r/UKAllotments

Why does one seedling look normal and one looks like an alien 👽 😂😂 both from the same seed pack and sown at same time, been side by side ever since indoors

From the end of last year's growing season (not including any winter time) until now I have not been to my allotment. I've had a really rocky first quarter of the year and unfortunately I got a nasty gram from the allotment board saying I had to clean up or lose it (it's in a very popular spot and waiting list is years, if not impossible). So over the weekend I spent time cleaning up a destroyed plastic flimsy greenhouse (lesson learnt, time to invest in a 'proper' one) and started clearing out some beds.

Had a nice surprise of some leeks (photo only maybe an eighth of what was left) and purple sprouting broccoli.

This year because of life (I just can't give more than a handful of hours a week into the allotment) I'm focusing on easy wins. Last year we did well with onions and green beans, and broccoli was a mixed bag (got some great early crop but then the wetter summer meant a losing battle with slugs). Oh and potatoes planted in big pots.

I'm going to bulk order some starts and hope that it's not too late. Given we still have had some light frost overnight up here (rural Derbyshire) I am hoping I have not lost too much good time.

Wish me luck!

I went for two varieties: Erasmus and Gijnwilm. Two rows of 12 crowns, hopefully some big harvests in a couple of years time!

Hi all. I just got my first allotment plot and found asparagus when pulling back the tarp from one of the beds. I’ve never grown it before and know it can take 3 years to establish.

1. Can anyone identify how old this is / where it is in its lifecycle?
2. Any pro tips of what to do next?
3. It’s growing right on the border of the bed next to a path (see last photo, asparagus in in bottom corner where hand fork is pointing) can I move it? If so, how and when? Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone. Looking for some advice on my tomatoes.

Seeds sown on 8th March into individual cells, using Westland seed & cutting compost (my usual go to for starting seeds), and put into heated propagator.

Heat turned off once germination had occurred, located as close to a window as possible, but still got leggy.

Continued to look healthy but no development of true leaves, so potted on using a different compost (Westland seed compost with John Innes), which was approx a week ago.

They go into the greenhouse during the day and back into the house at night, as temps are still chilly overnight.

This is how they’re looking today. Am I just being impatient and I just need to let them do their thing? Or can anyone provide me with any hints and tips.

Previously grown tomatoes from seed but never had this issue.

Hi,

Discovered this on my plot & am hopeful that it's rhubarb. Foot for scale.

It's in an area that has overgrown now with grass. I'd like to turn the area into a bed and plant strawberries nearby.

Is that a stupid idea? Do the plants get on near each other?

Also - what's the best way of controlling the weeds/grass without damaging the rhubarb? Am I best to dig it out and pop it back in once I've cleared and added compost or just dig around it?

Also - I know the leaves are poisonous - are there any precautions I should take?

Thanks in advance!

I'm hoping someone can identify this large bush we've got on our allotment please. I've tried Google lens but it's coming up with a mixture of possibilities.

It's currently for hundreds of these little green 'berries' which are the size of a cranberry, these weird pods, and the branches have quite long spikes on them.

Just wondering if it's something we can eventually eat

TIA

Gave these a go a couple year’s back and they worked fairly well with plastic sheets, but the compost was prone to dropping to the bottom and found them tricky to roll, so tried a different approach this year using card.. so far so good.. hopefully they’re as easy to plant out as with the plastic, maybe easier if I just cut the card and use a dibber? 🤞🏻

Decided to give my tomatoes an early start this year. Sowed in Jan and have had them fully out for about a month, just covering with the plastic greenhouse and a mat if the nighttime temperatures were below 6. It will be perhaps another 2 or 3 weeks before I can put them in the ground and final pots so I'm a bit concerned about them becoming root bound - plan to soak roots in water for a day before replanting. I usually sow late March and am trying to squeeze a bit more out of the growing season this year, hopefully this will make a diffetence.Temps have been down to 2C. UK Midlands.

these were various types from cox to golden delicious and discovery grafted to a braeburn… forgotten what was what so i’ll have to wait a few years for apples

I’ve just got an allotment and would like to put four peonies in the in walkway (1.2m wide)

1. do we think there is enough space?

2. any opinions on the layout? I quite like the zig-zag formation for the whimsy but that might be deeply impractical.