growing mini veg

[lynda66]

has anyone grown the mini veg varieties ?
MINI BROCCOLI 30 SEEDS
MINI SWEETCORN 20 SEEDS
MINI TURNIP 30 SEEDS
MINI PARSNIP 20 SEEDS
MINI CARROT 30 SEEDS
MINI CAULIFLOWER 20 SEEDS
MINI BEETROOT 20 SEEDS

I just bought this lot for £5 maybe a bit dear, but i've seen the sizes some of your veg crop are, and i was thinking these are probably a better size for my garden ........ and also that when darling son goes off to uni in september, there will actually only be me at home so i probably don't actually need 100 full sized cauliflowers and broccolis lol,

I'm presuming they will grow quicker than the full sized varieties? and if i don't pick them when small, they will just carry on growing till i chop them, ok i haven't a blooming clue, but they looked cute, and the postage was free cos i bought some other stuff for my tropical zone ...... anyone got any ideas

Lynda xxx

[parrot1974]

Hi Lynda
I'm afraid I don't know a lot about mini veg, as I don't grow them (except when I get greedy and pick things too early!). However, I think that most of them are specifically bred (?) to produce smaller vegetables which by definition are quicker than normal crops. However, you don't get as much veg for your money, but you can put more plants in a smaller space as they only need to grow to a small size, so they should be perfect for you. For many of the types of veg you mentioned, such as beetroot and other root crops, you can just grow normal types and pick them early, just remembering that you can space them closer together than it says on the packet. Hope that helps.

[Cutecumber]

There are some varieties of veg which genuinely produce smaller versions of their siblings at maturity, but in other cases it is about picking young or reducing the spacing. So, you will be able to harvest some more quickly largely because they are immature.

Take beetroot - round beetroot can be harvested as "mini" beetroot. You just pull them when you like, small or big. You can leave them to bulk up if you can't eat them all at once. Some are faster than others and you can't do this with long beetroot (which look like big fat carrots).

Carrots are similar - most can be harvested young for small roots and left to mature - though you need to avoid the big maincrop autumn types like Autumn King which take ages to bulk up and have lots of foliage. Amsterdam Forcing is an excellent smallish root which you can sow over and over again through the year.

Parsnips take a long time to grow and bulk up late in their growing pattern. There are a couple of varieties - like Lancer and Arrow - which are sold for pulling young, but I don't have experience of whether you can do this with any other types.

Mini sweetcorn are still big plants, but the cobs are harvested before they are pollinated. Minipop is the most common variety but I haven't tried it myself. You can't leave them to grow on, you must pick them at the right time.

I have never come across mini broccoli - does it give you a picture? Does it mean small heads of green calabrese? I've grown Kabuki calabrese this year - I was a little disappointed because it has taken just as long to grow as the larger heads. I think I'll go back to other types. Calabrese and broccoli must be picked when they are ready or they will flower, so you can't leave them.

Cauliflowers are the one thing here that are so highly bred and specialised that I would only buy those recommended for producing small heads. They can be grown fairly close together and they do crop more quickly. I have really enjoyed growing smaller cauliflowers and would recommend them. I use Idol, Freedom and Candid Charm in particular. They are always summer cauliflowers, grown quickly on good fertile soil. They must be well fed and watered throughout their lives. As with calabrese and broccoli, cauliflowers have to be picked when they are ready - they will break open and flower right before your eyes if you leave them.

Do you have the seeds yet? Are the varieties named?

[lynda66]

thanks for that, i'll look out for different varieties, if they grow quicker that helps lots, cos the big ones i've planted havent shown their faces above ground yet, though the broccoli i have in a tray in the airing cupboard were just germinating last time i saw them ....... so they may be bigger next week when i get home i'm not too bothered about the mini sweetcorn, cos i have proper sweetcorn in, and i prefer more than a mouthful for such a huge plant

MINI SWEET CORN SEEDS MINIPOP F1 MINI SWEETCORN***CUTE AND SO TASTY***20 SEEDS on eBay, also Vegetables Fruits, Plants Seeds Bulbs, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 02-Jul-08 17:14:42 BST)
MINI BEETROOT 'PRONTO' SEEDS. MINI BEETROOT***CUTE AND SO TASTY***20 SEEDS on eBay, also Vegetables Fruits, Plants Seeds Bulbs, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 28-Jun-08 07:30:00 BST)
MINI CAULIFLOWER 'IDOL' SEEDS. MINI CAULIFLOWER***CUTE AND SO TASTY***20 SEEDS on eBay, also Vegetables Fruits, Plants Seeds Bulbs, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 26-Jun-08 00:18:49 BST)
MINI CARROT SEEDS 'AMSERDAM SPRINT' MINI CARROT***SO CUTE AND TASTY***30 SEEDS on eBay, also Vegetables Fruits, Plants Seeds Bulbs, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 28-Jun-08 08:30:00 BST)
MINI PARSNIP SEEDS 'LANCER' MINI PARSNIP***CUTE AND SO TASTY***20 SEEDS on eBay, also Vegetables Fruits, Plants Seeds Bulbs, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 01-Jul-08 21:27:57 BST)
MINI BROCCOLI SEEDS ROMANESCO NATALINO MINI BROCCOLI***SO CUTE AND TASTY***30 SEEDS on eBay, also Vegetables Fruits, Plants Seeds Bulbs, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 28-Jun-08 08:00:00 BST)
MINI TURNIP SEEDS(YOKYO CROSS F1)MINI TURNIP***SO CUTE SO TASTY***30 SEEDS on eBay, also Vegetables Fruits, Plants Seeds Bulbs, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 03-Jul-08 15:00:00 BST)

they do a pack of a mixture of them and as i was buying some stuff off him anyway i got free postage ..... i have had flower seeds off him before and they have all grown well

but i have a small patch in my front garden , and an edge round the lawn that i can plant them in (till i decide what to do with the garden) the whole front garden will be dug over some time and rearranged, but till then, they will look cute

the other veg i have planted i got from poundstretchers and wilkies, cos they were half price and i hadn't even considered growing veg till i bought them ...... i guess it's a trial and error thing really, finding which veg grow best, on my soil, but if everything grows, the neighbours will be happy lol ....... i've just bunged everything in and hoped for the best, but now i have the idea, i'll figure out which veg suit me best rather than 'any variety will do cos they're cheap'

Lynda xx

[lynda66]

i only bought them last night while i was looking for other things for round my pond , and my finger kind of slipped onto the buy now button ........ i also ended up with goji berry seeds, flyaway carrot seeds (supposedly resistant to carrot fly) more squash seeds, courgettes, and runner beans ...... i really must control my fingers lol, i don't even know if i like runner beans, but i figure i may as well start planning for next year

[markwcel]

i like how women say "my finger kind of slipped onto the buy button"....good luck...remember tho that kids come home from uni often..lol

[lynda66]

but it didddddddd honest anyway, since i've got my veg head on it's been far cheaper than my normal finger slippages, normally they are boot finger slippages ...... i haven't bought any boots for agesssss

yeah, and he's only a 15 minute train ride away lol ...... he said he's going to buy himself a freezer for his room, so i can make him food that he can justput in the freezer, then stick in the microwave ..... maybe i should charge him a food and washing machine rent

[DirtGardener]

The Mini Sweet plant is a unique variety of sweet corn because it produces only 3” long ears. Mini Sweet Corn Plant, Growing Sweet Corn

[maytreefrannie]

This is the first I've ever heard of mini varieties of vegetables - who's grown them and how did they turn out? Also, I've never seen them selling - are they on t'Internet only?

[selfraising]

I've tried minipop sweetcorn. The cobs are small but there wasn't much difference in height of the plant to the normal sweetcorn.

Lynda66 like your style, my favourite saying is 'it was only one click away'

[SarzWix]

T&M used to have a 'mini-veg' section in their catalogue, can't remember if it's there this year. Sometimes they're called 'patio-veg', sometimes 'container-veg'. There's an iceberg called Mini Green that we grow every year, they're a smallheaded variety that can be planted closer together than full size ones.

[lynda66]

just so you know, out of all the seeds last year i got 5 turnips and 2 carrots for some reason most of them didn't germinate think i'll stick to full size veg and eat them smaller

[JamesA]

Ive ordered some of these mini Caulis to try.
Cauliflower ?Snowball? Mini /Baby vegetable - 100 Seeds on eBay, also Vegetables Fruits, Plants Seeds Bulbs, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 16-Apr-09 11:47:04 BST)

[Growem]

I have the mini sweetcorn to try, plus a bambino courgette. We'll see how it compares to the big boys.