Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi everyone, Iam a very keen veg grower and I am only in my second year.
I have not much experience with growing veg but I have read lots of books and learning lots.My only problem is protecting plants from heavy wind, rain and ofcourse the pests.

I love broad beans but they grow to high and they just flop everywhere and look messy.I tried bammbo canes on each plant last year but still they managed to snap and flop.This year i have put bamboo canes horizontally around the whole crop but they have all blown and fallen towards one corner which has broken most of the plants.
I have had the same problems with king edward potatoes.

Any suggestions on the above would be very helpfull.

Also I love curly kale bought from the shops, so i decided to grow my own and hope it would taste even better. My only problem is that the slugs/snails are eating the crop very fast before I can.I have heard many silly ways to stop this but want to know the best organic way of stopping this from happening.I dont want to use slug pellets as I have 3 young kiddies running around.

Any advice at all would be great!

Try a shorter variety ... like Sutton, or Crimson Flowered. My plots are very exposed, and everything gets blown over too.
Set up some kind of windbreak ... it needs to be 50% permeable (right term?) and not solid. think of that orange net stuff that builders use, and you get my drift.


Are you feeding/watering your plants? If they get too much warmth/nitrogen/water, they will grow lanky and floppy. Grow them hard, don't be too kind on them.

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

There is no ONE way to stop snails and slugs. You need to adopt a variety of methods. This subject has been covered at length previously ... have a go with your Search button to look through the old threads.

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

Try next year with a type of broad bean that doesn't grow too tall,pinch out the tops at about 2 feet tall(should have at least 4 sets of flowers by then).Your potatoes should be earthed up so I don't know why you are having falling over problems,I live at the coast and we get some fierce winds ,never had tatties falling over.Failing that try the low poly tunnels with either fleece or a wind membrane.

I did earth my tatties up but my tatties were planted in front of a 4ft fence so maybe they have grown really tall to reach the light. maybe i should try a different location next time.

what is the rule/time of year of planting/harvesting main crop and earlys ?

yes, that would be it!

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

Hi wetwalnut (interesting name!) and welcome to the vine. Where are you?

Is it a really windy spot? If so you could try windbreaks - either plant a hedge or similar on the side from which the prevailing wind blows or by building something to slow the wind down a bit?

How far apart are you planting your broad beans? We planted ours really quite close together in a block, and put a wooden stake in each corner and string all the way round. They seemed fine that way, but then we didn't have any gales! Apparently the same will work for spuds, to support the foliage but I haven't tried that personally. Another question on the foliage, if it is falling over because it is "too big", maybe there is too much nitrogen / fertiliser causing the plant to grow bigger than it really needs to, and making it vulnerable to wind damage? Or if that isn't it, and it is just a really windy site, perhaps you could try alternative varieties that don't grow so tall? Just some thoughts, don't know if they are any use!!

For slugs and snails - on that score I do recommend the night hunt. They come out at night to feed and are quite easy to pick off if you go out with a torch (and a pot of beer to drown them in). If you are unable to do it at night, you can try instead to hunt them in their resting places, under garden debris, bricks, among tall grass or larger weeds / other plants, hiding anywhere that is dark, damp and undisturbed. Clear away their hiding places as much as you can. Depends on the extent of your slug population, but you may find that if you hunt them regularly (every day if you can) over a period of a week or two the numbers drop away, and then if you're lucky it's just a question of keeping on top of them, periodically checking their regular haunts and stepping up the pace whenever you spot signs that they have been amongst your plants.

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

I know it was a longwinded answer but in the time I took to write it you've had loads of replies already!! (mostly saying the same things as me lol - good to feel like I'm not just making it up on the spot)

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

I stick mine all in at the same time ... it was 30 March this year, in a hailstorm. They are frost tender, so you need to plant them about (roughly) 4 weeks before your last frost.

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

All the above advice is good stuff.

Treat yourself to this book. Tis a good read. Amazon.co.uk: Garden Organic's Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening (Garden Organic): Books

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I wish i could make a yo-yo work.
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

Thanks for the advice, I will have a look at the book mentioned and will try and try again, until I learn. Thanks again

Have your potato plants broken off or just flopped over due to the wind. Mine have produced some really good foliage aand to look at them you would think the row was actually 2ft to one side where they have flopped over but they are healthy and growing well so I don't see it as a problem. Fortunately they didn't swamp any other veg, just obliterated a path.

Ian