... antihistamine fixed it so I tried again ... same happened so I haven't deliberately eaten it since ! Pretty insipid taste from my ageing memory so not great loss as far as I'm concerned.

I'm sure someone else on here will have some experience of growing and eating them ...

 

[enrico]

Hi, I'm sorry to change the course of theme. I am curious, does anyone have experience of growing maracuja and is it worthy of trouble. If also does it taste good ( I never tried any). Thanks if someone know and willing to tell.. Since we have couple seasons bananas outside alive, I started to look broader.. Climate changes are real..

Not my favourite fruit. Never heard of it being grown in the UK but I am sure some do!

 

[rossbyjove]

Put some Sweet Potatoes to spout this week. Hoping to grow on in the poly tunnel once I get the slips grown on.

It is a vine and will take over the polytunnel.
I grew some a couple of years ago, I do love them.
Not really worth the effort for me, got a couple of good size ones but the rest were tiny.

 

[rossbyjove]

Hi, I'm sorry to change the course of theme. I am curious, does anyone have experience of growing maracuja and is it worthy of trouble. If also does it taste good ( I never tried any). Thanks if someone know and willing to tell.. Since we have couple seasons bananas outside alive, I started to look broader.. Climate changes are real..

It is a crazy prolific plant.
Lived in a very old house and it started sending shoots up through the flagstone floor!
You barely get anything out of a fruit , so need lots of them to make anything with.
Tastes good and the plant has incredible flowers but they do take over.

 

[philipm]

My father has a passion fruit vine in his garden its loaded with fruit every year.it's a very invasive plant always lots of little plants sprouting up everywhere.I,ve tried growing some of the plants at home but for some reason they don't like West Wales probably because we dont have a clay soil like in my dads garden.

 

[philipm]

I have plenty of room to try the sweet potatoes,I may take a couple of panes of glass out of the greenhouse to let them spead outside if its warm enough in the summer. We always leave the skins on after scrubbing and make them into wedges with some olive oil on the skin air fry or bake in the oven.

 

[pargyle]

I have plenty of room to try the sweet potatoes,I may take a couple of panes of glass out of the greenhouse to let them spead outside if its warm enough in the summer. We always leave the skins on after scrubbing and make them into wedges with some olive oil on the skin air fry or bake in the oven.

You have to be careful ... if the vines trail on the ground they are prone to taking root. It is a thug of a plant ...

If you don't mind leaving the skins on, then the thin mishaped and new potato sized tubers you get, alongside the decent sized ones, may be suitable for cooking whole. In my case, 'er indoors, insists that peeling anything in the way of root vegetables requires slicing at least half an inch off the outside (drives me mad but keeps my worm farm well fed) so they end up like matchsticks !!

 

[enrico]

You have to be careful ... if the vines trail on the ground they are prone to taking root. It is a thug of a plant ...

If you don't mind leaving the skins on, then the thin mishaped and new potato sized tubers you get, alongside the decent sized ones, may be suitable for cooking whole. In my case, 'er indoors, insists that peeling anything in the way of root vegetables requires slicing at least half an inch off the outside (drives me mad but keeps my worm farm well fed) so they end up like matchsticks !!

We grow ours in tubs in front of a trellis. The vines are tied to the trellis. If you let them root the crop is less but we let one or two root and use those plants the following year, overwintered in annex.

 

[Ely]

I'm going to grow French beans as well as runner beans this year, the runner beans were lovely but didn't freeze well. Other than that, tomatoes, kale, spinach, radish and spring onion. I need to let the runners grow on the Strawberries this year to replace next year. Does anyone know a good variety of tomato that grows well without a greenhouse?