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Ive planted veg at completely the wrong time of year!!

tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
in Fruit & veg
Ive been a fool and sown peppers, aubergines, brussel sprouts and calibrese!

The peppers and aubergine are outside in the veg bed. They are about 10 inches high.

The brussel sprouts and calibrese are in seedling trays.

I dont have a greenhouse. I have a shed with a big north-facing window. In the house I have 2 south-facing windows (which, annoyingly, are quite shaded because of trees).

What should I do with these plants? Give them up as dead? Or move them all indoors and hope they last the autumn/winter? Perhaps the aubergine/peppers wont fruit at all because of the lack of heat/sunlight? :(

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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited August 2020
    I would persevere with the brussels sprouts and calabrese ... they'll be winter hardy and you'll get a crop eventually ... prick them out, pot them on, plant them in the garden late autumn ... at least there shouldn't be any cabbage white butterfly caterpillars about then  :)

    'Fraid I'd give up on the aubergines and peppers ... put it down to experience ... you won't make that mistake again ... that's a positive 👍

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Ive been gardening for 3 months now. Ive learnt a lot. Ive also made a lot of mistakes (obvs). Yesterday I took off all the suckers from my determinant tomatoes and pruned. I thought I was doing well because thats what I did to my indeterminate tomato plants. I then googled 'how to prune determinate tomato plants'. Doh!! :( 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited August 2020
    What a PITA! But we’ve all been there ... even those of us who should know better by now. The other day I took off the wrong shoot of a squash plant .., I took off the stem with a half grown squash on it. 🤬

    Memo to self ... wear glasses when gardening 🙄 

    Memo to you ... when you think of doing stuff run it past us first 😉 

    And remember... the person who never made a mistake never made anything 👍 ☕️ 🍪 



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Have you sown those cabbage seeds yet John, I’ll do mine this weekend. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Lyn said:
    Have you sown those cabbage seeds yet John, I’ll do mine this weekend. 
    I have Lyn! I planted them the day after I saw you. (I couldnt wait any longer!).

    Im running an experiment: Ive got a seedling tray with them in my coldframe; and another seedling tray in my shed (with north facing window). I want to see if my homebuilt cold frame works! I checked on them this morning. Theyre both yielding very similar results; about a third in each tray have germinated and are about 1cm high.


  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I don't know about peppers but I have over-wintered chillies on a south facing windowsill before and they've done well. 

    The brassicas should be OK but, when you do plant them out, give them a net to protect against butterflies laying eggs which become voracious caterpillars.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • NewBoy2NewBoy2 Posts: 1,813
    tuffnelljohn

    If someone started a page " Mistakes I have Made " it would be submerged with posts.

    Nature sometimes is forgiving and will give you another chance in 2021.

    Well done !!
    Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.
  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Obelixx said:
    I don't know about peppers but I have over-wintered chillies on a south facing windowsill before and they've done well. 

    The brassicas should be OK but, when you do plant them out, give them a net to protect against butterflies laying eggs which become voracious caterpillars.
    Ive also planted chillies!! You name it, Ive planted it (at the wrong time!)  :D . Ive just been reading an article about over-wintering chillis.

    Caterpillas have been a real nuisance. I bought some mesh the other week. No matter how many times I thin kjIve removed all the caterpillas, I check the next day and find more! I havnt found any for the past few days, so I think Ive got them all.


  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    @tuffnelljohn - you've only been gardening a few months, so you're already doing well. I doubt if I would have attempted any veg growing at that stage  :)

    It's a huge learning curve - highly enjoyable at times and highly frustrating at others. The key is to learn why failures happen, and try to alter that and improve it if we can.
    Doesn't always work either   :D
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Fairygirl said:
    @tuffnelljohn - you've only been gardening a few months, so you're already doing well. I doubt if I would have attempted any veg growing at that stage  :)

    It's a huge learning curve - highly enjoyable at times and highly frustrating at others. The key is to learn why failures happen, and try to alter that and improve it if we can.
    Doesn't always work either   :D
    Thanks. Theres a couple of Youtube channels I follow that have been a big help.

    I think if I was faced with the whole garden it would quickly become overwhelming. Its much easier for me to focus on 2 6x4 foot veg beds. Especially now that Ive discovered 'square foot gardening'.

    This weekend Im going to plan my square foot garden plans, with a view to do successive plantings. Im going to add a trellis to each veg bed to give me another 'dimension'.



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