[amy-shaw]

Hello, I am new to growing vegetables. I am thinking of doing Peppers, Carrots, Tomato's, Sweetcorn and potatoes. Is there anything that I need to know except the potato and tomato thing. The peppers are just a hobby which I am interested in.
When should I start planting these?

[doganjo]

Depends where you are.  I'm in Central Scotland and sweetcorn last year was a disaster.  Grew some peppers in my conservatory and they weren't much better.  Carrots and tatties I can do

[dizzy1pig]

every where is different..i can not grow carrots have tried for 5 years and now given up..
no much good when you have big veg plot to maintain. peppers ok in with toms. tatties dead simple even in bucket and then you can chuck them in shed and have new ones at xmas.. grew sweetcorn for 2 years needs to be block planted to get results and needs good weather

[pottsie]

Hi i'm using old dumpy sacks down one side of my veg patch, great for potatoes but just been told by a local experienced gardener he couldn't get carrots this year because of the carrot flt. Because the dumpy sacks are more than 18" above ground i have had no probs and still pulling them, infact got so many my recently poorly goats are relly getting happy.

Rob .

[sagehen]

Hmm lucky you Rob! I think last year I put far too much compost in the carrot beds, or they weren't dug down far enough because all the carrots I got were forked and looked like triffids.

I've had good results with sweetcorn, and greenhouse tomatoes, peppers and chillies. Not too good with aubergines for some reason. Courgettes grew like mad, and salads, as well as brassicas, although I had to be out everyday collecting caterpillars off them! Beans, peas, leeks, onions, garlics..err..you can grow anything really as long as you've got soil and sun and water  Gonna try growing mushrooms this year, too!

[sellickbhoy]

as others have siad - it all depends on where abouts you are in the country!

Peppers........1st time out, I'd suggest buying plants that have been started off. Germinating pepper seeds can be a pain - you need warmth & light and they need constant attention! A bit of a pain.

So, buy some that have been started off.

Put them into a nice big pot 10-15 Litres - and then you'll not need to repot them.

They need somewhere light and sunny, so keep them indoors while young - ontop of a radiator on a sunny windowsill, in a heated conservatory

once it's a bit warmer you can move them out to a greenhouse.

they like a bit of tomato feed

That should do you. (you can also do chillies this way and a good starter plant for a good harvest is an Apache chilli plant)

Carrots are pretty easy - get a good compost, something that is quite low in nitrogen (you want to avoid something that has manure in it - as the nitrogen content will lead to "that's Life" shaped veg!! Which can be amusing!

wait until the frosts are all passed. They are best grown in a raised bed, as the soil isn't as compacted and it's easier for them to grow down - pushing soil out of the way. If you are not using a raised bed, dig over the ground and make sure it's well tilled

you can do it 2 ways - sow your seeds quite close together - and "thin" them out as they grow (the baby produce is perfectly edible and gives you a small early crop to eat! or you can space them out a bit more and not worry about thinning them down.

Carrot fly is a problem when you thin them out - especially if not in a raised bed about 10" deep, people like to plant marigold flowers beside their carrots as this smell "hides" the carrots from the carrotfly

Go with a few different varieties - I like a nantes early (so you get an early crop) and I also like the samurai red and there is also a really sweet carrot that I like to (name escapes me)

carrots can be left in the ground until november'ish when the frosts start to come, or you can lift them, store them in clamps or simply, wash, chop, bag and freeze

Sweetcorn, I thought i was gonna get a good crop this year, but just cooled too much to ripen them off - Boooo!!

plant them in a conservatory/greenhosue as seeds and let them get a good start, once they are a foot high, start to harden them off a bit giving them some time outside each day when it's warmer. once it's "summer" put them into a bed, plant them close together so they cross pollinate each other. Then leave them too it - if it's warm and the soil has some moisture in it, they'll do well.

Tatties are easy, buy some seed tatties in the next few weeks, let them chit, plant them just after st paddies day in march. once the seeds are planted, just earth them up  - pile earth/compost up covering the leaves everytime they pop through., the highter, the better!!! (though you do have to dig them out at the end!

you can cheat and buy compost bags and just cut a few drainage holes in the bottom and push the seed pot into the bottom of the bag - but that's no fun.

tatties like plenty of water. but best to water in the evening when it's cool - if the soil heats up and water evaporates, you get moisture/humidity and that seems to encourage blight.

Also, you don't have to dig them all up at the same time, once the flowers die off, you can lift a plant at a time, or you can simply cut off all the tops (everything above soil) and then leave the tatties in the ground until you want them - though best to root them all out before frosts start to come and then jsut put them into sacks and store over winter.

I can't grow toms, so you are on your own!!

[sagehen]

tried outdoor toms, no luck because the blight got to it first. Indoor toms in a greenhouse were great - didn't have to buy any toms for salads and pasta sauce from July onwards  And thanks for the tip about the nitrogen content in the compost - probably why my carrots were triffid-like, but far from amusing, they were a pain to peel  Also agree with peppers, they take blimmin ages to germinate, so if you have a lit airing cupboard type place, put it there.