due to a cold and wet spring, will your plot be a failure this year ?

[jimtheworzel]

 ???   ???

[jimtheworzel]

[winecap]

Well, I have the best radishes ever and the rhubarb is enormous, so its not all bad news. The little gem lettuces in the greenhouse are doing particularly well with it not being too hot, but the lettuces outside are not really lettuces yet. I'm hoping for sun this week and I've planted tomatoes outside today with flowers just starting to open. Peas and Broad Beans are loaded with flowers. All the fruit bushes and strawberries look promising so if the sun does come out as I have planned, we should be cropping all sorts in June.

[cornykev]

Strawberrys have all flowered and look healthy
Winter onions are coming along nicely
The whole line of Parsnips have come up, been weeded, thinned out and are just about the best I have had
Spuds are flying and after a firkle I reckon I'll be eating a few earlies in a couple of weeks or so
Beetroots again have been weeded and thinned and are coming along
Summer onions are 6 to 8 inches up

On the down side Peas, Cabbages and Sweetcorn are struggling a bit
So Jimbo not too bad on the whole.  :)

[Digeroo]

I think it is swings and round abouts.  Spuds doing well.  Also have strawberries looking very bonny with loads of flowers. I have a bit of an issue with brassica seedlings so I am going to start some more.  Peas a bit slow but they have been under bottle cloches.  Broadies and parsnips also good.  Beetroot seedlings disappearing.   Some carrots good others poor.  Raspberries and other fruit looking good.  Hard frost two nights ago not sure if that will affect apple tree production. 

Courgettes getting leggy on the windowsill, will start some more of those off as well.  Sweetcorn dieing so will sow some more of that too. 

Slugs/snails a bit rampant.

[goodlife]

..absolutely not... ;D

Rhubarb is gigantic this year..garlic stem look really thick and if that is a promise for things to come, they could not be better, shallots are sprouting and have thick 'heads' on. Newly planted strawberries have rooted well, all have good amount of leaves on and some flowers are just coming on. Peas are slow to grow but don't look sad neither.

I've been slow to get crops out this year and in some ways its been good thing.
Only crops I'm not sure about is fruit.. :-\..trees been flowering just as we've had this bad weather. Currants and gooseberries are not bothered..those look like there is plenty to come...but my plums took worst of the weather so I'm not expecting much this year..apples are just flowering, but bees are not able to fly much with this cold and windy weather. Peach in GH didn't set many fruits..usually I have to thin young mable size immature fruits out, not this year. I've got 4 set.. ::) ..well..it saves me a job..every year I throw bucket full of thinnings into compost bin.. ::) I should have assisted the pollination with rabbit tail..or..the weather just was too cold for set this year.

[gazza1960]

Walking around the plot yesterday,the Barb is monstrous and we cant get thru it quick enough,all the fruits...goose/plums/ has small fruits everywhere.
Onions and Garlic are looking awesome carrots are springing up nicely,as are beetroot and parsnips.

How ever inside the Tommies/peppers/chillies/cues/are all on a go slow and look bluddy terrible for this time of the season.
We are off to Scotland in the morning for some R and R,,,,,,im hoping the 2 weeks away will give the
above time to pull their finger out and get growing...if we have some warmer weather that is.

Gazza

[lisaparkin]

Garlic is looking very good, spring onions, carrots, beetroot, peas, cabbages are all doing ok.   :)

Strangely no sign of parsnips after nearly 9 weeks, so re-sown seeds.  ???

Potatoes seem to be growing ok, though allotment neighbours potatoes all went rotten due to his allotment  being turned into a lake due to all the rain!!! :(

Everything in the greenhouse is growing ok, not putting anything else out for a good couple of weeks because the weather forecast isnt to good!!

[antipodes]

It's always a mixed bunch. Teh spuds are awesome but I hope they don't all get blight when it warms up! Peas are flowering and coming on very well. The first runners are up and starting to climb. The lettuce is sulking a little but it's better than normally. Rhubarb is the best crop ever and the artichokes are very big plant-wise, now just see when the flowers (globes) will come out.  Garlic is huge and the onions are not bad, I regret not having done the usual quantity in fact.
The tomatoes etc are out, I had to tie them in already and erect a windbreak as the weather is so bad. They hate this weather! it has been cool here and very very wet. But I think they will pick up. The aubergines are having a major sulk but the peppers don't seem to mind that much!!!! Odd that.
There is a lot of grass and weeds though....

[jimtheworzel]

any one haveing a re-think ?

[galina]

any one haveing a re-think ?

I fully agree with Goodlife, ok for potatoes, peas, salad greens, radishes, etc.  The problem is that the tomatoes and squashes will be struggling if this keeps up for much longer.

We have hardly any apples this year on the trees apart from the big Bramley, because their flowering time overlapped with non-stop rain and nothing got pollinated.  Pears fared a little better.  One of our pear trees (variety Dr Jules Guyot) seems to have developed the ability to spread its flowering - there are some buds and some open flowers even now, whilst little pears are growing on others parts of the tree.  I wish our apple trees were a bit more like this.

Strawberries are late, gooseberries look very fat, but probably won't be very sweet.  Soft fruit is late and not too abundant either. 

On the one hand it is a blessing to have a good amount of moisture at last,  after several very dry springs and routinely running out of stored rainwater and having to use grey water frequently.  On the other hand .......

Brassica should be ok, ditto leeks.  If possible, it may be worth rigging up shelter over the outdoor tomatoes or investing in a cheapie tunnel or plastic greenhouse for the outdoor tomatoes.

On the other hand, summer might yet be glorious .......  we can but hope (even if it is still coats, hats and gloves in the meantime  ;D)

[chriselst]

I look at what is growing now and I am really dispirited, but then I remember that this is less than a month later than I started out last year and at this point then we had nothing.

Early potatoes are going really well (21 plants) and had the first couple at the weekend.

Broccoli have done OK and have a couple ready to be taken.

Loads of radishes (obviously).  Nothing makes you feel successful like a few rows of radishes.

Rocket all bolted in the couple of weeks of really hot weather, got around a dozen nicely shaped lettuces coming along.

Parsnips and carrots that were directly sown have done almost nothing.

Swede, turnip and beetroot that was directly sown a couple of weeks ago is coming through in good numbers.

Peas and beans all failed early on, but a new sowing a couple of weeks back are all poking through now.

Courgettes have been a nightmare to germinate this year after a bumper crop last year, but finally have some shoots coming along nicely.  Again seems late, but no later than we were last season.

Leeks nearly all got eaten after they were planted out, same as last year.

Loads and loads and loads of very green but quite large strawberries.

Bed of onion and garlic seems to be doing well.

Hanging basket tomatoes have just started flowering.


So, doesn't look good but still far more advanced than last year, and we managed to get the entire plot covered in stuff we could eat then.

A bit of warmth right about now would be useful though.

[Squash64]

I've been picking collards and salad leaves and that's it.

I've got a fruit on a cherry plum tomato outside, and one on a giant one inside.

My pumpkins, marrows and courgettes are still more or less the same as when they were planted out, so no prizes for me this year.  :'(

[manicscousers]

ny beans or squash but everything else is ok, even got kiwis on our 5 yr old vine , just need them to get bigger and ripen. Plus, loads of figs  ;D

[cornykev]

Winter onions are a plenty
Dug some more earlies today RDOY
Beetroots coming up OK and parsnips are flying
Sweetcorn is slow going
Peas are starting to take off, but did need re-sowing
Carrots and springies are very poor
Rhubarbs died a death
Hamburg parsley was very poor germination
Cabbages don't look very healthy
Pak choi bolted.
:-\

[Duke Ellington]

Just copying Kevs format :P
winter onions - excellent
Summer onions - bolted
Carrots in a waist high raised bed - very good
Sweet corn - not bad
Peas- struggling..they need some sunshine.
Courgettes - look sick
Squashes- look tired
greenhouse tomatoes- just setting fruit but looking good
Greenhouse cucumbers - way behind
chillies and peppers - slow
Spring onions - excellent.
lettuces - very good
Strawberries  - eaten by slugs.
Runner beans and French beans - refusing to climb
Cabbages - looking very good

[Jeannine]

No not a dead loss at all. The rain is a bit scary if it warms up more I shall ne worried about blight but beyond that things are doing well. Fortunately my whole plot is raised beds, so although we are squelching on the paths the veggies are OK.

We had a heat wave for 2 weeks about a month ago which killed off all my growing peas, despite all the watering they radually died off but we have resown and due to the colder weather they are doing very well.

My outside tomatoes are actually looking good which amazes me.

Carrotts and parsnips are doing well as are gren onions , spinach etc.

My beetroot isn't doing so well though, poor germination but the seeds were old so we will re sowin the gaps.

We usually take a picnic to our plot and have a ggod chatter with our lottie friends and that is mot happening to smuch but overall, it is ceratinlky not a failure.

Would be if we were not all raised beds though as underfoot it is waterlogged.

XX Jeannine

[antipodes]

Well, I wish I had sowed more radish in any case!!!
The tomatoes are growing very big!! and already have flowers! But hope they don't get sick. The peppers and aubergines and squash are disgusted and sulking.
Best peas I have ever had! Runners are great but french beans not too happy. I will sow some more, no worries about those.
Spdus are starting to get sick, gooseberry has sawfly (first tim ever!) And teh fruit is a disaster. The bettroot looks good though and we've had lovely lettuce. Best rhubarb ever!

[strawberry1]

very good: brassicas of all sorts
                  blackberries, blackcurrants and blueberries. Lots of fruit on healthy plants
                  gooseberries
                  lettuces
                  radish
                  herbs

               
good: potatoes - we have been eating for two weeks
          winter and spring sown onions. Winter ones already dehydrated as were too wet to keep long
          runner and french beans are climbing
          swedes and turnips but have to constantly watch for slugs and flea beetle
          early peas-but not early enough
          tomatoes-remarkably are developing fruits
          celery is taking off
          parsnips sitting there but looking good
          rhubarb


iffy: broad beans not enough pods, sickly plants
       garlic-rust
       shallots-flowers on one, too many small bulbs on the other
       beetroot-poor germination and slugs
       chillis and peppers-standing still
       courgettes and squash-standing still
       strawberries-loads of fruit but masses of mould and slugs
     
poor:carrots-poor germination of four different ones
        florence fennel-one germinated out of fourteen

the plot won`t be a failure but I am keeping on top of harvesting to preserve before mould, rust and rot take hold. No bees seen for weeks now and rain almost every day. 60 mph gusts today as well

[realfood]

Most things are good for me in the North, but then we are used to some difficult conditions and prepare for it. The use of cloches and fleece is normal practice for me and protection will not be removed before the end of June.

[goodlife]

Last couple of days my sweetcorn and maize has started to sulk...the cold and wet has finally has effect..I'm not happy.. >:( I've got about 170 plats of all and it was going to be my big year for this crop...it all started so well. If we only would have a good week in between and I'm sure the plants would perk up and able to take some more rain.. ::)
Squashes and courgettes look very happy though..the warm mulch is working treat, corn was going to get same treatment once they get bit bigger.. ::)
I'm not going to give up to doom and gloom as yet..but it is not looking promising.
Plenty of kale of nothing else.. ::)