Calling SMB veg growers

[Az*]

I tried to edit my post with a couple of lil tips some might wanna know but I ran outa time fs, I appreciate most of you are very clued up but we might get lurkers etc who aint

My first tip which for early 2026, is.

From seed or transplanted early start your cucumbers, tomatoes and chilli’s etc off in some biobiz light mix soil, it’s not dirt cheap tbh, about £12.99 per 50 litre bag, but it’s not to expensive for some of you flash bastards either.

Random link to the soil -

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You’ll not be able to give them a better start than the above, phenomenal stuff for those veggies mentioned above.

Another top tip, luckers !

These tubs are really good for potatoes, heavy duty 35 litre two handled tubs, cost as little as £4-5 each if you search around, good pre installed drainage slots and two strong handles, you’ll get years and years out of them.



Random link to ones I use -

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Hows best to do Chillis in the house? Just under some sort of cover?

for me it’s a pot, seeds just under a light covering of soil, literally mm’s, kept damp, warm’ish, windowsill then transplant when needed.

 

[Butcher's Coat]

What have my fellow allotmenteering nerd friends got planned for this year.

Im just making some lists now will probably order some stuff on Sunday. All I have in so far are a few hundred onions they need thinking out now to grow, I’ve used sets the last 3 years but been wanting to grow from seed for a bit. I’ll be looking at 300 Red Barron and 300 white centurion this year, good variety that grow well for me under my conditions.

It’s 3 years now since we bought onions from a shop, these can als be grown well in tubs/pots etc if you don’t have much space, I had an old 30 litre potthat had 8 onions around the edge and 4 in the middle, they were probably the best outa the whole crop, try it and thank me later!

For potatoes I’m going with the ones below, as you might know I grown mine in 45 litre rectangle tubs that are raised bed style using euro pallets on their sides,
I’ll probably use Graham’s seeds again unless I find some local, that varies tbh.


First earlies - Charlotte 2 x10 seed potatoes.
First earlies - Maris Baird, I grow these every year, excellent potato

For second earlies I fancy a new one this year. Probably purchase 30/40 seed potatoes
Second earlies - vivaldi
Second earlies - Sagitta
I might also try some Elf.

My favourite time of the year this, I fking love when it starts turning, daffodils are appearing everywhere on the dog walking field, bluebells not be long after then we are on our way

Whilst in the farm shop a few weeks back I noticed a romsnesco Natalie and thought it looked cool as fuck do bought a pack of seeds, I’ll be trying them this year, lady in the shop said it’s like cauliflower/broccoli, having never tried it I thought why not…

​

That is all for now my green fingered brethren

Sounds good marra.
But Charlotte's are a 2nd early. They are a "waxy" salad potato. I always put them in around mid April.
Main crop spuds about a week or so after them.
My 1st earlies always go in bags/pots/tubs on or around St.Patricks day - usually ready at the end of June.

 

[Wilfy]

My tatie order should be delivered at the end of this month.

1st earlies peatland javelin (I think)
2nd earlies estima
Main crop cara

Got onions ready to go in when it gets a bit drier and some garlic as well.

Must do more planning this weekend.

 

[Az*]

Sounds good marra.
But Charlotte's are a 2nd early. They are a "waxy" salad potato. I always put them in around mid April.
Main crop spuds about a week or so after them.
My 1st earlies always go in bags/pots/tubs on or around St.Patricks day - usually ready at the end of June.

I’ll maybe try some later, last couple years I’ve had them in with my other first earlies, I love them like so either way I’ll be going thrn, probably my favourite potato.

Growing in tubs is class, it’s amazing how much stuff you can grow if you do it right and maximise the space.

 

[Ageing Grey Mackem]

I tried to edit my post with a couple of lil tips some might wanna know but I ran outa time fs, I appreciate most of you are very clued up but we might get lurkers etc who aint

My first tip which for early 2026, is.

From seed or transplanted early start your cucumbers, tomatoes and chilli’s etc off in some biobiz light mix soil, it’s not dirt cheap tbh, about £12.99 per 50 litre bag, but it’s not to expensive for some of you flash bastards either.

Random link to the soil -

You must be logged on to see external links

You’ll not be able to give them a better start than the above, phenomenal stuff for those veggies mentioned above.

Another top tip, luckers !

These tubs are really good for potatoes, heavy duty 35 litre two handled tubs, cost as little as £4-5 each if you search around, good pre installed drainage slots and two strong handles, you’ll get years and years out of them.



Random link to ones I use -

You must be logged on to see external links

for me it’s a pot, seeds just under a light covering of soil, literally mm’s, kept damp, warm’ish, windowsill then transplant when needed.

We moved house not so long ago and the new place has a fabulous garden from the ladies who lived here before us. However the missus and I both want to sacrifice a part of the loveliness to grow some veg as we did in the old place. I grew spuds in one border before, but the stems above ground grew to a certain height then they all sort of fell over and lay across the lawn! I like the idea of growing them in these pots you kindly linked to - do the plants do the same thing though, grow to a height then fall over? I'm no Monty Don, me, as you can probably tell..!

 

[Butcher's Coat]

I have set away my chilli's and peppers already in a heated propagator set at 20degrees C - and they have germinated and are living on a windowsill now.
I shall be setting away tomatoes tomorrow (the apple of love) - in the propagator.
The garlic went in tubs around October and are doing very well.
I also have put some onion sets (white and red) in modules in a cold greenhouse, and they are just sprouting - but I have more to do. They will going the ground when the green shoots are about an inch or so.
Also I have set away some leek seeds in a tub in the cold greenhouse - but nothing as yet.

 

[Az*]

We moved house not so long ago and the new place has a fabulous garden from the ladies who lived here before us. However the missus and I both want to sacrifice a part of the loveliness to grow some veg as we did in the old place. I grew spuds in one border before, but the stems above ground grew to a certain height then they all sort of fell over and lay across the lawn! I like the idea of growing them in these pots you kindly linked to - do the plants do the same thing though, grow to a height then fall over? I'm no Monty Don, me, as you can probably tell..!

I never have any issue personally mate and mine are never supported and tenacity already 4ft off the floor.
You could easily slip in some bamboo struts and run string around to use as support maybe?

I’ll post a pic of what I grow mine in when I get a minute.

I have set away my chilli's and peppers already in a heated propagator set at 20degrees C - and they have germinated and are living on a windowsill now.
I shall be setting away tomatoes tomorrow (the apple of love) - in the propagator.
The garlic went in tubs around October and are doing very well.
I also have put some onion sets (white and red) in modules in a cold greenhouse, and they are just sprouting - but I have more to do. They will going the ground when the green shoots are about an inch or so.
Also I have set away some leek seeds in a tub in the cold greenhouse - but nothing as yet.

Superb, good luck marra.

We moved house not so long ago and the new place has a fabulous garden from the ladies who lived here before us. However the missus and I both want to sacrifice a part of the loveliness to grow some veg as we did in the old place. I grew spuds in one border before, but the stems above ground grew to a certain height then they all sort of fell over and lay across the lawn! I like the idea of growing them in these pots you kindly linked to - do the plants do the same thing though, grow to a height then fall over? I'm no Monty Don, me, as you can probably tell..!

I grow my spuds in the beds below, bought a few cheap irrigation sets off the canny set of Chinese lads over at the old Temu there. So I raised everything and use irrigation systems to water, it’s exceptionally easy for me seeing as I’m a bit disabled now

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I’ll add another ring to that this year snd possibly build smother for the other side of the yard.

My plants grew to out 2ft, 3ft max and I had no issues with them blowing over

 

[High Entropy]

Had my onions (red baron from BnM bargains) in modules for a while in the cold greenhouse but put them out in the allotment last weekend once the stalks were about 4" high.

Got my tatties chitting - Wilja (early) Desire (main) already,

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so hoping for a great tatty crop this year.

Got peas (early onward) in modules in the cold greenhouse, already planted out hardier beans but they've not germinated well, so i'll stick some more in the gaps when this rain stops.

Trimmed back all the strawberries to the ground and fed them some 6x and lightly pruned my dwarf apple trees.

Still got a few greyhound cabbages that have overwintered and some nero kale still in the ground.

Everything looks neat and tidy at the moment and I'm raring to go but gonna hold back with my tomatoes as I went too early last year and ended up with leggy seedlings and poorly plants, had a disaster. Might sow my bell peppers this weekend, they were a success last year.

 

[FC United of Manchester]

First seeds sown in the propagator on Thursday, Turnips ( Sweet Marble and golden ball).

Will get beetroot (Boltardy and Golden Burpees) in the propagator early next week to be followed with Calabrese (Ironman), 6 types of lettuce, Cauliflower (Barcelona), Cabbage (Caraflex), spring onions (Ishikura), Spinach (Mikado) and flat leaf parsley.

Chilli seeds will go in first week or March along with Aubergines then tomatoes 2nd week march (they get too big for me to manage in a frost if I do them any earlier as my greenhouse is unheated). Potatoes (Duke of York, Charlotte, Desiree and King Edward) are pre-ordered for a mid March delivery.

Full list for me this year is:
Garlic (planted October)
Broad Beans (planted November)
Turnip
Beetroot
Calabrese
Lettuce
Cauliflower
Spinach
Spring Onion
Parsley
Summer Cabbage
Peas
Mange Tout
Aubergine
Chilli
Tomatoes
Melon
Potatoes
Leek
Basil
Carrots
Courgette
Climbing Green beans
Borlotti beans (for drying)
Cucumber
Savoy Cabbage
Kale
Leeks
Parsnips
Pumpkins (for the grand bairns Halloween)
Celery
Tenderstem
Pak Choi

Rhubarb, Raspberries, Strawberries, Blueberries in existing beds.

Hoping to get my first crop of grapes from the polytunnel this year.

Not doing maincrop onions or winter squash this year.

 

[PigtheBilly]

Hows best to do Chillis in the house? Just under some sort of cover?

They are slow to germiante. They need warmth and light after germination. I grow mine on cheap heat mats in those git big clear plastic storage boxes with a horticultural bulb suspended above. I'll reduce heat a bit when they get going but keep them fairly warm with light til they go into the polytunnel.

 

[FC United of Manchester]

Hows best to do Chillis in the house? Just under some sort of cover?

Cheap heat mat or heated propagator for germination. Your main problem after that is light. It’s one of the reasons I don’t start mine until first week of March, much more natural daylight when they germinate. At that point mine just go on a sunny windowsill with a foil lined cut out box behind them to reflect light back.

 

[Az*]

First seeds sown in the propagator on Thursday, Turnips ( Sweet Marble and golden ball).

Will get beetroot (Boltardy and Golden Burpees) in the propagator early next week to be followed with Calabrese (Ironman), 6 types of lettuce, Cauliflower (Barcelona), Cabbage (Caraflex), spring onions (Ishikura), Spinach (Mikado) and flat leaf parsley.

Chilli seeds will go in first week or March along with Aubergines then tomatoes 2nd week march (they get too big for me to manage in a frost if I do them any earlier as my greenhouse is unheated). Potatoes (Duke of York, Charlotte, Desiree and King Edward) are pre-ordered for a mid March delivery.

Full list for me this year is:
Garlic (planted October)
Broad Beans (planted November)
Turnip
Beetroot
Calabrese
Lettuce
Cauliflower
Spinach
Spring Onion
Parsley
Summer Cabbage
Peas
Mange Tout
Aubergine
Chilli
Tomatoes
Melon
Potatoes
Leek
Basil
Carrots
Courgette
Climbing Green beans
Borlotti beans (for drying)
Cucumber
Savoy Cabbage
Kale
Leeks
Parsnips
Pumpkins (for the grand bairns Halloween)
Celery
Tenderstem
Pak Choi

Rhubarb, Raspberries, Strawberries, Blueberries in existing beds.

Hoping to get my first crop of grapes from the polytunnel this year.

Not doing maincrop onions or winter squash this year.

Good stuff mate, you have a lot going on there

I’ve grabbed a lot of stuff today, gonna be a busy week next week, I’ll have few shelves full in the sauna and get a lot of stuff going. It’s a fantastic nursery now I’ve added better lights, I’m quite fortunate to have so this much space for starting stuff off.

 

[FC United of Manchester]

Good stuff mate, you have a lot going on there

I’ve grabbed a lot of stuff today, gonna be a busy week next week, I’ll have few shelves full in the sauna and get a lot of stuff going. It’s a fantastic nursery now I’ve added better lights, I’m quite fortunate to have so this much space for starting stuff off.

Yes mate, plenty of growing space for starting seeds is ideal. I prefer to sow all my seeds directly into module trays to skip the seedling potting on stage but sadly just don’t have the indoor space which means a lot have to go into 1/4 seed trays then potted on into the modules when they can go out into the unheated greenhouse. It’s extra work but we can only work with what we have.

I bought a new grow light set up last year with some staging but the missus was less than happy at me getting compost all over the spare bedroom
We compromised that I wouldn’t do it this year if I got a new greenhouse

 

[Az*]

Yes mate, plenty of growing space for starting seeds is ideal. I prefer to sow all my seeds directly into module trays to skip the seedling potting on stage but sadly just don’t have the indoor space which means a lot have to go into 1/4 seed trays then potted on into the modules when they can go out into the unheated greenhouse. It’s extra work but we can only work with what we have.

I bought a new grow light set up last year with some staging but the missus was less than happy at me getting compost all over the spare bedroom
We compromised that I wouldn’t do it this year if I got a new greenhouse

Not a bad compromise tbf, when we moved into here it had a proper pine Nordic style sauna, seeing as we never used it she met me convert it a couple of years ago, ripped the seats out and used the slats to make shelves, installed strip led’s and can have a couple indeed cell trays no, it’s made an enormous difference, I can do everything I need and she has room for all her petunias, marigolds etc. we also have an extension that the boy uses as a toy room that has floor to cling glass panels, couple pasting tables and I can use that, it’s sweet and I’m canny lucky tbf.
Apologies for all the typos, I appreciate it must be hard to read and I do try and fix them but my sight is deteriorating rapidly unfortunately

 

[alexander]

I cut down one of the two apple trees at allotment late last year leaving only the stump behind as I gave up on digging that up. But someone told me over the week-end that if I hammer cobber nails into the stump the stump will die and be easier to remove when dead. He sounded pretty convincing but before I order some, can I ask you wonderful folk, would it actually work ? Do you have good results with it and how many cobber nails would the stump need for it to die ? It isn't a very thick stump, maybe forty cm. around the base.

 

[Wild Card]

I cut down one of the two apple trees at allotment late last year leaving only the stump behind as I gave up on digging that up. But someone told me over the week-end that if I hammer cobber nails into the stump the stump will die and be easier to remove when dead. He sounded pretty convincing but before I order some, can I ask you wonderful folk, would it actually work ? Do you have good results with it and how many cobber nails would the stump need for it to die ? It isn't a very thick stump, maybe forty cm. around the base.

According to copilot as I personally have no idea:

Short version: No.
Long version: Copper can be toxic to plants in high enough quantities, but a few nails in a stump don’t release anywhere near enough copper to matter. The idea survives mostly as gardening folklore.

Professional arborists are very blunt about this: Copper nails do not kill tree stumps.


Not sure what veg I will go for this year, seem to have a lot of fruit on the go.

I have started two fillius blue chili plants on the hydroponics.

My Chilean guava should arrive this year after major supply issues last year but I'm not holding my breath.

The fruit trees I have (all dwarf) and UK hardy

Pear x 2
Peach X2
Cherry
Fig
2 x pink lemonade blueberries which the birds left alone last year and tasted lovely.
Added 2 x legacy blueberry plants because they are meant to cross pollinate each other which I didn't know until it was too late. though cross pollination was the same up until last autumn.

Might go for some heavy strawberry producing plants

 

[High Entropy]

I cut down one of the two apple trees at allotment late last year leaving only the stump behind as I gave up on digging that up. But someone told me over the week-end that if I hammer cobber nails into the stump the stump will die and be easier to remove when dead. He sounded pretty convincing but before I order some, can I ask you wonderful folk, would it actually work ? Do you have good results with it and how many cobber nails would the stump need for it to die ? It isn't a very thick stump, maybe forty cm. around the base.

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bought as a compost accelerator in the EU

Drill holes in the stump and pour the granules in. It will rot down faster.

 

[Az*]

I cut down one of the two apple trees at allotment late last year leaving only the stump behind as I gave up on digging that up. But someone told me over the week-end that if I hammer cobber nails into the stump the stump will die and be easier to remove when dead. He sounded pretty convincing but before I order some, can I ask you wonderful folk, would it actually work ? Do you have good results with it and how many cobber nails would the stump need for it to die ? It isn't a very thick stump, maybe forty cm. around the base.

I removed a few(about-
10/12) this year, never heard of the copper nails before, i done two different things. On some I cut lil 2/3mm grooves with my grinder into the stump and it started to rot faster. Still took months like.
The rest I stuck a fire bin over the stump and burnt all my shit wood pallets etc, this was the best way of doing it, every stump was basically charcoal by the next morning, it was very effective.

 

[Will e]

I cut down one of the two apple trees at allotment late last year leaving only the stump behind as I gave up on digging that up. But someone told me over the week-end that if I hammer cobber nails into the stump the stump will die and be easier to remove when dead. He sounded pretty convincing but before I order some, can I ask you wonderful folk, would it actually work ? Do you have good results with it and how many cobber nails would the stump need for it to die ? It isn't a very thick stump, maybe forty cm. around the base.

Done a few by drilling deep holes in the stump and filling with jays fluid and top up for a few weeks, but that was straight after cutting them down.

 

[OldNewtown]

I cut down one of the two apple trees at allotment late last year leaving only the stump behind as I gave up on digging that up. But someone told me over the week-end that if I hammer cobber nails into the stump the stump will die and be easier to remove when dead. He sounded pretty convincing but before I order some, can I ask you wonderful folk, would it actually work ? Do you have good results with it and how many cobber nails would the stump need for it to die ? It isn't a very thick stump, maybe forty cm. around the base.

Have you thought of spreading some mushroom spores on the stumps and growing mushrooms.
I know the stumps should be dead but just a thought.