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New veg grower and advice needed pls
Bettyslad
Posts: 28
in Fruit & veg
Hi all My first post and hoping you can help me out. I built myself a nice big raised veg Planter in February and I have sown from seed early onward peas, beetroot, parsnip, carrots and potatoes. All is going well and have all shown (except potatoes as they only went in today). However my issue is this - I planted the peas in the raised planter two weeks before I planter a couple indoors. The indoors peas have grown a lot quicker than those outside, is there something to be concerned about? The planter has been well watered has good quality soil and has been fleeced up. One other potential issue is that the surface of the soil seems to have a slight green moss in some places but a quick push with the fingers and the soil looks really good again. Is this a known problem or just a non issue? Any help appreciated and thanks in advance
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The ones outside will always grow slower just because it is colder outside, but in the end they will catch up with the others. Don't worry about the green moss on the soil, is it possible you've been watering too much? or it may be because they have been covered with fleece the air is a bit stagnant. Do you just cover them with fleece at night or are they covered all the time? You might want to let them have some fresh air! Hope that helps
Agreed. Seeds sown indoors will almost certainly grow quicker than those sown outside, purely because the conditions inside will be warmer. Once planted outside they will slow down a bit and the others will catch up. The green moss like stuff is because the soil is probably too wet or your new raised bed is in the shade. I would ease off a bit with the watering and if you` can get some more sunlight on the new bed.
Have you tried the Square Foot Gardening method? I set up mine two years ago and it's ideal for growing veg in raised beds.
Have a look at the website www.growveg.com. They have a superb web-based programme that I use for planning my SFG but can be used for conventional plots as well.
I'm sure you have done your research, just consider mulching around plants where possible to retain water in the hottest months as south facing will always dry out any bare soil. I have found from experience that things always begin with a false sense of security as its early in the year for too many pests and diseases, the weather is still quite wet with warm patches, our seedlings and baby plants have mostly been wrapped in cotton wool and production at this time of year tends to be bulkier foods and not lush tender things all sparkly and inviting to wildlife. The bane of my french beans is black fly, my brassicas always get mullered by caterpillars or pigeons, the birds shred my beetroot leaves to pieces and I won't even talk about slugs and snails. Above all, vigilance will be your best friend, as much time as you can spend around your crops will reap what you sow, as they say. Good luck!