Growing Your Own

[Planet 24]

Does anybody here grow their own fruit or veg?
I am thinking of growing lettuce and toms in a grow bag but not sure if its too late in the season to do so?

I have an apple tree a pear tree and a plum tree growing in massive tubs and the apple and plums bear fruit but nothing so far with the pear. Am I doing something wrong?

[Isis]

Hi Planet 24 :hihi::hihi:

Will speak to my nice neighbour she has an allotment, she is on the phone at the mo, so will try her a bit later on and let you know what she says. I must be honest her green beans are just out of this world the taste yummm Hubby loves her sweet corn and she has had a go at growing that as well, but it is a bit and miss at the mo.

there is a tip that i keep on meaning to pass on.

QVC sell something called "spray and grow" god its wonderful stuff you spray it on your plants once a week and they will be hugh and its not full of chemicals either, they say it is vitimins for your plants and it does work, she uses all the time on her allotment and also soaks her plants/seeds in it as well for about 10 mins before planting, i do the same with my flowers and it does work.

She may want to know if you are growing them from seeds or plants.

[Planet 24]

Thanks for the tip Isis :) I intend to grow them from plants - I'm not much good with seeds and its grow bags because its easier for me and then I can throw them away afterwards. Thats why I grow the fruit trees in plant pots so if I move I can take them with me ;)

[Isis]

Hi Planet 24:D

Have just tried her again and she is sitll engaged, cor "she can talk for england" :rolleyes: when she gets going but will try her on and off now and when i get hold of her will let you know what she says. Although i did grow my tomatoes last year in a large trough and we empted a grow bag into the trough. Will see what she says also will ask her about the pear tree, she may know, or she may look it up in one of her many many books.
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Hi Planet 24

Have just spoken to her no its not too late for lettuce and toms, she is actually putting her lettuce plants in tomorrow.

As to the pear tree, she said if this is the first year it may not have fruit this year, if it is not the first year, get the spray and grow out.

hope the above helps. If you want to know anymore just ask. Toms i found were quite hard to grow as you have to take off leaves etc, but don't ask me what i did last year, can't remember, that is why this year i have left it to nice neighbour to grow over her alloment. Good luck.

[norfolkgal]

We have been growing veg for years! You should still be able to get Tomato plants, lettuce are easy to grow from seed and there are varieties that grow all year round.

[Planet 24]

I'm off to buy growbags and lettuce today then. This is the second year I've had the pear tree and it blossomed but no fruit has formed. :( The apple blossomed and fruited first year (Discovery) and apples from your own tree just taste extra special. This is the first year the plums have formed and it looks to be a good crop (Victoria). I will let you know how I get on with the lettuce, might try peppers as well as Ive heard they are quite easy to grow.
Thanks ever so much for all the tips. :)

[sp54]

We usually grow a lot of veg but haven't got round to much this year :(
Peppers are easy, as are courgettes but I have no idea if you can still get the plants now. I have tried sweetcorn which worked but it attracts loads of earwigs for some reason :huh: Last year we tried cauliflower and managed to get one small one :)
Good luck P24 and enjoy whatever you decide on :)

[caroh]

Hi Planet 24,
We help with my mums allotment. She has fruit trees and if I understand correctly there need to be other trees of the same species growing near by to pollinate them so they bear fruit. I grew lettuce on my south facing window sill in little pots last year. They didn t grow big, but they grew fast and we had baby leaves right through till autumn by planting a few seeds each week.
Good luck, Caro

[tonica]

We have tomato plants , my nice neighbour gives us some every year :) I dont do anything special with them just give them tomato feed :)
we had a little greenhouse for my youngest son to grow fruit and veg ( we try allsorts to get them to eat them lol ) he loved growing things
He grew lettuce , radish , beetroot , and carrots , it was more luck they grew i think than anything else lol :)

My older son planted apple trees when he was small , one grew lovely we still have it in the garden , it must be about 14 years old now , it does blossom and fruit but the apples are more the size of small tomatoes ! no idea why they dont get any bigger ??

[norfolkgal]

Do you know which apples they are tonica? are they crabapples? they are small.

[Planet 24]

I bought a couple of growbags, some sweet peppers (bellboy) and some lettuce seeds - Webbs Wonderful, Mixed Italian and Oakleaf. Also some tomatoes so we'll see how it goes. here's hoping.
:thumbs:

[tonica]

Do you know which apples they are tonica? are they crabapples? they are small.

All i can remember is when my son was little after eating apples ( more than likely granny smiths :) )he always saved the pips to plant lol
This tree grew since and blossoms lovely and gets lots of little apples .
They just dont get very big , i think even crab apples get bigger than these lol :lol:



Good luck with the plants Planet ;)

[nevergivein]

my 7yr old son & I planted some lettuce(little gem) carrots, raddish & spring onions in pots about 10 days ago & they all have started to grow!!! Really pleased - will plant some more in a couple of weeks

[Beth]

sounds like you are all doing a lot better than me this year :D

spring onions and beetroot died in the hot/snow/dry/hail/hot weather :D
andf the cuecumbers made a very tasty midnight snack for the slugs, yep all in one sitting :rolleyes: didnt touch the beer I put out for them :D

I have tried to get more beetroot going and another 10 cuecumbers are in the conservatory growing, going to wait till they are big before planting them out this time and I am going to try again with the spring onions, we will see fingers crossed eh? :D

[Planet 24]

Just picked my first crop of lollo rosso, raddichio, savory and rocket and the peppers are doing really well. :)

Unfortunately my cat knocked most of the apples off the tree climbing in and out of the window but one has survived and is growing well. Also we have plums for the first time. The fruit trees are grown in pots so I can always take them with me. :)

[Beth]

that sounds great :thumbs:

I have had a boat load of raspberries but that is pretty much it so far, although the other stuff I planted is not quie dead yet :D and I have a very helpful blackbird who is ridding the garden of snails :yes:

[fredblog]

I grow tatties in buckets, saves space, broad bean, peas, cauliflower, courgettes, mixed squash outside. Then Lettuce in the green house, with toms

Last Year the broad bean did exceptionally well, and peas were dismal. This year it the other way round.

I also have raspberries, tayberries, pears, plums, apple, cherries. All are young plants/trees so not expecting a good crop this year.

Many of my friends are almost completely self sufficient.

I also have a small flock of hens so grow my own eggs, and at risk of upsetting some my own meat eventually.

[kebea41]

Hi Plant,
I use to grow tomatoes in my old house they came up a treat i did use organic soil and i do think this helped them grow so big,,, saved me a packet.
I also use to grow potatoes but this was quiet tricky we planted loads but ended up with a bout 12 but it made great mash lol.

I did find growing your own veg and herbs very therapeutic though and very rewarding too:)

[Isis]

I have a bumper crop of parsley and chives this year :eek: but the basil keeps on dying and my mint it not doing too well either :eek: and this year year have grown corridander for the first time although i have been told by a colleague at work that mine has now "bolted" (gone into flower) so is no good, so she provided me with another one. Love gowing my own herbs, if you have a small garden, like I have, try gowing them in a stawberry pot. It works. although please do not do what I did and plant a rosemary bush in the top, its a pain. i put camomile in the top of mine this year for its perfume.

So far off nice neighbours allotment we have had, blackberries, pots, beetroot and lettuce. oh yum can't wait for her green beans, i would commit murder fo her geen beans yummm:eatin:

[fredblog]

Eating fruit and veg fresh from the ground/plant/tree has so much flavour AND you know what's been on it

The was something on the TV this morning that said going to green open space lowers the anxiety level....well I can tell being in it all the time makes you sooo laid back and content and standing watching your chooks doing their thing is better than Prozac any day!

[Isis]

Hiya fredblog

What is "chooks"? All sorts is going through my mind now :lol:

[fredblog]

sorry short for

Chickens:)

[Planet 24]

sorry short for

Chickens:)
........Australian???

[fredblog]

nope just got used to saying that as all on self sufficiency forum use that term:)