a few questions and identification help :P

[Irish-Veg]

These plants, would you think they are flower of spring cabbages?, I remember sowing them and then planted them out, they then appeared to die so I forgot about them, now they're huuuge.

and also I have some other plants That were overlooked, they are either pumpkins/melons/... thinking their pumpkins...

The leaks I planted out in May, idk don't seem to have grown that much.. I sprinkled some organic fertilizer on 1 row to see If I see any difference, also the holes have filled uo with soil, does that matter?

I have more to plant out and i'm thinking will plant these a lot less deeper and then just earth up.

with regards to picking broadies.... i'm getting some huge pods now, should I have picked already or what? I know my mum prefers to use them when they are "harder" and need boiling well for stews etc..

my Dads spuds from the photo you can see a few are dying off, any ides what they could be? and btw his garden is covered in slug pellets so not snails/slugs.. apparently there are holes in the young potatoes..


and finally a few squash plants were looking a bit sickly with some white spots on leaves, I gave a small sprinkle of organic fertilizer/mulched and they seem to be doing better now, although still pale in comparison to the other monsters

[veggiechicken]

So many questions and I only have a few answers!
The last photo is of brassicas - so may be your Flower of Spring cabbages.
Picking size of Broad beans is really up to you. I pick mine very small, about the size of my little finger, and cook them whole like a french bean - so that I can eat the pod as well as the bean.
Someone will be along soon with better answers!!

[Irish-Veg]

Thanks Veggiechicken

forgot to add photo of the spuds lol

[rustylady]

Looking good Irish.

Leeks take a while to get going and it doesn't matter at all that the holes have filled up with soil.

How many people is your father feeding with his spuds?

It could still be slug damage, specially to the actual potatoes. Some slugs live underground.

[Mikey]

I'd dig the dead ones out, and see if there are any tubers there. You can have slug damage even if you put a hundred weight of pellets down. Some species of slugs never come to the surface.

[Jamesy_uk]

I'd say that type of spud damage with little holes is likely wire worm.

[Irish-Veg]

Thanks Lads, genuinely never knew about slugs being underground.

Those spuds will do us (4) for the year, we pulled one or two up and there was nothing under them at all, haven't seen the holes myself but apparently they are tiny.

he sprays every week with dithane..

[Two_Sheds]

never knew about slugs being underground.

Keel slugs: a major pest of potatoes.

Put too many pellets down and the slugs will just ignore them, and continue munching the crops. You need to use just a very few (as per pack instructions)

we pulled one or two up and there was nothing under them at all

Never pull them up to see if they're ready: because then you've killed the plant. Just have a feel under the soil, if you find good sized spuds then pull away. If not, leave them be and give them a darn good watering

[Two_Sheds]

my mum prefers to use them when they are "harder" and need boiling well

yuck.
Maybe that's because she's never tried them young and tender? They should be picked well before they develop that black line on the bean

spuds from the photo ... are dying off

The plants have suddenly collapsed while still green: so it's not maturity. It's likely to have been something eating through the stem if it's only one or two.

[KittyColdNose]

Is the white spot on the pumpkin powdery, if so it could be mildew.

[Two_Sheds]

The white spot in the first photo looks suspiciously like bird poop from here