At the weekend I was tinkering about in the garden, reshaping flower beds and the like and decided that I would like to begin growing some root vegetables in a part of the garden that can sometimes be a problem to maintain. As a complete novice, and having never grown anything that I'd dare put anywhere near my mouth I was wondering if anyone could advise me the best way about starting?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/t ... oes1.shtml

BBC is good on al this stuff

Cheers Groomy.

I suppose what I'm wanting to know initially is how best to prepare the soil, or can you plant directly into a clay based soil without any preperation?

Ireland has plenty of boggy clay based soil does it not?

http://www.vegetableexpert.co.uk/Growin ... atoes.html

Give it a good dig with double digging if you feel inclined and incorpoate plent of organic matter. Some lime may not go amiss if your soil is a bit acid i.e do Camelias and Rhododendrons grow well in your garden. Raised beds are good as they need less care and attention and heat up quicker, the drainage will be better as well. Sowing carrots after the end of May willl give smaller carrrots but less chance of carrot fly problems but with good drainage you can harvest up until late autumn. Parsnips can be sown at the same time and will harvest better after a frost.

Carrots are easy once you put some effort in - spuds are easy full stop.

We grow carrots in some big metal tubs.There are 2 secrets to growing carrots:

Avoiding carrot fly - stop the roots splitting.

By growing in tubs you raise the carrots up off the floor so avoiding the dreaded fly - but would also add some micro mesh to the top when they are just seedlings.

I never grow carrots in the ground direct - I fill the tubs with alternate sieved earth / compost so it is a fine mix - this stops the carrots hitting stones etc and causing splits / stunted growth (takes a bit of time but well worth it).

About 2 inches from the top - scatter the seed and then sieve over a final layer.

Thin out seedings when they are about 1/2 high.

Guaranteed a good crop!

Potatoes
Did some trenches - about 6 inches down put in spuds 12 inches apart, cover and mound earth on top - thats about it. Keep em watered - grow a selection of earlies, main crop anbd lates to ensure you have spuds for most of the year.

So why did I think we were talking about Parsnips?

Slugs got my spuds, just impossible to protect them in my garden.

PM Mad - I'm sure he'll sort the problem out

Thanks for the info lads, especially Knulpuk - I'll get myself some troughs or tubs for carrots. What kind of size would I be needing?

A foot high should do you - add a few stones in the bottom to aid drainage - surface area is up to you - the bigger the more carrots! Mine are about 2 ft diameter. You probably dont want carrots much longer than 6- 8 inches.

If you can raise the tubs slightly that will do no harm.

If you are looking for a good seed I can recommend F1 Maestro - had success in the last 2 years with them.

People who grow "show" carrots and parsnips grow in dustbins filled with fine sand so nothing messes with the roots - this was my half way house and it works well.

I will take a photo of mine (last ones nearly gone) and post!

Thanks again for the advice Knulpuk

Pictures would be great so I can see your setup. When you say raise the tubs, do you mean so they are no in contact with the soil, i.e. laying some beams down for the tubs to sit on? Regards the seed where is the best place to buy? We have three local garden centres although I can't recall seeing potato/carrot seed, probably because I've never looked for it before.

Cheers

Here you go this years carrots - sorry it took so long

1) How do you know when carrots/potatoes are ripe?
2) Can you grow spuds in tubs?
3) Can you use old potatoes from tescos and stick them in the soil for your crop?
4) Can you reuse carrot/spud roots. if not how do you get more seeds from your crop rather than buying new ones?

1) How do you know when carrots/potatoes are ripe? There are always instructions/guidlines on the packets. With spuds it can take about three months but you can pick earlier for smaller spuds. When I have planted carrots at this time of year they have been ready for late September. It also depends on the variety.

2) Can you grow spuds in tubs? Yes, but the bigger the tub the better.

3) Can you use old potatoes from tescos and stick them in the soil for your crop? Yes but they are supposed to be rather more prone to blight and other probs but I have had a good crop this way. Make sure the spuds are sprouting.

4) Can you reuse carrot/spud roots. if not how do you get more seeds from your crop rather than buying new ones?
It's no to carrots and you could really only plant spuds that you have grown yourself if you replant some early spuds that you have grown. It's not a seed thing.

i've drawn first blood this season... scattering grit and cheap table salt around the ground where i don't want the slugs to attack... and it's working a treat. good tip - get some cheapo value table salt from any supermarket (under £1 for a job lot) and reapply after rain.

bustard slugs

Thanks for posting your pictures Knulpuk... and so promptly as well

Very good timing nonetheless as I eventually got round to planting carrots and parsnips directly into the ground and admittedly more experimentally than scientifically. I added compost and sand to make the soil easier to work with although I ever got round to adding manure which I've found I can get from a local farm.

I don't expect much but it's the beginning of a new education...

Spinynorman is spot on - I shall just add some other things

1) How do you know when carrots/potatoes are ripe?

Spuds come in 2 main types, Earlies, main crop. Earlies flower first and as soon as the flowers are out you can dig them up - now is quite early so you will get "new" potatoes. We had some for tea - so soft you can almost eat them without cooking and you can clean them under the tap - taste superb. Longer you leave them the bigger they get.

2) Can you grow spuds in tubs? 3) Can you use old potatoes from tescos and stick them in the soil for your crop? Y

See Spinynorman's comments - if there are allotments near you they may have a shop - will be cheaper and better quality potatoes than most other places.

4) Can you reuse carrot/spud roots.

Yes you can re-use spuds but I tend to try other varieties - carrots no - but seed goes a long way - a packet will last me 2 seasons - thats probably 40lb of carrots from a £1.20 pack of seeds.

Ooops

I think I may have gone a bit OTT. I sowed one pack of parsnip seeds in two 6 foot lines. I then used the pack of carrot seeds to fill two further 6 foot lines and ran out after about 9 feet. I'll soon be supplying Tescos

lol

i am thinking of growing some nice peppers. love em , but i am not sure if i have missed the right time
though. i have no garden but a very nice decking with great sunny aspect, any tips ?

We tried capsicum peppers last year in the green house and in the garden in pots - not a great success - quite small and a bit bitter. Chillies on the other hand grow really well - also they look good too in pots / grow bags or even hanging baskets. I think it might be a bit late this year as they take quite a long time to germinate - they love sun and by the time they are up and running you might be in July.

Next year kick them off in March - they have to have sun

I've got a contact in the horse section of L&B police who can provide as much manure as you want.

Let me know if you want some.

Thanks for the offer, but there's a farm locally which I can get it from and a few of my neighbours regularly come back with a trailer load of shit. Marvellous chat

I've never really understood why people think horse manure is that great.

Horses mostly eat grass so if you want broken down vegetative matter why not just use the product of your own compost heap?

Its just a question of quantity as much as anything - a years worth of home composting produces enough compost to use to grow all the seeds for the year and maybe dig a bit in to the plot but you need a ton or so of the stuff to cover the plot properly over the winter.

Unless you leave a lot off food / have a lot of grass cuttings that's not easy to create. Also horse manure is quite quick / consistent at rotting down - it should still be left to rot down though - shouldn't put direct on the plot.