Square foot gardening.

[cuffbertt]

My patch is going quite well so far

17 cloves of garlic over 2 squares, each of which is about 6-8 inches tall.
36 onions over 4 squares which are now 4 inches or so tall.
Half a dozen pea plants over 2 squares, which are just coming through.

It's surprising how much veg you can fit into quite a small space!

[chris_m]

Indeed, I currently have;
9 squares of onions
40 of assorted brassicas - calabrese, sprouts, caulis, romanescos, cabbages, summer PSB and the currently cropping PSB
4 of sweetcorn
3 of peas
1 of parsnips
1 of leeks
3 of broad beans
2 of marigolds

In addition, I sowed over the last couple of days;
6 of carrots
2 of parsnips
2 of nasturtuims
2 half-squares of lettuce.

In rootrainers and/or pots to go in when they are up and ready ready there are;
5 squares worth of leeks
5 more brassicas to go in when the PSB has finished.
10 squares worth of runner beans
2 of squashes
2 of courgettes

and finally, for sowing in later weeks;
the other 2 half-squares of lettuces
another 2 half squares of lettuces
3 of leeks
4 of carrots
1 of parsnips

That lot's in a patch roughly 17 feet square, including pathways along the ends of and between the 4 beds.

I've also got more sweetcorn in the back of the greenhouse, to be joined by more runner beans and squashes, two dustbins of parsnips I sowed at the weekend and seven tubs of spuds.

I might need another freezer ;-)

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Can I ask anyone here who has grown cucumbers in their square foot garden, how did you support these vertically?

I’m growing them at one end of the 3x6 beds, one in each corner. My first thought was to simply mount some trellis to the end of the bed, or two posts on each side with some netting or trellis between them. When I search for ideas most people seem to have their trellis at an angle - why is this?

Alternatively, I’m wondering if those foldaway bush tomato support frames might be any use? Wilko sell these:

Wilko Tomato Support Cage at wilko.com

What’s the best option?

Similarly for my cordon tomatoes, do I need anything more than a 6ft bamboo cane in the middle of each square and tying the tomato in as it grows or is there a better way of doing it?

[monkeyboy]

I have no idea if my onions are doing ok. Foliage looks healthy, but the sets still seem quite small and loose in the soil. Is this normal? When do they start to swell and grow?

Mine were like this for ages. Then it snowed. A few sets turned mushy and died. The remainder have been growing reasonably well with long stems.

Similarly for my cordon tomatoes, do I need anything more than a 6ft bamboo cane in the middle of each square and tying the tomato in as it grows or is there a better way of doing it?

When I grew my Gardener's delight last year, I initially used a bamboo cane and tied it with some garden twine. When I transplanted into the raised bed, I used the same tomato support as you linked (mine was from Homebase) and it worked quite well. I plan to do the same again this year.

In other news, I ordered a build-it-yourself aluminium frame and netting from gardening-naturally. I'm not sure how to trim it so it sits neatly, especially as the edges are hemmed:

[Lumpy]

[QUOTE=TheCyclingProgrammer;1595422]Can I ask anyone here who has grown cucumbers in their square foot garden, how did you support these vertically?

I’m growing them at one end of the 3x6 beds, one in each corner. My first thought was to simply mount some trellis to the end of the bed, or two posts on each side with some netting or trellis between them. When I search for ideas most people seem to have their trellis at an angle - why is this?

Alternatively, I’m wondering if those foldaway bush tomato support frames might be any use? Wilko sell these:

Wilko Tomato Support Cage at wilko.com

What’s the best option?

Similarly for my cordon tomatoes, do I need anything more than a 6ft bamboo cane in the middle of each square and tying the tomato in as it grows or is there a better way of doing it?[/QUOTE

I only grow bush varities of both toms and Q's.
The Q's have a planter each and I shove a short cane in the middle for some support.
Both are also outdoor varieties which mean the Q's tend to have thicker skins.
I think the Wilko idea will work but you'd have to be careful of bushy toms and Q's blocking the light to other squares.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I think the Wilko idea will work but you'd have to be careful of bushy toms and Q's blocking the light to other squares.

I was thinking the bamboo canes might be enough for the tomatoes as they are cordon tomatoes although as they come in packs of three I guess I could try one and see if it makes any difference.

Both toms and cucumbers are going at the north east end of the bed so they should only shade the beds first thing in the morning hopefully.

[Sylvan]

I might need another freezer ;-)

That's a dangerous road to go down. I ended up with another THREE

You've an impressive load though

[chris_m]

I might need another freezer ;-)

That's a dangerous road to go down. I ended up with another THREE

I hope I don't have to go that far - the porch isn't big enough for a third although I dare say I could clear some space in the outbuilding. I really ought to anyway, 2 years after moving in it's still a "dumping ground"

You've an impressive load though

Cheers. It might be an impressive list, although whether it turns out to be an impressive harvest or not remains to be seen

[Sylvan]

Fingers crossed for a good summer.

[monkeyboy]

Well over the weekend, I added my cherry tomatoes to the beds (though I kept them in growbags). I transplanted my mangetout, aubergines, and sowed one square of carrots.

I need to buy some more bell cloches to sow some more lettuce.

[chris_m]

I have one square of carrots still to be sown - that'll happen either this coming week or the week after - more lettuces into existing squares on a fortnightly successional basis and my leeks, courgettes and squashes to plant out. The leeks need a bit longer in the rootrainers but the courgettes and squashes are "champing at the bit" to be let free so, since I have twice as many as I actually require (*) I shall plant half of them out in their squares in the next day or so and pot the other half on as insurance.

(*) story of my life this year. many things I've sown more than required on the assumption that they won't all germinate or grow on so they've defied me by ALL doing so

[Sylvan]

^^ Yes, mine have done that as well. May end up having to give away some plants

[bramble]

Monkey boy. My daughter saves the large square water containers for me.
I cut the bottom out and use them as a closh.

[chris_m]

^^ Yes, mine have done that as well. May end up having to give away some plants

I've already given away my spare tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and aubergines - the spare courgettes and squashes might well follow them.

[monkeyboy]

Monkey boy. My daughter saves the large square water containers for me.
I cut the bottom out and use them as a closh.

That's a good idea. How do you secure them down?
We have large round bottles for the water cooler. If I can take a few, they could be useful.

(*) story of my life this year. many things I've sown more than required on the assumption that they won't all germinate or grow on so they've defied me by ALL doing so

This year was my first time growing veg and I planted double with the idea that some would fail to germinate. Celery seemed to struggle (I got only one plant) so I sowed even more (about 12 seeds) in the propagator and they've all now germinated.

Funnily enough, with padron peppers, I sowed four seeds. All germinated but two turned out to be some sort of weed rather than pepper plants, so that was a saving grace.