Things to note

[rary]

I was looking through some posts and noted several where Grapes were asking what may be considered basic gardening questions, like
When do I sow seeds, the seed packet says~ now experienced gardeners know that this is just a guide, and sowing times vary quite a bit from one area to an other
What type of compost should be used for seed sowing~ again with experience you know that seeds don't need feeding to germinate so a seed compost or a multi purpose compost is required.
There are a good number of basic growing requirements that I am sure someone with a bit more skill than I have could put these questions down on a question and answer format to help new gardeners, after all it when people make mistakes they may be put off gardening

[Snoop Puss]

I've always quite liked the growing guides. VC is good at pointing people to them.

Maybe a basic growing for beginners guide could be added... (Sorry, not volunteering.)

[Greenleaves]

I think VC would make a perfect author of aforementioned post

[veggiechicken]

Most of the basic questions are asked on New Shoots https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...new-shoots/and the Archived Growing Techniques Board https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ng-techniques/ is used to store useful info.
I actually don't think that any amount of Q&As would stop people asking their own questions as they join the forum to ask for advice. Sending them to a Q&A thread may seem a bit impersonal.
The common Qs I see are - how do you prune raspberries and What plant is this? which is often a Cerinthe.

[rary]

Someone who cold correlate (I read that word this morning and wanted to use it all day) the information that must be on the Vine would be ideal

[veggiechicken]

I think VC would make a perfect author of aforementioned post

Can you imagine the answers I'd give?
Q When can I sow ???? seeds?
A On Monday

Q When do I plant out tomatoes?
A Thursday.

They'd be even more confused than I am.

[monkeyboy]

Some people (like me) are very new and very nervous to growing. I have a vested interest in growing stuff well this year (a-not-really-but-kind-of-is competition with a friend, who has a larger garden and was more successful than me last year), so keen to do things right. Otherwise I'd just throw the seeds over my shoulder and wait to see what happens.

But a forum FAQ would be useful, even if to allay fears. Up until I had joined this forum, the most I'd done in terms of gardening was mow the lawn (and even then I didn't realise how much information there was about growing and maintaining a lawn until I came across the lawnsmith website).

[mysteryduck]

I agree with all of these points. I’m new and I have a gazillion questions. I’m hesitant of spamming the forum so I’ve done a lot of reading, which leads to more questions. An faq would be ace! Especially regarding sewing, watering, and hardening off. But I also agree that it may seem a bit impersonal.

[bramble]

Questions are always good and of course we will all try to answer those as well as we can.
Garden books are a mine of information and there are a million out there full of helpful advice.
The back of a packet of seeds will also give you some guide lines .
But, at the end of the day there is nothing like doing it yourself to learn as you go.
Good luck and we will be here to help you along the way.

[burnie]

The thing with gardening is that there's not really a definitive answer to our questions, growing the same crop in the same garden can vary, not just from year to year, but from month to month. I have been gardening for over 60 years and still don't have the answers to a lot of the "basic" questions. I have moved around the UK with job moves and am amazed how different locations and aspects of a garden can challenge even the most ardent of gardeners. I often sit at home watching gardening on tv and the presenter says "do this" and I'm thinking not in my garden, tried it and it failed. The joy of planting and growing is a bit like my fishing, not knowing the outcome adds to the pleasure, it would be boring if everything grew perfectly and I guess catching a big fish every time could also be less enjoyable, those failures make the success all the sweeter.

[nickdub]

The thing with gardening is that there's not really a definitive answer to our questions, growing the same crop in the same garden can vary, not just from year to year, but from month to month. I have been gardening for over 60 years and still don't have the answers to a lot of the "basic" questions. I have moved around the UK with job moves and am amazed how different locations and aspects of a garden can challenge even the most ardent of gardeners. I often sit at home watching gardening on tv and the presenter says "do this" and I'm thinking not in my garden, tried it and it failed. The joy of planting and growing is a bit like my fishing, not knowing the outcome adds to the pleasure, it would be boring if everything grew perfectly and I guess catching a big fish every time could also be less enjoyable, those failures make the success all the sweeter.

I agree absolutely and I'd add another perspective to it that some techniques which work well for one gardener won't necessarily be so good for a different person.

Take sowing seeds like cabbage or beetroot inside in blocks of compost before planting out. Thus can work well if you have the time and pay attention to watering etc that the seedlings need - so that they are never too dry or too wet, never get left in a low light spot to get leggy etc. But if you are a bit on the slapdash side or have a very busy life where other things sometimes eat into your gardening time, then a few days of neglect can be a bit too long to ever get a good plant again. In this latter case the gardener would probably have been better preparing a seed bed outside in the old-fashioned way and sowing their seeds direct.

What this boils down to is recommending absolute "right" answers to others is virtually impossible - what you can say is "this worked for me" and "watch out for so-and-so", which is what I generally try to do.

[Miss Mousetrousers]

Starting to garden will be hard enough especially if you don't know the basics. My advice is:
1) just read a few basic books as looking at too many will just lead to confusion.
2) When to sow seeds depends not only on the type of seed, but also on what the climate is like where you live, the type of soil you have, and the current weather. Delaying sowing until later is often a good option as they usually catch up with earlier sowings.
3) Don't take on too much all at once. Make your area a size that you can reasonably cope with and just sow seeds of veg that you like and that are easy to grow.
4) If you make a mistake or have failures, don't get disheartened! Some veg can be re-sown and will just crop a bit later in the year. We all fail at something every year no matter how experienced we are.
5) The main thing is to get your soil in good heart. By that I mean getting rid of deep-rooted perennial weeds, a good digging so it breaks it up and you can also see if there are any drainage problems, add well-rotted manure or mushroom compost, and give it a feed with a general fertiliser.
6) Lastly, take time out to rest and enjoy the process!

[Kirk]

My opinion is that a Q+A area is just not worth it. People will not join here, then decide to search out where there may be an answer to a question they have. They will join and ask, and replying saying go away and read this usually means they don't read whatever and go away.

In another hobby I do at about 3 or 4 month intervals someone decides to write a simple spreadsheet out so you can enter the parameters and get a table of results.

The post is almost always the same: I couldn't find one and thought that a simple spread sheet would be of great use to people to easily determine their magnifications, fields of view, exit pupil and whatever else.

Everyone thanks them for it, the post slips off the front page and is forgotten, until in 3 or 4 months time another person thinks wouldn't it be a good idea to have ............

People have done this with Excel for about 20+ years but still someone thinks it is a brand new all inspiring idea. No-one has yet been honest and said *Oh god, not another one of these!"

I suspect that a gardening Q+A will fall into the same, no one will read it and they will just ask. That is likely half the reason the joined, maybe more then half. Sort of interaction with a sort of semi-virtual person.

(Bet VC reads that as virtuous )

Bit like meeting someone and asking how they are, you do not want the answer, "Head off other there and ask Bob, he'll tell you as I answered the same question for him 30 mnutes ago."

Let them ask, and answer their question. Adds to your post count after all is one way of looking at it.

[burnie]

Not against having Q&A, after all the magazine does it, just I would caution that no one has all the answers, not even on their own plot, part of the joy is I'm still learning.

[Penellype]

Its hard because every year is different and sometimes the "standard" advice has to be tweaked a little. A good example is coming up shortly. People often recommend planting potatoes on Good Friday. However, Good Friday moves, and this year it is early, but we are having a cold spring. In fact currently Good Friday is scheduled to be the start of the next cold spell, with northerly winds and snow on the menu in places. While I am getting on with planting my early potatoes under cover, I would be very very reluctant to go ahead with planting in what is very likely to be cold, wet soil just because it happens to be Good Friday!