New varieties - likes and dislikes

[Small pumpkin]

Thanks you two, you just reminded me! I'm growing kestrel potatoes for the first time this year!
Another couple of weeks before harvesting I think. Just started flowering. Not expecting great things as they've been hammered by the wind ( not all can flower because they've been snapped off ).

[Thelma Sanders]

Tried Mini Munch cucumber for the first time this year, it seemed ideal to be able to eat the cumber at one sitting and then pick fresh when needed.

Because of cumbers suicidal tendency as usual I planted 4 seed when really I only need 2 plants. All four quickly germinated and grew into strong healthy plants, being a softy I kept all four. I fed on Miracle Gro for high nitrogen to start with, changing to Tomorite high potash when the fruit appeared.

They grew quickly and were early to produce fruit, picked at 3 to 4 inches long they are lovely and tasty and firm with no large seeds. All four plants now have an equivalent length/height of about 9ft and going well.

I have found one problem never have I seen a cumber plant so prolific. I am giving them away in large numbers and the neighbours are avoiding me even the old folks home tried to lock SWMBO out.

Joking aside if this is representative of an average year they are most certainly one to try. I will post a picture tomorrow.

Any chance of giving me your sowing/planting dates? I can't seem to get it right - you obviously can

[Potstubsdustbins]

Thelma I will look the info out for you and let you know, diary is in the lean to so it will be tomorrow.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Hi Thelma,

Set in individual 3" pots with moist compost 22/04 and placed on lounge window sill. Germination complete 29/04. 10/05 Picked best 4 and culled the other one, planted up into 6" pots and placed at high level in GH. They grew very quickly so went in their final pots 30/05, fed on Miracle Grow until fruit and then changed to tomorite. First harvest 16/06.

Remember this is the first year with these so it may all be just a ..............fluke.......

[Penellype]

Cucumber mini munch - mini cucumber

Current favourite - Cucino - rating 9/10
Ease of growth - last year planted 1 seed, failed to germinate. This year planted 1 seed, grew well. 7
Health and vigour - this year's plant is fine, currently about 4ft long and growing fast, 9
Yield - looking good with loads of little cucumbers on outdoor plant, 9
Taste and texture - excellent, possibly an improvement on Cucino with loads of flavour, 10

[Thelma Sanders]

Hi Thelma,

Set in individual 3" pots with moist compost 22/04 and placed on lounge window sill. Germination complete 29/04. 10/05 Picked best 4 and culled the other one, planted up into 6" pots and placed at high level in GH. They grew very quickly so went in their final pots 30/05, fed on Miracle Grow until fruit and then changed to tomorite. First harvest 16/06.

Remember this is the first year with these so it may all be just a ..............fluke.......

Ta very muchly - will give them a go next year. All now written in my notebook

[Jimmy]

I liked the sound of courgette Tristar, until I found out it was a packet of mixed seeds !
I was hoping for one plant with different colours, silly me.

I did get/grow some climbing yellow courgettes shooting star, they have grown but don't seem very vigorous. Only just started thinking about shooting up.
Jimmy

[Penellype]

French Bean Sonesta (yellow podded)
I bought these to go on the front fence in amongst nasturtiums, with the beans an added bonus.

Comparison with Purple Teepee, my standard french bean, rated 6
Ease of growth - Seeds germinated fairly quickly both in pots of compost and when chitted on kitchen paper. A couple of plants were deformed and rather odd. 8.
Health and vigour - slower growing and smaller than Purple Teepee, got badly infested with blackfly from nasturtiums, but the blackfly disappeared after the nasturtiums were removed (a case of a "decoy" attracting the pest you are trying to prevent!). 6.
Yield - producing plenty of small but very nice beans, doing well considering small pots and blackfly issues. 8
Taste and texture - very good, not at all stringy and nicer than Purple Teepee 8.

These are likely to replace Purple Teepee as my standard french bean.

[Penellype]

Runner bean Hestia (dwarf)

The packet says "very good yield of tasty, long, stringless pods" and "Ideal for growing in containers".

Comparison with Stardust, my favourite runner bean, rated 9
Ease of growth - poor germination (about 50%) when sown in pots or chitted first. Disappointing for a new packet of seeds, 5.
Health and vigour - the plants that did grow were planted in a self watering balconniere, where they grew quite well although they did get damaged by slugs/snails. 7.
Yield - most of the flowers failed to set. Of those that did (about 5), only one was bigger than 4 inches long, all were curved or distorted. Reluctant to award this more than a 2 given the packet description.
Taste and texture - comprehensively awful - "furry", coarse texture and taste bordering on unpleasant, 0.

Unfortunately I had started some more before I had a chance to taste these. The bicolour flowers are very pretty though.

[Snadger]

I've had good results this year with all non F1 varieties. No expensive F1' seed for me next year either!
Open pollinated is the way to go for me, and if I want to keep my own seed, I will!

[Snoop Puss]

Brilliant thread, Penellype. Thanks.

[Penellype]

Tomato Megabyte

Bought 1 plant from Wyevale mainly because I was fascinated by the description on the label:
"Dwarf patio container variety producing 20-30 tasty large juicy fruits on tall plants. large beefsteak fruits upto 10cm in diameter"

I was very, very sceptical. I expected a dwarf plant with about 6 big fruits on it or possibly lots of little ones. The plant had 2 pea sized fruit on it when I bought it and was about 6 inches high.

I ate the first fruit today. Here are the results:
Current favourite (red tomato) - Shirley - rating 8/10
Ease of growth - growing well in 10 litre pot with some support (see below). No need to remove sideshoots 9/10
Health and vigour - very good, has now reached about 3ft tall and looks healthy 9/10
Yield - looking good, has about 20 tomatoes coming along, 9/10
Taste and texture - nice. Like many "beefsteak" fruits there is a mark or crater at the blossom end and ridges in the skin. The one I ate also had a bit of skin embedded in the flesh. The fruit definitely resembles a beefsteak type, with lots of flesh and fewer seeds than a standard tomato and I thought the taste comparable with Shirley. 9/10



The bars of the growhouse shelf are the only support it is getting. The foliage is extremely dense, making finding the tomatoes quite difficult.



This tomato is 8cm long and 5cm wide.

I have been looking for a large fruited bush tomato with a nice flavour for years. I think I may have found it.

[Snoop Puss]

Regency cabbage.
I've found Regency just as quick and easy to grow as Hispi. Regency is, however, denser, paler and sweeter in taste. I will stick with Regency in future years. Bought the seed at MoreVeg.

[Penellype]

Carrot Nandor
Billed as resistant to carrot fly.

Current favourite - Nantes Frubund Fastcrop - rating 9/10
Ease of growth - fairly average for carrots - the pots I'm using are small but I have carrots bigger than finger thickness. 7/10
Health and vigour - good. The plants have grown ok, although something is chewing the foliage. The roots are clean and straight. 9/10
Yield - smaller than other varieties, which could be due to the small pots 6/10
Taste and texture - not at all bad (unlike Flyaway which I tried last year and had no flavour at all). 8/10

These carrots have been grown mostly without a net. No carrot fly.



I'm impressed and will definitely be growing these again.

[Penellype]

Runner Bean Firestorm
Stringless red flowered version of Stardust.

Current favourite - Stardust - rating 9/10
Ease of growth - chitted on kitchen paper to start them off, I had no failures 10/10
Health and vigour - the plants have been grown in pots and have reached the top of the arch. A little slug damage to lower leaves, otherwise good. 8/10
Yield - not as good as I had hoped, which could have been due to the cool weather in August and September 7/10
Taste and texture - not as nice as Stardust, but not at all bad. 8/10

Stardust can be slightly tricky to germinate, the only thing that stops me giving it a 10/10, so I will be growing these as backup again next year.