How has this year affected next year?

Easy from cuttings (well .. to get more of the varieties you already have, for new varieties you'll need mates or money )

Sylvestris is excellent IMHO. Usually in the GC Seed bundle, I expect quite a number of us grow it and could collect seed (I didn't get any seed last year, but this year they have flowered / are seeding earlier so fingers-crossed)

I've given up growing them from seed. I was fussy about colours etc. so bought seed of specific colours and so on, but sometimes I had germination failure and then no plants to fall back on. The seed is very small and fiddly (pricking out etc) and they need a long growing season (so Heat + Light supplement) Easier to buy plants I think.

Cuttings are easy. Can stuff a whole load in a pot (about now, perhaps a bit later) and just leave them there until next Spring, on a windowsill, and then pot on and watch them accelerate as heat & light improves in March

Like Petunias they have very fine seed, thus fiddly. I like the white ones, but you always get a few that turn out Blue. If I buy them as plants they are grown from a pinch of seed per pot, so when they bloom its a nightmare to get the Blue ones out. So I grow them, one per pot, so I can chuck the Blue ones when they flower.

I grow 20 broad bean plants and we get quiet a few meals from it. Probably couldn't have a bunch of mates round for lunch and have enough to go round though. They finish cropping by end July, so you can get a second crop of something else in behind them - so maybe not that extravagant on space?

peas agree on Space/Yield. Hard to beat the flavour though ...

I think they have no flavour. Moneymaker too. Very popular in the seed-sales ranks though ... no idea why as I think far more tasty varieties available. I do grow Aisa Craig onions though ...

I only grow all-female F1s. I gave up buying seed - its so expensive that plants are about the same price, and typically I used to lose 50% of my Cucumber seedlings because I don't have enough time to treat them with TLC - so several got too much water and snuffed it and it turned out expensive (from seed)

However, this year I couldn't get any suitable plants locally as all that were available were grafted ones with mini Cu's. They are fine, but not really what I wanted. Might have to try from seed again next year to get the varieties I want. I'll look out for packets in the 50p-a-packet sale ... that makes the seed cheap enough to have some failures!

Seen a lot of that this year. I wonder why? June was hot & dry. They must have got over the cold Spring by now, surely??

I have grown that variety for donkey's years. I have also grown an F1 (forgotten the name "Colossal" of "Giantisimus" or somesuch ) They cropped earlier and thicker, but you get so few seeds in a packet for your money that just planting, and harvesting, twice as many Musselburgh looks like a better option - unless you are tight for space.

I've never had a problem with them. Always grown from seed (in small modules), plant out (unwinding the roots and planting them rearranged vertically). I think planting from Plugs mean that they steal a march on the weeds (compared to Sets). We have always seemed to manage to store them until following Spring without any great difficulty, so quite rewarding in that sense. Maybe give them a final warning and one more chance?

 

I'll be growing onions again, I need to be more careful with the leaves and not let them bolt if poss. I sort of left them to it and shouldn't have done.

 

My Wyevale has done away with all seed brands except T&M this year. They aren't my favourite brand ... might try a different one a bit further away when I trog off to check when the sale is on (usually starts at the bank holiday weekend IIRC)

@JWK Is yours selling all-brands, or just T&M too?

 

I was assuming that too. My "other one" is not that far away, when I have opportunity I'll call in and check.

 

@fat controller .......Re Nicotiana Sylvestris seeds.....give me a shout if you'd like some and anyone else who's interested.....

 

As soon as they're ripe for picking i'll PM you

 

Nooooo not now FC! Next years planning is supposed to be done in the deepest, darkest evenings of Autumn and Winter when there's not much to do in the garden and we can pore over all those lovely catalogues.