I want to grow giant veg..

[donnyplant]

I've just joined my local gardening club, and need some giant veg to grow.

I have looked through the Marshalls and Suttons books etc.. But can't find any.

The 2 i'm mostly wanting to grow are giant runner beans, and giant marrows.

Can anyone offer any advice as to where i can get seeds from?

Thanks

[wykesmallholder]

giant veg

Best place i can think of is robinson's there near Preston if you try this link:-
W. Robinson and Son are suppliers of mail order vegetable seeds, often of their special mammoth variety of vegetables and specialist seed supplier.
www.mammothonion.co.uk

[chriscross1966]

Medwyn Williams does this sort of thing IIRC

Medwyns Prize Vegetable Seeds - VEGETABLE SEED - Medwyns Prize Vegetable Seeds

chrisc

[snuffer]

The real experts in this field select their own seed from veg that has already been successful. Occasionaly they will trade seeds but these can be very expensive and only available to those 'in the know'.

A lot of the growers develop their own strains by selective breeding, sometimes taking several years to produce seed that gives the results they are looking for.

Peter Glazebrook (very BIG in the giant veg world if you'll excuse the pun) lives in the next village. He grows massive veg. including the long parsnips and carrots that he grows in a specially constructed tower at the side of one of his out buildings.

[SarzWix]

I'd go with Medwyn for what you can, and Robinson's (Mammoth Onion) for the rest.

We've got Robinson's giant cabbages growing at the moment, and although they were planted late, they're still pretty big

[Seahorse]

You could try having a look at this book too:

How to Grow Giant Vegetables: Amazon.co.uk: Bernard Lavery: Books

He's not an organic gardener (if thats what you want to be) but there are loads of tips and helpful info on growing real whoppers!

[Skotch]

And there's also this chap who posts on here under the name Vegmandan

Here's a link to his site and what he does with onions and carrots My 2009 Giant Exhibition Record Breaking Show Onion Growing Attempt

[Bigmallly]

And there's also this chap who posts on here under the name Vegmandan

Here's a link to his site and what he does with onions and carrots My 2009 Giant Exhibition Record Breaking Show Onion Growing Attempt

Second question Donny...........Do you have the time & commitment?

[SMT]

Hi donnyplant.

I am planning on growing giant Marrows next year along with my giant pumpkins. If your wanting to grow them for competition then this site will be very useful to you.

European Giant Vegetable Grower's Association - Giant Marrows

I probably wont be able to help you out with the runner beans but if your struggling to find Giant Marrows then I do have some spare that have come from 40-80lb Marrows. My grandad used the seed this season to grow a 41pounder on his alotment.

[Bigmallly]

You deserved to win the comp SMT..brilliant, well done.

[SMT]

You deserved to win the comp SMT..brilliant, well done.

Thanks Bigmally.

[Matt.]

Yes you want to use the EGVGA or even just the bigpumpkins forum in the States. There are a few users on there from the Uk and I'm sure they will help you out.

If you really want to grow big you can't just buy from shops and expect good results. Its all about heritage in the seeds. Now is a great time to get prepared as there are auctions and the like around this time of year. You might be lucky if you ask around for seeds as well.

If you're going for giant marrows and pumpkins be warned you need masses of space. For a pumpkin 5m by 5m as a rough estimate. They also need a lot of water so if you can't rig up an automated system you'll be there a lot of the time. Good luck though because its fab when you get a whopper!

[bluemoon]

I'd start with onions. I've always had an ambition to grow large onions, not for the showbench, but because I have a fantasy where I invite the whole family round for a barbecue and only need one onion. I have tried a couple of times, using Robinsons mammoth onion seed, but didn't put in the work required to get them big, just treated them like normal onions. Even so they grew huge, so if I'm ever able to put the work in they should easily produce giants

[Alison]

Bit of a query to those of you who do grow mamouth veg, do they taste of much? I only ask as with the stuff I grow, the smaller versions usually have more flavour so I've never seen any point letting them get bigger. Obviously different if you're in a competition but that's a different thing to growing to eat.

[snakeshack]

robinsons mammoth red onions are about the strongest red onions I've had,already have seed for next year from them,have had really good results in the past from mammoth onions and pot leeks from ground which has had very little special treatment apart from the odd barrowload of horse apples (about the size of apples & horses lay them).
If I didn't plant them so close I think I could have had a prize at this years local show but I can't say the competition interests me as much as beating a personal best.