Spaced out veg....or not?

[selfraising]

Hi I understand that you can sow some veg and plant in small groups and they will create space for themselves. I have seen on tv that you can do it with leeks, spring onions and beetroot but are there any other veg I can do this with?

[Snadger]

At first I thought you were growing the stuff that makes Lynda........................well sort of, Lynda........

Not only your spring onions but normal onions grow well this way, beetroot possibly?
Stay clear of carrots or parsnips though as there roots will intertwine!

Can't think of anymore offhand!

[selfraising]

Oooh cheeky
Blast I was hoping to do it (sow that is) with carrots and parsnips. If they intertwine I guess I could get two for the price of one!! I thought I read a thread from PW on the growing technique bit where he was suggesting sowing 6 carrot seeds together then space them 4" apart but I may have got the wrong end of the carrot on that one

[zazen999]

Self-raising...I do the carrot thing and it works nicely - if you sow direct. I'm not sure if it works on any transplanted seedlings - as I know some people do transplant carrots.

I tend to dig the ground first so that the soil is nice and loose...I actually will sieve it if I can after digging it quite deep, and add sand and coffee grounds and a few handfuls of home made compost to the mix. Ditto parsnips, they the are started off in kitchen roll and the roll torn and laid on the surface once greenery shows, and covered with loose soil/compost and basically left alone for about 6 months.

[lynda66]

hey if i could grow spaced out carrot's i'd give it a go

i sowed carrots and parsnips and turnips swede and onions in a 1m x 1m bed each sprinkled the seed and covered with a bit of compost, the results everything has done ok except the swede ....... a couple of carrots got tied up and romantic with each other, but most were fine as were the parsnips, the turnips did really well (purple top milan), the swedes definitely need more room

[Snadger]

............the turnips did really well (purple top milan), the swedes definitely need more room

I agree about the swedes. I tried this last year and they don't grow big enough. This year I will module sow.........but this time thin them to a single plant before planting out!

[selfraising]

Oh thanks very much Zazen999. I guess I could sow the parsnips now couldn't I? I do normally transplant carrots but perhaps I will have a go both ways as an experiment!

[selfraising]

Thanks for that Lynda but if your carrots were romantically entwined perhaps they were space out

[selfraising]

I had no luck at all with swedes last year, spaced out or not. The root looked like a curled up carrot!

[sewer rat]

Swedes need a lot more space but turnips, such as Purple top Milan will quite happily grow away regardless. I have to add that in my experience beetroot will need to be thinned, unless you grow a monogerm variety such as Solo or Moneta, as all you will end up with are loads of very small beetroot.

[selfraising]

Thanks for the advice Sewer rat. Perhaps I'll give the beetroot a miss with this method then! I gather it seems to be mostly root veg that you can use this method with??

[sewer rat]

Thanks for the advice Sewer rat. Perhaps I'll give the beetroot a miss with this method then! I gather it seems to be mostly root veg that you can use this method with??

I use an earthway seeder to sow my crops and it spaces swede / turnip seeds at about 3" apart. To save on thinning, I am going to block two of every three seed holes with beeswax so that they sow at 9" apart for swedes and every second hole for milan turnips so that they are 6" apart.

[selfraising]

Wow that sounds technical! Is the seeder a big thing or could I use it in the garden?