Where did it go wrong and is it too late ?

[Davidd]

Hi all Im new to the forum and Growing Your Own. I have always wanted to grow my own and because of wanting to do something interesting with my 3 year old daughter as well I decided to take the plunge.

After reading up quite a bit,, the advice was encouraging. I bought one of those plastic type greenhouses and put in some plum tomatoes, strawberries, and herbs.

It took a while for them to start growing but once they did there was no stopping them.

One day I noticed holes in the leaves and through some research figured it was slugs. At this stage the first fruits of the strawberries were coming through as well as the flowers on the tomatoes, which I belive to be called the first truss ?

Then the weather got hotter and hotter and I believe this is where things started to go wrong. The leaves on the tomato plants shrivelled up during the day and went back to looking healthy when the sun went down. Is that normal, should I have watered them more.

Then there was that big heat wave which killed some of the herbs out right. A lot of the leaves on the tomato plants went brown. During the heat I was spraying the leaves with water at least twice a day but it seemed nothing could stop them from being scorched.

At this stage now it doesn't seem like there is much hope. The flowers on the tomatoes look dry and lifeless and have not growing any more since they first started to show which was about 2 weeks ago and I have quite a few burnt leaves.

Some of the strawberry leaves are also burned and the plant looks lifeless even though the fruits are turning red. Im continuing to water and spray but there not as healthy as they were before the heat.

Im not totally put off growing even though I put a lot of effort into this and its very frustrating to have got so close. I would like to give it a try again and Im wondering if what I have can be saved and where did this all go wrong.

Thanks and sorry for the long post.

[Jeanied]

Hi Davidd and welcome to the vine.
Have you got any open ground you can grow things in as well as the plastic greenhouse? Your strawberries would really prefer to be out of the heat and grown somewhere a bit cooler. That would probably go for your herbs as well. How about a growbag somewhere if you can't grow in the ground.
The tomatoes like to be warm, but will need watering twice a day on a hot day. It sounds like they have been scorched by the sun.
Don't lose heart - there is not one single one of us that hasn't had a failure or two on a regular basis - you just learn from your mistakes!
And the garden centre always has bargains!

[Incy]

Hi Davidd,
Welcome to the vine. I'm sure you will get lots of good advice and help on here.
If you pop your location in your profile it will help people give advice more specific to your area.
I'll have a go at helping although there are far more experienced folk on here.

Firstly stop spraying the leaves on your plants in the day as this will be the reason they are scorched. Just make sure you water them well in this heat, preferably from below by standing the pots in a tray of water so they can soak up what they need. The best time to water is usually early morning or in the evening when the sun is not at it's hottest.
The strawberries would be fine outside rather than in a greenhouse and if they are ripening I shouldn't worry too much.
The herbs would probably also prefer an outdoor location although as you don't specify which ones they are it is difficult to judge.

I'm glad that this set back has not made you give up. We have all had various disasters but when something does well it more than makes up for them.
Good luck

[sonsmiley131204]

hello davidd, im only on my 2nd year of growing my own last year i only had a few things as the rest went abit tits up lol, but dont let it put you off again im trying this year so far so good for the exception of my tomatoes which i have made quite a few mistakes luckely i was able to get info on here, with my strawberrys last year i only had a handfull so i have made a raised bed for them and seem to be doing much better, dont be afraid to ask anything on here as plenty of people will help

[tamsin]

Are you opening the plastic greenhouse in the day? When it's really hot even the plastic ones can be sweltering inside.

[zazen999]

Only toms need to be in a plastic greenhouse, and they definitely need watering from below several times a day unless you open the front up.

I have just had to dig up all my potatoes and move them, starting from scratch; and move the brassicas and am in the middle of moving the onions. It's annoying but there's still time to grow things.

The trick is to work out what needs cover and what doesn't!

[Nik]

Plastic greenhouses are cheap and easier to put up but they can get way too hot. I almost killed my pepper plants in mine a couple of weeks ago - in May! Imagine what it will be like in July.
If the weather is warm I'd leave the plastic greenhouse open all day, and just zip it up at night to keep some heat in.
I only started growing my own last year and I think I've managed to kill just about every type of herb and vegetable in a variety of imaginative ways. I just chalk it down to experience and plod on.

[Parsleythelion]

This is my first year proper (last year I tinkered with herbs, radishes and a courgette!) and I am learning so much from the Grapes. The problem I have is the only real chance I get to read this website is at work (during my lunch hour of course!). I read the advice offered by the Grapes and then start to panic as I am miles from my veg and there is nothing I can do about it. The comments about the plastic greenhouses, I have them and haven't opened them up today and it is a scorcher in London, so there is a chance my toms, peppers and blessed aubergine might be done for when I get home :-( If they are it is a set back and I will be sad but will have learned my lesson, if I am lucky and they are ok I will be relieved but still learned my lesson.

[Davidd]

Thanks for all the super advice. I feel I have learned so much all ready. The door on the plastic greenhouse was never open. I will move the strawberries outside and the herbs. I do have a reasonable size garden but thought I would start off small this season and then have a raised bed next year when I learned a bit more.

[SarzWix]

As long as the outside temperature is above 5c (preferably around 10c) then the greenhouse can be left open Mine hasn't been closed for 4 or 5 days now.

[Currysniffa]

I did the same trick with my blow-a-way greenhouse when I first stared off, its a easy mistake to make when you don't know....

Welcome to the vine Davidd BTW