Grow Your Own Magazine

This is my first year with a garden large enough to grow veg and I've thrown myself right into it, and loving it. Do you become less patient the longer you grow? I keep looking at things and getting cross with them for not growing quickly enough. I've banned myself from going into the greenhouse 20 times a day to look at things.

Any others out there feel the same way?

hi,tell me what you have been growing and i might beable to give you some idea,

Finney

I think you become more patient the longer you have grown as you understand the time that plants need. I guess its down to experience.

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'People don't learn and grow from doing everything right the first time... we only grow by making mistakes and learning from them. It's those who don't acknowledge their mistakes who are bound to repeat them and do no learn and grow. None of us are done making mistakes or overflowing with righteous wisdom. Humility is the key.'
- Thomas Howard

Yup, I'm just the same. I can't understand why nothing looks any bigger when I go in 30 mins later to 'check'.......
Tx

Ha ha, yeah 'come on, I go away, have a cup of tea and you're still the same size'.

Everythings growing, but just too slow. My boyfriend was blessed with patience, sadly I wasn't.

In the greenhouse the toms, squash, gherkins, Cape Gooseberries, peppers, courgettes, strawbs and herbs are doing well but the chillis are real slow, only about 2 inches or so but lots of people in my area have been telling me that theirs are slow too.

Any tips?

2 inch chillies wow, the flowers on mine havnt even opened yet

I play music to mine whilst Im working in the garden, I have my first courgette growing so shouldnt be long before I can eat it.
However should I cook it or eat it raw????

Oh no, don't get excited, I meant the plant was 2 inches not the chillis. I wish!

take a chill pill,nature will takes its cause,things will grow it is now getting warmer

finney

I was staring at my second courgette last night (first got eaten by you-know-whatties) and thought it would be a couple of days, but this morning it's flippin HUUUUUGE!!!! I imagine it'll be all out world domination by the time I get home, if the little slimy bar stewards haven't eaten it!

Yes, if you want fast try growing courgettes. The plant takes a painful while to get into stride, and the first bijou-courgettes are also slow on the uptake, but once it gets into its stride. Blimey.

That 2inch mini-courgette you missed last night will be beating down the back door the following evening!

As you get the hang of the different crops you'll have more idea of how long they need - but hopefully the impatience will never go - enjoy your green babies, and your enthusiam!

LCG

Hi

Yes - I'm not blessed with patience either! Its amazing how things do get going though and when I've been away for a weekend thats when it seems to happen - not when I'm looking at them every morning and evening!!

Yeah, the first year it takes absolutely ages for everything to grow - I'm in my 3rd year now and it's - wow, those have grown fast. Basically, once they are in the ground I just check for bugs and problems; and try to let nature get on with it.

My moon trial tomatoes looked absolutely rotten last night though - both sets had shrivelled leaves - even though other toms growing a foot away and put in the ground 2 days before are looking fab. No idea what's happened - I can only think it was yesterday's wind. I hope I don't lose the lot...

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Andrea :wavehello

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...logs/zazen999/

moon trials completed:
tomatoes
[46% increase in crop per seed sown and 10% increase in crop per plant]

currently underway:
calabrese
garlic

This is why I love this grapevine - its good to learn that it's not just me being crazy I too am an impatient first timer but things are beginning to grow at last and I have begun eating the first things in my veggie plot so stick with it cos it gives a great sense of satisfaction (even so I still check to see if the veggies have suddenly had a growth spurt whilst I turned my back putting my wellies on, and again taking them off, and again after a cuppa, and again before lunch, and again......and again... and again......)

Grow some lettuce. It's really fast you'll be harvesting in no time. Radishes too, if you like them, they're ready in about a month.

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The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it. -John Ruskin

http://wormsflowers.blogspot.com/

I think you need a time lapse camera that takes a couple of shots a day, when you play it back quickly you'll be so much prouder of your first crop.

Patience comes with time, I only really get annoyed if something harms my brood, mr slug is my main concern at present, but I am sure that mr blackfly will be shortly aswell.

You don't get more patient (ask me how I know!) but the patience gets spread more thinly if you know what I mean. If you only have half a dozen spuds and a few toms you are checking them every few minutes. When you've got a garden or a lottie (or more!) full then things have to get on with it a bit - you can't be looking at everything all the time.

Mikey's time lapse camera idea is a good one. Last year when I'd potted up my toms for the first time, little tommy plant each in its own 3" pot, I proudly took a pic. I took the same photo just a week later and couldn't belive the difference. Even though I'd been ranting at them every day to grow for mummy, they'd been doing it and I hadn't noticed!

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 17th - The Big Dig

I have plants in Suffolk, and different plants in Norfolk. I spend half the week there, and half the week here.
It is amazing how much things have grown since I've been away ~ especially if the sun has been out for a day or two. For example, my French beans were 2 foot tall last week ... today one of them was 3 foot tall.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

I sowed some gherkins on 11th, popped them into the airing cupboard and being impatient (or just down right nosey) I had a look last night (13th) and they are about 3 inches tall!!!!!
If I'd have twiddled my thumbs any longer before I looked at them, they may have keeled over! (or walked out and come and got me!) - sometimes impatience pays off : )

2 DAYS!!!!!!!!! Thats just showing off.

I have a woodburner so no airing cupboard, damn! My gherkins were sown over three weeks ago and are still little stubby things not worth writing home about.

LOL They're out of the airing cupboard now so they'll probably sulk a lot now just to show me up! I expect yours are just saving their strength for later : )

I think all gardeners are a bit impatient. I am told I have the patient of a saint (you have to have being a driving instructor). And yet I am already starting to write this year off and planning on what I want to do next year, and can't wait for the new season to start. Mind you that may be because the lottie is absolutely full and I have plants queuing up waiting for a bit of spare ground.

Hi
we are eating our potatoes,carrots,beetroot ready to pick and store broccoli is about 2 foot tall tomatoes cant keep up with picking them,we mainly make sauces and freeze it runner beans are 5ft high small beans on them swede doing ok at the moment its 95 deg but have had some good thunderstorms this month so not needing to water much,but the darn weeds grow quicker than the veg lol.
Tony

That's it, the house is going up for sale and we're moving to Bulgaria so I can grow veg more quickly, lol!

I cant wait to get home from work an see if anything looks bigger or any different since i checked it all before i went to work.

Courgettes being the most awesome though. In the morning the wee courgette were an inch shorter than my partners mobile phone and by the evening was a half inch longer. next eve it was two inches longer!! should be eating it tomorrow an that will be the second one harvested.

I am so sad that i sit at work an wonder how big they are growing..lol

wren

I feel that way every time I talk to my parents in Spain - I start boasting about my veggies and they trump me every time.

# Oh I had flowers on my tomatoes today!
# We ate some of our tomatoes for lunch

# I've just sowed my second lot of lettuce
# We've got lettuce coming out of our ears, we had lettuce soup for dinner.

Humph. I'll get my own back when July comes and they are slaves to the watering can while I'm splashing in puddles with the kids, right?!

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