2nd Year Growers (or more if you can remember!)

[Zenithtb]

(Not sure where to place this thread)

2nd year growers; what did you learn in your first year of growing?

For example, I learnt:
* Melons have horrible little thorns that can snap off inside you!
* Keep up with the weeding or suffer the consequences!
* Strawberries can throw off a silly amount of runners - keep lots of little pots handy!
* Using 'cut and come again' method, you do NOT need 50 lettuces!
* Plant in rows so you can use a hoe
* Do not sow seeds under the influence of alcohol...
* Brassica type plants take a >really< long time to crop

Can anyone add their experiences to this list? What did YOU learn the hard way?

[binley100]

I have learnt that
* there is always more to learn
* pigeons will help themselves to gooseberries
* no matter how many sawfly caterpillars you collect there are always more
* no matter how well you think you have stuff protected something will find a way in
* parsnips are like teenagers they wake up when they feel like it .....
there's probably loads more as well ........

[Newton]

Well.........
Grass paths are stupid unless you have the ability a greenkeeper and happen to have too much time to spend on the plot. I'm getting rid of all mine.....because I haven't either....
Planting too close together Does not necessarily mean a bigger crop.
Strawberries are great......really great
I should have made room for Potatoes.......
Find out about your soil........I was oblivious to white rot history in part of my plot and thought my garlic and onions were doing great. Big mistake!
I love it...

[Germinater]

Er strawberry fresh from the garden are amazing

Theres always a bit more of the garden I can steal and plant before the misses realises it's been stolen and by witch time it's to late for her to disagree

Thin thin thin and you will actually get food you can take in and show of to the misses like a cat bringing in a dead bird as a present of there love for you

You can never stop buying seeds so don't go anywhere near a seed web site if you have a lot of money left in your bank account (now I seed shop once all bills are paid and there's very little money left in my account )

When telling friends about how much everything has grown in your veg patch and they look disinterested just carry on regardless until you have bored them stiff cos all that really matters is that your a garden god and others just don't get how cool you are and they must be turned to the one true religion

No matter how much work there's is to do in the house there's always a better more important job in the garden

Greenhouses are cool cos even when it's tipping down you can spend at least an hour in there admiring your handy work and sow a pack of seeds you know you just don't have room for and so you plot to steal more of the garden yet again as I remarked in the earlier part of this post

And the benefits of preparing a bed properly with manure and bone meal before you plant your brassicas as they absaloutly love the stuff

Think that is about it ..not learnt a great deal about the hole growing plants more about how to sherk work and be as cunning as a fox when it comes to making more room for my obsession ..

[reetnproper]

Urmmm ....

Voles like radishes and carrot tops;

Mangetout plants grow very, VERY tall and wide, if you forget to nip out the growing tips and don't pin them up strongly and often;

Pumpkin and squash plants are closely related to the Triffids and will take over the garden the second your back is turned, if not trained;

Strawberry plants will colonise ANY available space, even gravel paths;

There are not enough hours in the day to pick off all the caterpillars from your brassica crops;
It's hard to find volunteers to squish the eggs on the brassica crops; and therefore I have concluded that
I don't have enough space to grow sufficient brassicas to feed the caterpillars AND us;

My other half no longer knows more about growing veg than I do ; AND

The hard earned cash his nibbs has had to invest in the vegetable growing, has returned a higher percentage in terms of money saved by not having to buy the veg in, than the substantially more he invested in the Series II (tax exempt, low insurance and virtually zero maintenance costs you know) currently lying in bits around the house, sheds and garden .

Wow that's a lot of lessons

Reet
x

[VirginVegGrower]

That gardening/growing your own feeds your soul, your stomach and your friends, family, neighbours :-)

Oh and strawberries+blackbirds = none for me! :-(

Slugs must die and the French have the right idea about snails!!

[RedThorn]

GYO'ers are an helpful and obsessive bunch of people who on the whole have hearts of gold

Brassicas take up a load more room than I thought possible

25 varieties of tomatoes and more than one plant of each is an indication of OCD

Friends eyes glaze over easily when discussing your veggies

Daughter absolutely loves pottering in garden with me especially at potato harvesting time

Kids try loads more types of veggies they helped to grow

You never have enough space and need to keep stealing more

Shops love to rip you off with fancy raised beds and gadgets (thankfully never had the money to buy in first place)

A new found hatred of slugs and snails
and cabbage whites are pretty- pretty awful

Chickens love your growing veggies more than you and there's always one who's an escape artist who's more determined to get to your veggies before you do

I now look at flowers and shrubs and plot their demise so I can grow more.... ( a plant you cannot eat??? wasting valuable growing space :P) - exceptions is bee attracting types

Just when you think you've started figuring the whole GYO thingy out - the next season is completely different thanks to the weather

There is such a thing as too many courgettes

EDIT : - NicktheGrief said to me when I first got on here the following, I did not realise at the time how prophetic it was. Your greenhouse is never big enough and is always smaller than you want after it's installed!

[Incy]

Hey RT. Long time no see. It must be just about time to start sowing toms and chillies there.

[Florence Fennel]

That I'm still learning, even after all these years. Oh, and that it's fun finding out.

[chris]

I'm in my 3rd "proper" year now - I've learnt that by growing in beds I can squeeze more in than the recommended spacing and still get a great crop.

I think the most important thing I've learnt though, is that feeding the soil rather than the plants really does make the difference.

[Comfreyfan]

There are little pixies who mix up labels - it's the only explanation I can think of.

(After 20+ years you'd think I'd have learnt that I really need to write the label before I even open the seed packet, but every year there's at least 1 mix up!)

[endymion]

Wild blackberry seedlings are there for a purpose - world domination.
Pigeons will find brassicas, no matter how hard you try to hide them amongst other plants.

A combination of fine, anti-insect type netting and anti-weed matting is a good investment.

If you're running short of space, plant the expensive-to-buy fruit and veg first.

Other people ... when they say, "I'll eat a lettuce a day!" - They mean those tiny, fit in the palm of your hand, things from the supermarket not a big, fat, juicy, butterhead lettuce from the garden.

[Thelma Sanders]

err
If you don't net it you don't get it (and sparrers are as bad as pigeons although they look sweet!)
There are always too many seedlings/plants for too small a plot.
The early courgette always dies
I don't need to sow 2x as many tomato seeds as I really need, cos not that many fail to germinate.
To start parsnips off in the greenhouse in long paper pots.
The weather is rarely good enough for Aubergines.

[dave_norm_smith]

140 tomato plants is excessive!

[Zenithtb]

Dave - that's the other thing I learnt! I think I'm at about 150 now :-((( Taking off sideshoots is a ....!