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Gardening disappointments / failures / outright disasters

How does your garden grow?
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765489

Gardening disappointments / failures / outright disasters

#1

Post by 765489 »

Well it's nice to hear about other posters garden successes. But also would be good to hear the flip side... what didn't work out for you this year so far ? No disappointments / failures / outright disaster too big or too small :D

I'll share mine so far

Failures - None of my pepper seeds germinated this year. First time ever this happened to me. I do the long Italian types that were great in sandwiches.. I didn't get a commercial spec sweetcorn seed this year... one variety didn't germinate at all... all other varieties were infected by corn seed rot. I managed to plant out ones that weren't that bad but the vigour of the plant was greatly diminished.

Disappointments -> The sweetcorn that was planted out that wasn't badly affected by the corn seed rot has all fallen over... looks like no sweetcorn this year :( I planted too many yellow tomotoes and not enough orange varieties... although I'm offloading alot of the yellow ones to friends and neighbours :)

Disasters -> Fenced off a paddock but have to take the fence up again as it's creosoted posts and apparently they are not allowed anymore in Orchards.. the strainers are down 4 foot so will be fun getting these out of the ground. I can put them elsewhere but it's going to be a right pain removing these
CelticRambler
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Location: Central France

Re: Gardening disappointments / failures / outright disasters

#2

Post by CelticRambler »

Disappointments: that I didn't try a second sowing of watermelons. This would definitely have been a good year to try them! My other "balls of water" veg are doing quite well after a difficult start, and seem to appreciate the constant watering they've been getting all summer, so I regret not having a couple of watermelons in the mix ... even if I don't actually like them myself!

Beetroot - has been "just weird" this year - most of it bolted before there was even the slightest hint of a bulge on the root, while other specimens in the same line are behaving perfectly normally.

Failures: onions. Borderline "disappointment" but given their importance to my winter cooking, I'm classing them as a failure. Sowed decent quality sets at the right time and what looked like the right place; they got off to a great start ... and then the weeds got off to an even better start while I was away for three weeks. Came back to find a wet soggy mess of weeds and rotting, immature onions. Got rid of the weeds ... which prompted a load of the onions to bolt. Lifted the lot of them this afternoon and look - these are the biggest. :roll:

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jalapeño chilis - awful trouble getting them (and the other solanacea) to germinate at the start of the year; managed finally to get regular and cayenne peppers to grow, with the first cayennes now beginning to swell up, but the two jalapeños that survived just don't want to grow. Compare and contrast: one of the two, planted four months ago, beside a "why not, can't be any worse" seedling from seed planted three weeks ago.

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ginger - was really pleased to get a root (carefully selected from the Lidl veg aisle) to germinate and had five or six nice stems growing, but ran out of height in the propagator, so they died; tried again, and again good germination ... but then they just died. Have recently planted one more outside under a cloche to see if that'll do any better than the molly-coddled ones, but not hopeful.

Disasters: tomatoes. Borderline "failure" seeing as there's still a few months to run, but I spotted some blight today on my reserve plants, the ones that are as far away as possible from the already blight-stricken plants. :cry: With no prolonged dry weather forecast for at least another three weeks, I don't think I can keep them going. I'm most upset by not being able to get even one coeur-de-boeuf tomato of the one remaining specimen of that variety, as they were sown from seed from a tomato given to me by an aged friend who probably won't see another summer herself, and I really wanted to keep that particular line going in her memory. :cry:
765489

Re: Gardening disappointments / failures / outright disasters

#3

Post by 765489 »

Plover1958 wrote: Tue Aug 10, 2021 8:38 pm I enjoy bringing plants on from cuttings. I finally planted out five fuchsia and a dozen pinks that had done really well. Two days later the rabbits had had every one of them. It's soul destroying to bring plants on and the little beggars scoff the lot. Year after year it has been the same here.
I've had serious problems with the little feckers too Plover. I eventually got a sharp shooter in. Everything has to be covered here be it crop protection mesh or for small trees chicken wire. I put in a load of trees late last year and forgot to get the chicken wire.. they snipped half of them by the time I could get it.

Any foxes around ? We feed them here... at night... keeps the rabbits at bay. But there's still loads of them about.
CelticRambler
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Re: Gardening disappointments / failures / outright disasters

#4

Post by CelticRambler »

One month on, I can upgrade my tomato failure/disaster to "just" a disappointment. With aggressive removal of affected leaves at the earliest opportunity, and a well-timed fortnight of hot, dry weather, I've managed to keep the reserve plants almost completely free of blight, and have even managed to get two (2) to ripe on the vine.

That's still only a dozen plants, though - well short of the forty-odd I was counting on. They continue to flower and set fruit, and we've another few hot days ahead, but the nights are starting to get chilly now, so don't have any great hopes for a hefty late harvest.

On the flip-side - my gherkins suddenly switched from being a great success to being a definite disappointment. After a great July and a promising start to August with loads of flowers setting fruit, they just came to a complete stop: dozens of tiny gherkins that are making no attempt to swell up, and the later flowers don't seem to be doing anything. Only got four bottles out of them in the end. :(
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Osciiboscii
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Re: Gardening disappointments / failures / outright disasters

#5

Post by Osciiboscii »

Last Christmas I nurtured 27 chestnuts, and a conker, to plant. 4 eventually sprouted. Transferred to bigger pots and minded them (safeguarded in a wheelbarrow surrounded with pallets from predators). Something kept stripping the leaves, then pulling them out of the soil. Persisted anyway and replanted several times - they're tough! Anyway, 2 eventually gave up the struggle, and the remaining 2 have several "trunks" as a result. I wonder if these could be cut off without killing them? They're still less than 6" high. Wood :lol: have been easier go to the garden centre!
765489

Re: Gardening disappointments / failures / outright disasters

#6

Post by 765489 »

Osciiboscii wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 6:50 am Last Christmas I nurtured 27 chestnuts, and a conker, to plant. 4 eventually sprouted. Transferred to bigger pots and minded them (safeguarded in a wheelbarrow surrounded with pallets from predators). Something kept stripping the leaves, then pulling them out of the soil. Persisted anyway and replanted several times - they're tough! Anyway, 2 eventually gave up the struggle, and the remaining 2 have several "trunks" as a result. I wonder if these could be cut off without killing them? They're still less than 6" high. Wood :lol: have been easier go to the garden centre!
Leave them be OB, you can still prune them at a later date if you need to. I've two horse chestnut trees I planted about 10 years ago in one of my hedgerows here. Slow to come on due to all the competition. Great trees for bees.

If you have a big tree locally there are usually a few young trees coming around them, if your stuck for them.
Berties_Horse
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Re: Gardening disappointments / failures / outright disasters

#7

Post by Berties_Horse »

Lupins I cultivated from seed and bedded down were attacked just after full flower - sclerotinia stem rot. In a matter of weeks during high summer, dug out a half dozen withered plants. Sorry to see them go, little alternative and unlikely to repeat the experiment. In any event, replaced vacant spaces around garden with begonias, marigolds and petunias. These are thriving to this day, several more weeks of bloom before the frosts set in proper.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” - Voltaire
490808
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Re: Gardening disappointments / failures / outright disasters

#8

Post by 490808 »

At least that spared you from Lupin Aphid

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https://influentialpoints.com/Gallery/M ... _aphid.htm
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