My first year growing in the UK

[DarrenC]

Hi,

I'm very green here, having just received a very warm welcome in the town hall I got a request to post some pictures... I think I've figured out how to do it as attachments so here goes...

It is my first year of growing anything - here in the UK the typical garden isn't very big, my last few houses have been typical stone terrace houses with no garden at all to speak of, however my mother moved to a house with a large (for the UK) garden so I've sectioned off a bit for myself after picking up a bargain greenhouse on an auction site.

Being my first year it's all a bit of an experiment this year and I'm learning slowly as I go - I only figured out the difference between bush and cordon types a few weeks ago

outside I'm mainly growing peas, broadbeans and strawberries... I have a few fruit trees and currant/berry bushes but they're not doing much of anything yet except getting covered in aphids

In the greenhouse I'm growing mainly salad things, which I'm sharing with many flying things and the odd adventurous slug and too many tomato plants... Tbh I didn't expect them to get this big and I've stacked them 2 deep - 18 plants in total... I'm just going to let it run and see what happens

I've 11 varieties of tomatoes - they seemed quite interesting when I got the seed, however since looking around at sites like this I've come to realise they are quite pretty much everyday ones.
Aunt Rubys German Green / Beefmaster F1 / Sweet Million/ Pink Brandywine/ watermelon beefsteak / Sungold / Red Cherry / Giant Tree / Stupice / Tigerella /San Marino (I think - a present from an Uncle)

They are all very slow here due to the UKs cool spring, but I've got my first couple of set which are Red Cherry
Darren

IMG_3205.jpg

IMG_3206.jpg

IMG_3208.jpg

IMG_3209.jpg

IMG_3210.jpg

IMG_3222.jpg

IMG_3223.jpg

[flgatorguy87]

Wow! Awesome setup.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[DarrenC]

Originally Posted by flgatorguy87

Wow! Awesome setup.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Thanks - hopefully I'll actually get to eat a tomato one day - so far a lot of effort for little reward

[HollyinNNV]

Very pretty and oh so green! I haven't had a harvest yet either. It will come.
Congratulations on your first garden.
Holly

[DarrenC]

Thanks Holly! I'd have though Nevada would be Sunshine Central and you'd be on your second harvest of the year already!

Green... And boggy, it rains fairly constantly here and the soil has so much clay you could make pots out of it

[HollyinNNV]

Originally Posted by DarrenC

Thanks Holly! I'd have though Nevada would be Sunshine Central and you'd be on your second harvest of the year already!

Green... And boggy, it rains fairly constantly here and the soil has so much clay you could make pots out of it

Darren,
I wish I was on my 2nd harvest!

I live at about 4,500 ft elevation and my tomato growing season starts late May/early June. It has even been known to snow July 4th here, although that is luckily a rare event.

We also have lots of clay, but a small amount of rain-Reno is considered high desert. Anyways I didn't even know we had clay. It is so hard packed-it's like concrete.

I noticed that your neighbor looks like they have a green house too. Is gardening common where you live?
Holly

[DarrenC]

Originally Posted by HollyinNNV

Darren,
I wish I was on my 2nd harvest!

I live at about 4,500 ft elevation and my tomato growing season starts late May/early June. It has even been known to snow July 4th here, although that is luckily a rare event.

We also have lots of clay, but a small amount of rain-Reno is considered high desert. Anyways I didn't even know we had clay. It is so hard packed-it's like concrete.

I noticed that your neighbor looks like they have a green house too. Is gardening common where you live?
Holly

Clay is apparently very rich in nutrients, or so I've heard but from experience here it's rock hard all summer and then a mud bath all winter. I can see how it'd be next to impossible in desert conditions.

There's about six gardens around the back and three of them have greenhouses, but nearly every house is owned by a retired couple and they love pottering about in the garden.

I'd say that people here are the same as everywhere, some like gardening and some don't, we generally have quite small gardens though so we have to be creative with fitting stuff in

[DarrenC]

This could seem basic or covered elsewhere, I apologize in advance, because it's my first time growing tomatoes and I'm new to Tomatoville- everything seems to have gone well and now I've had some fruit set I seem to be getting my first issues

The first 4 pics are a Aunt Ruby's GG

pics 1 &2 are the same tomato... looks really weird/split

pic 3 is another that looks strange

pic 4 - the few other tomatoes on this plant are more 'normal' looking but are much smaller

the next two pics are the first unhealthy looking leaves I've had, these are off a Beefmaster F1 plant, that is massive with very few flowers or fruit

I'm growing it all in a greenhouse and the weather has been up into the 80's this last week - temps in the greenhouse have been in the 90's at times

I was wondering whats going on with the tomato in pics 1, 2 and 3 ?
And should I be doing anything about the leaves that I've pictured?

The dog doesn't even like tomatoes

Thanks in advance for any advice
Darren

[ddsack]

Just fantastic greenhouse and garden! If this is only your first year gardening, I can't imagine where you will go from here! Also, a very well rounded selection of tomato varieties, a little of everything is a good way to start. Best of luck on your season, I hope you get a more sun and heat as the summer progresses to help speed those tomatoes along. I look forward to hearing about your tomatoes as they ripen.

P.S. What are those bulbs - garlic??? along the long edge of the greenhouse side frame below the empty pots?

[DarrenC]

Originally Posted by ddsack

P.S. What are those bulbs - garlic??? along the long edge of the greenhouse side frame below the empty pots?

Sorry, missed this bit... I was starting off peas in these bits of guttering up to a few weeks ago, at the moment they have daffodil bulbs drying out in them for a few weeks. They were in pots on the patio this spring but looked wrong so they are getting planted somewhere else in autumn

I've tried to grow garlic, it hasn't been successful...

[wildcat62]

Great setup. Looks like you know what you're doing to me.

[DarrenC]

Thanks ddsack, I had plenty of time last September and October to get it set up, I can't see it going much further than it is already. I think next year might see another veg bed as I've got a lot of bricks to use up... Apart from that it might be more a case of reducing the number of things I've tried - chilli peppers have been completely unsuccessful and never progressed from seedlings, and cucamelons which are growing but I've never eaten one so haven't got a clue what to expect.

I'm just, not very patiently, waiting for the main event to start - I dream of a ripe tomato ☺️ But I'll have to remember to take a photo before stuffing it in my face

[DarrenC]

Thanks Wildcat, it helped that I got the greenhouse in October last year so had a few months to come up with some sort of plan.

I keep seeing all the heirlooms on here and wish I'd tried them- keep having to remind myself that there's always next year

[wildcat62]

Curious if you bought the greenhouse as a kit and assembled it yourself or hired a professional. It certainly looks like it's built by a pro. I'm thinking in investing in something similar if I could find one priced right.

[DarrenC]

Originally Posted by wildcat62

Curious if you bought the greenhouse as a kit and assembled it yourself or hired a professional. It certainly looks like it's built by a pro. I'm thinking in investing in something similar if I could find one priced right.

I bought it off ebay, (very) used and I had to take it apart, strap it to the roof of my Ford Focus and reassemble it at home

It's on very sloping ground so I built a formwork and poured a level concrete base myself, it helps to have a mixer

I filled a bit inside with pavers and gravel,

Building the greenhouse wasn't that easy but it mostly seemed to slot together ok - the frame is light enough to not be a problem, the glass worried me a bit - especially on the roof. All in all I reckon the reassembly of the greenhouse itself took about 8 hours working on my own and I'd say it wasn't the most difficult thing I've ever built (that's an IKEA wardrobe with sliding doors )