What is an F1 hybrid vegetable?
An F1 is a hybrid produced in a particular way to give uniformity and high performance. Uniformity may not always be desirable in garden vegetables but it is valuable in bedding plants. F1 hybrids are expensive because the process needed to produce them is itself costly.
A hybrid is a cross between parents of different type. An F1 hybrid is the first generation of progeny from a cross between inbred lines which have been chosen for some highly appealing features. The general vigour will of the inbred lines is low because of the repeated inbreeding but when two inbred lines are crossed together, the vigour returns in the hybrid, together with the selected features in 'concentrated' form. Hence the appeal of an F1 hybrid; it will have larger, better flowers or fruit and, above all, greater uniformity, but the artificial pollination needed each year to produce the seeds accounts for the high cost. Seed from an F1 hybrid will, nonetheless, be a genetic hotchpotch and is thus, in itself, useless. If you want bigger flowers and higher yielding vegetables, then an F1 hybrid variety is probably worth the extra cost. Nonetheless, remember that they were produced originally for the commercial market, where uniformity of produce and of time to mature is important. You might not want all of your Brussels sprouts to mature at the same time and should think carefully therefore before rejecting older, more variable varieties.
How important is crop rotation in the vegetable garden?
I find it of limited value although potatoes especially benefit from it. It is sensible to try to manage a three-year rotation of your crops but don't worry too much if you can't manage it.
In a rotation, individual types of vegetable are grown on a different part of the vegetable garden each year such that like never follows like. There are two main theoretical benefits. The first is that different types of plant utilise different amounts of nutrient from the soil, although most require more or less the same types of nutrient - brassicas need large amounts of nitrogen while peas and beans on the contrary, require very little nitrogen for they are able to 'manufacture' their own through the activities of bacteria that live on their roots. Similarly, fruiting crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers have a much higher demand for potash than root crops like carrots and parsnips. The second reason is to help keep them free from pests and diseases - many are fairly specific to particular types of plant and in the absence of these plants, they die away.
What is the 'deep bed' system of vegetable growing?
A method of growing vegetables in which the soil is dug and manured deeply but then not dug as thoroughly again for several years. To be effective, it's essential that the soil is walked on and compacted as little as possible during the growing season
The ideal width for garden beds is about 1.2 m as this enables the soil to be worked easily from either side without walking on it. Walking on soil inevitably compresses and compacts the surface, hindering the free penetration of water, air and fertiliser, all necessary for good plant growth. And if the soil isn't compacted, there is no need to dig it; hence less time and effort each year. Nonetheless, it is no use earmarking any random patch of garden, bringing a halt to annual digging and calling it a vegetable bed. It must first be rendered 'deep'. Initially therefore, the bed must be dug to two spades' depth, and plenty of well-rotted farmyard manure or other organic matter incorporated. Thereafter, the site can be topped up with organic matter each autumn and it should not be necessary to dig again for at least four or five years; although don't believe anyone who tells you that it will last for ever. If even the 1.2 m width presents something of a stretch (which it may do when sowing seeds), place a couple of bricks either side of the bed, lay a plank across, bridge fashion, and work from this.
I have only a small garden. Which are the best vegetables to make use of my limited space?
You can restrict yourself to those vegetables that are the most satisfying, challenging or rewarding to grow; those that occupy the least space per plant or per crop; or those that are the most expensive to buy in the shops.
Having gardened at various times with limited space myself, I have found the best solution is to eliminate certain plants as space becomes increasingly limiting. Maincrop potatoes are, for me, almost the least rewarding of all plants, let alone vegetables. They have none of the appeal of the new potato, occupy a vast amount of space, offer little of a challenge, are never prohibitively expensive (especially if you buy in bulk. Next to go are swedes that are never very successful as garden plants unless you grow them, as farmers do, in large blocks; then turnips, cabbages, Brussels sprouts, winter cauliflowers, leeks, maincrop beetroot, parsnips, maincrop carrots and maincrop peas. I have now brought you down from the self-sufficient vegetable garden to a modest, but still rewarding plot. The next step is to eliminate those that occupy a disproportionate amount of space, even if they are satisfying and delicious. These would include bush tomatoes, second early peas, dwarf beans, marrows, broccolis, celeriac, summer and autumn cauliflower, new potatoes, the rest of the beetroot, bulb onions, sweet corn and celery. Allowing for differences in growing seasons, this still leaves you a most appealing small vegetable and salad garden, including overwintered broad beans, winter radish, possibly winter lettuce, continuous summer lettuce, radish, spring onions, early carrots, perpetual spinach, staked tomatoes (which could even be grown in growing bags off the plot altogether), herbs, early peas, runner beans, and ridge cucumbers. This selection includes almost all of those crops that taste better picked completely fresh. The one that I have excluded and to which this also applies is sweet corn, for it does take up so much space in relation to its yield
How can I achieve successful lettuce crops right through the year?
To be truly self-sufficient in lettuce crops all year round, you will need both a cold frame and a greenhouse. Much easier is self sufficiency through the summer, when a little planning can ensure that you don't have gluts in one month and shortages in another. You can do this by sowing a new row of seeds when the seedlings from the previous sowing are emerging; and don't sow to many.
The following scheme should give lettuce all year round, but clearly you can adapt it to suit your own facilities and inclinations.
To cut mature lettuce during:
Early May: Sow in frame or under cloches in October and transplant outside under cloches in late February or early March
April to late May: Sow outside in late August, (in mild areas)
Late May to early June: Sow in cold frame in late February; transplant outside under cloches in early April
June to early October: Sow outdoors from late March to early August; sow a new batch of seeds as the previous batch emerges October to December Sow outside in late August, protecting with cloches from late September
December to early March: Sow under glass in late September; plant out in a heated greenhouse (minimum 88C)
It is important, moreover, to choose appropriate varieties. For normal summer cropping, any of the common butterhead or crisp varieties are suitable, but plants overwintering outdoors must be of a hardy type such as 'Valdor' or 'Winter Density', whilst the glasshouse lettuce 'Kloek' is best for the mid-winter crop.
What is the secret of obtaining good tomato crops outdoors?
In three words, feed, water and sunshine; and choosing the most appropriate varieties
There are two main types of outdoor tomato, the bush and the staked or cordon, and they require somewhat different treatment and management. Most gardeners still grow staked varieties although I feel that open ground is wasted on them and that they are much better raised in growing bags against house walls and on path and patio edges. For both bush and staked crops, the first requirement is good plants. To raise your own, you will need a greenhouse or kitchen window ledge to germinate the seeds and then a cold frame to grow on and harden off the plants. Depending on the part of the country in which you live, you will be able to plant out from the third week of May onwards and you should allow nine weeks from sowing to planting. Late March or early April are the times to sow therefore. The seeds may be sown in seed trays and pricked on into pots, but if you only plan to grow a few plants they are better sown directly into 7.5 cm pots. If you are planting directly into the open ground, the site should be one that has not carried a tomato or a potato crop for at least the past three years, and should have been manured the previous autumn. Plant about 45 cm apart, and water thoroughly. If you prefer to grow your staked tomatoes in growing bags, use two plants for each standard sized bag. The main difficulty with growing bags is in finding somewhere to put the stakes or canes. The plants will need proprietary tomato feed and plenty of water. Although bush plants should not be staked or 'pruned' in any way, the varieties grown as staked plants must be side-shooted and. Once they have four or five fruit trusses, the tip of the main stem must also be pinched out.
How should I grow asparagus?
Buy crowns rather than raising plants from seed and plant on flat beds 1 m wide and with 30 cm spacing between the plants.
Planting should take place in spring and the soil should be prepared by thoroughly manuring in the previous autumn. When planting, dig trenches, 20 cm deep and 30 cms wide and then build a mound or ridge of soil about 10 cm high in the bottom. Place the crowns on this mound, carefully spread the roots on either side and cover the crown with a few centimetres of fine soil, but don't fill the trench at this stage. This should be done gradually as the shoots extend during the summer, so that, by autumn, the soil in the trench will be level with the surface. It is essential to allow the crowns to build up vigorously and the shoots, or spears as they are called, appealing as they may look, must not be cut until the second year after planting. Then, use a long, preferably curved and serrated knife and ensure that the cut is made below soil level. Begin cutting in late April and continue until mid-June. Thereafter, the shoots must be allowed to elongate and form the feathery growth which is essential for the crowns to build up their reserves again for the following season. A top dressing with general fertiliser should be applied to the bed early in the season and liquid feeding will be found beneficial once the feathery shoots elongate.
What is the definition of a 'seed' potato; how does it differ from those that I buy for cooking?
There is no difference between a 'seed' potato and a potato on its way to be eaten except that they "seed" tuber has been under carefully controlled conditions, principally to ensure that it free from viruses which depress yield.
Seed tubers are uniformly smaller. Only two or three shoots per tuber are needed to avoid overcrowding of the stems. Large tubers will produce more than this and it is wasteful simply to rub them out (bear in mind that you buy potatoes by weight), and inefficient to cut up the tubers because, weight for weight there will be more shoots on small tubers than on large ones. A second and very important reason for buying specially grown seed tubers is to ensure freedom from the virus contamination that so effectively diminishes plant vigour and results in poor yields. Seed tubers are normally raised in northern areas (Scotland and Northern Ireland especially) where there are relatively few of the aphids that are responsible for introducing virus into the crop. The consequence of this is that, having grown your potato crop, it is unwise to save any tubers for replanting the following season.
Why do my carrot and parsnip roots never develop long, smooth and straight ?
The secret of success lies with the soil, which must be light and free-draining. It must not contain stones, lumps or clods for these impede the free growth of the main tap-root, which consequently forks and kinks.
A heavy, lumpy soil is the commonest of all reasons why the roots develop distorted. A second very common reason for the distortion is that fresh farmyard manure has been applied to the soil too soon before planting. Never apply manure of any sort closer to sowing time than in advance of the previous crop. One other reason that the soil, even if light and free-draining, has not been deeply dug for several years. As a consequence, an impervious layer or pan has developed about 25 or 30 cm below the surface.
Should the leaves be stripped from the stems of tomato plants?
Yes, but only if they are yellowed or diseased.
Complete stripping of the leaves up to the lowest fruit truss is still sometimes suggested; the logic being that the lower leaves may become traps for pests and diseases and that they contribute little to the growth of the plant. Neither of these things need be true. Certainly, when the leaves are in fairly deep shade, as they often are in a greenhouse, they may become attacked by Botrytis and other disease organisms and they may also become yellow and impaired in function. In such circumstances, they should certainly be pulled off. Until they do reach this condition, nonetheless, they will function satisfactorily and a tomato plant growing vigorously at the height of summer needs all the nutrient possible and all possible leaves to manufacture it.
My cucumbers have bitter, inedible fruit. What causes this?
This is commonest on greenhouse cucumbers and is an indication that the female flowers have been pollinated and fertilised. It's important to remove the male flowers to prevent this from happening or, alternatively, use an all female cucumber variety . Outdoors, bitterness is seldom a problem but could indicate attack by virus.
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