veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

A question about : veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

There are rather a lot of us around at the moment who are newbies to veg growing - we shoudl all support each other!

I have only a roof terrace and everything is going to be done in pots and bags. Its really sunny up there (weather permitting!) I realy want to get into it, so I am going to try lots of different things!

I am doing:
Charlotte potatoes (they are chitting on thge windowledge)
Carrots
peas
asparagus peas
courgette
patty pan
auberrgine
salad
easy herbs
spring onions

we have beetroot seeds too and a blueberry plant from Јshop.

I am stuck to think about what size containers I need for these - any advice is welcome. Ive been saving pop bottles as make do cloches and loo roll inners and some scratched cds for bird scarers

I also got out the Titchmarsh kitchen gardener book from the library, its brilliant. Also got a free planting poster from B&Q.

Is there anything else I can be doing now

newbies what have you done/ are doing?

Would love to learn along with other newbies

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Best answers:

• Hi
  I'm a newbie too I'm going to growing my fruit & veg in pots, bags and a raised bed. I haven't got a clue what I'm doing really but figured I would just keeping reading the tips on here and just go for it I've also got the Alan Titchmarsh book and another book called Patio Produce, both are good.
• I'll join the club too please i haven't a scooby what i'm doing, but i'm also going to plant in pots,bags etc.
  I bought the Titmarsh book today The Kitchen Gardener & The Vegetable & Herb Expert (Hessayon) after a few reccomendations on here.
  I' m just going to keep reading on here & hope the lovely people will reply to my questions when i start panicking! ha!
  P.S LYNZPOWER-If you decide you want to buy The Alan Titmarsh book WHSmith have it reduced to Ј10 from Ј20 at the moment,someone replying to my a post told me this morn!.
• I'm joining. I have a new allotment but not got an official entry date yet. I also have a concrete balcony thing. I am doing strawberrys and tumbling toms in hanging baskets and peppers/chillis in teracotta pots.
  For allotment I have some maris piper pots so far but noting else decided yet. I have been having a think about what fruit and veg I/we actually like and enjoy. There is no point growing say mushrooms because we detest them.
  I have decided to make a list of everything I/we like and then look at if its possible to grow here and how we go about it.
• Hi, I've been growing my own veg for years and one tip I would give anyone is to not to take everything the authors of gardening books say too seriously-just have a go and enjoy it. Where you live makes a lot of difference to where you sow-frost, daylight hours etc all count. If growing in containers go to your local fishmonger and ask if he has any spare polystyrene boxes the fish come in-they are great as they insulate, are a good depth for all salad crops, coriander, rocket etc and strawberries. I have grown potatoes in buckets, carrots in an old wooden cupboard (on it's back with shelves removed), peppers in large pots (you really need greenhouse or conservatory for these or a very light window). If you give the veg good soil, enough room to grow and water properly you will have a great chance of success.
  If you don't have room for runner beans you can grow dwarf french beans in pots or climbing french beans in a large tub with a wigwam. Mange tout grow ok in a deep pot too. Growbags are great for all sorts-not just tomatoes but you will get better results with tomatoes if you make it deeper by planting them in pots then cut out circles in the growbag and put the pot on top of the soil-easier to water too.
  Realised I was rambling on there but am a bit obsessed with gardening-if you have any questions please ask and I will do my best to answer-there's not much I haven't had a go at over the years.
  Good luck to you all-there's nothing like your first meal of the year all prepared from veg you picked the same day-does your soul good.
• Sorry-forgot to answer Lynzpowers question:
  Blueberries need acidic soil (pine needles can help), lots of organic matter (own compost) and will need a pot big enough for the rootball and room to grow-about 2 gallon bucket for small plants.
  Beetroot can grow easily in containers-try a 12 inch pots and put seed about 5 inches apart or sow thinly and then thin out later to 5 inches apart. Sow about 2 m deep.
  Hope this helps
• Hello, I'm a newbie too! I have already been bombarding the lovely lot on here with questions and had so much great experienced advice! I have already made my first boo boo, too many damn seed potatoes, hahaha. I have found a willing taker though so I won't be over run with potatoes, hehehe. This week so far I have been pricking out my herb seedlings and broccoli, the herbs i am growing are:
  dill
  garlic chives
  chives
  basil
  coriander
  rosemary
  oregano
  I also have leeks from seeds growing and lavender.
  I plan to grow potatoes, carrots, broccoli, turnips, cabbage, kale, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, spring onions, sweat peas, courgettes, and a few more! Might have bitten off a little more than can chew but I'm going to give it a go.
  I have grow bags and have sourced some good compost from the local garden centre, 6 bags of 40 ltr multi-purpose for Ј10, I think thats pretty good. All other stuff from Wilko's or poundland.
  I am chitting my potatoe seeds and I am also trying to find something to put my carrot grow bags on as I have read that carrot fly are the biggest enemy and they don't fly higher than 30cm so hopefully I can avoid them being eaten somehow!
  Great idea for this thread as we can all chat about progress and learn from and with each other!!
  Thanks and I shall be on here often!
  Thanks for the advice Elennor, its much appreciated!
• Another newbie here,
  Just got our first allotment, we are very lucky as my dad is a fountain of knowledge.
  Can't wait to get started.
• Hi all,
  I tried a little experiment last year, after looking at the potato bags that garden centres sell (around Ј7 for 3!) I decided they were just the same material, near enough, as the morrisons reusable bags, so bought half a dozen of those for less than 50p each , made drain holes in the bottom and planted my potatoes in those. They worked perfectly and will be reused again this year. Happy chitting!
• Its only my second year, but last year was very much trial and error!! Its worth the effort tho - the best meal we had last year was a sunday roast, with all the veg and potatoes home grown
• I'll join too, I have ordered some seed potatoes and have just sown some onion seedlings as well as planting a blueberry bush into a pot.
  I plan to attempt this year:
  lettuce
  onions
  potatoes
  beetroot
  tomatoes
  herbs - basil, rosemary etc
  I don't want to get too carried away but it's so easy when seeds are so cheap!
• hi im another newbie
  this is my first year growing veg im growing several things to see what works best. i have a raised bed built just trying to source top soil,my list is
  leeks
  brussels
  white beetroot
  carrots
  calabrese
  potatoes in sacks
  2 raspberries from Јshop in a grow bag
  strawberries grow tub
  herbs in kitchen window
  lettuce in containers
  toms in containers
  cucumber and beans up canes
  phew!!! might have got carried away now ive seen it all written down
• Can i join please?
  Even though I started last year, i went overboard, tried to do too many things and a lot got neglected and died of thirst!
  This year i have pretty much forgotten what worked and what didn't so i have my alan titchmarsh book out today too!
  This year i will do less, probably just:
  potatoes - in rubble sacks - easy!
  carrots - in big plastic tub - easy!
  cucumber - must remember to water!
  Sweetcorn - must protect from birds!
  blueberries - in ericaceaous compost
  rasberries, blackberries, gooseberries, strawberries - all bunged in raised border!
  Good luck all, it is soooo addictive!!!
• i'm going to try too.Not a clue really but got tomatoes and sweet peas plus lots o other packets
• You can get some free beetroot and spinach seeds here.
  https://www.britainonshow.co.uk/promotions/
  I've ordered some they take 4-6 weeks to arrive.
• I've grown a few veg before but it was a long time ago. This will be my first growing season in my present garden.
  I started building a blog as a reminder of what to do and what I've done but it struck me it might come in useful for others here so I've started building it more that way. It's barkieology.blogspot.com It isn't a commercial website but I'm not sure of the site rules for blogs so I'll not put in a direct link in.
  Something I am going to do is keep track of the costs and work out how much I produce and see what it would have cost to buy the veg and herbs. I don't think I'll do fruit this year.
  There's a 'page' on what seeds and sets I have bought and the amount/costs but the gist is
  potatoes 1st early, maincrop and salad - all chitting away as I type
  red and white onions, leeks, garlic - I use a lot.
  peas
  cauli, broccolli, turnip
  carrot, parsnip
  Lettuce, radish, and a few beetroot
  chilli peppers
  Shame you can't grow cheese in a small garden coz we like that.
  CARROT FLY - yeah supposedly doesn't fly high but a breeze can help it get higher. My last lot were hidden from sight and smell and I was careful about pulling them too so mine escaped. If it was me with a container I would cover them with fleece to about 2' and sow thinly so you don't have to thin them and pull little uns out. Usual advice is also to plant garlic, chives and coriander or something smelly around to confuse the blighters. Literally to put them off the scent.
  Hope that helps.
• For those of you that are container gardening,please can you let me know what pots you are using *ie can you be specific*. I was absolutely horrified at the price of the pots in B&Q when I popped in today.
  Quote:
• try this site for finding out the size of containers needed
  https://www.extension.iastate.edu/Pub...ons/PM870B.pdf
  The Morrisons Supermarket sale their old flower buckets (8 for 99p) and the are pretty much big enough to grow most things, quite a few people even grow new potatoes in them, I use them for tomatoes instead of growbags as the toms can root better (don't tell my OH I just got some more today 54 buckets for Ј3 as they were happy to get rid of a lot in one go), Builders buckets work just as well, if your on a budget like myself use pallet wood to either surround groups of 3 buckets or make a reasonable wooden trough/raised bed instead, it won't last for ever but you will get a few years out of it
  Scaffolding planks make very good raised beds and containers and in the past you could get them for free from scalfolding companies when they were damaged, now they are not so easy to get hold of, and a lot of companies now sell them instead of giving them away
  another option for home made containers is decking planks, to keep down costs try to get second timber as this will be a lot cheaper
  hope this helps some of you, there is a lot of people here who are willing to help people like yourselves as we were all new to gardening once
  you can always try freecycle, it's amazing what people will give you for free
• I am using Morrisons flower buckets and am debating whether to get these terracotta ones from ikea here as they are cheap and large and a bit prettier.
  For lettuce my plan is to use cheap plastic troughs from somewhere like wilkos