7. Vegetables

Question 1

Runner bean

Answer 1

• ‘Firestorm’
• Frost tender
• Sewn outdoors in late spring or grown in pots earlier until suitable to plant out
• Sensitive to slugs and snails - especially seedling stage
• Anthracnose-fungal disease, causes brown spots and pits to develop on pods, stems and leaves, severe cases kill plant
• Best cultural practice for prevention

Question 2

Cabbage/sprout

Answer 2

• ‘January king’
• Need large area
• Grown in nursery bed or pots then transplanted out
• Often grown under netting to protect from Cabbage white butterfly caterpillar
• Prone to club root so must not be grown in soil where brassicas have been grown for 3yrs
• Club root - bacterial disease, swollen roots functional parts damaged
• Lime often added/ crop rotation

Question 3

Carrot/beets

Answer 3

• ‘Little fingers’
• Sewn in row where they grow to maturity
• Early - Hardy so can be sewn directly however often grown under cloche or other protection to raise soil temp for faster growth
• Maincrop - Sewn late spring/early summer without protection
• Plants are usually thinned out to prevent overcrowding
• Carrot fly - larvae eat roots causing yellow leaves
• Horticultural fleece used for protection
• Motley dwarf virus - spread by aphids. Plants become yellow and stop growing

Question 4

Courgettes

Answer 4

• ‘Ambassador’
• Grown in small pots then hardened off in cold frame before planting out
• Usually crop for several months
• Vulnerable to slugs & snails - in the seedling stage
• Protect with mulch or grit (sharp sand, sawdust) or other abrasive material
• Cucumber mosaic virus, spread through aphids-yellow mottling of leaves
• No chemical cure, affected plants should be destroyed
• Prevent by ridding aphids

Question 5

Onion/Leek

Answer 5

• ‘Candy’
• Sewn in nursery bed or pots before being planted out
• Slow to start but gradually speed up
• Seedlings are thinned when planting out
• Leeks traditionally grown in rows and ‘earthed up’
• Onions often grown from ‘sets’ which can be planted straight out
• Sets establish more quickly than seedlings
• Yellow onion fly larvae-feed on bulbs and cause leaves to yellow/die
• No cure-infected plants destroyed
• Grow under fleece to prevent
• Rust - red, orange, brown spots on leaves
• No chemical control - use resistant cultivars/crop rotation

Question 6

Potato

Answer 6

• ‘Maris Piper’
• Grown from small tubers
• Usually started indoors in a box until young shoots ‘eyes’ grow to 5cm (chitting)
• Once risk of frost has passed, planted in drills or trenches 15cm deep
• At 20cm tall they are earthed up (soil raised around base)
• Attacked by Aphid spread viruses - treat with insecticide
• Potato blight-fungal disease, dark lesion on leaves and stems
• No chemical control, remove damaged material early to prevent spread to tubers

Three categories

• Early = Immediate eating after harvest
• Second early = Immediate eating after harvest
• Main crop = For storage/winter eating

Question 7

Salad crops

Answer 7

• Radish - ‘French breakfast’
• Usually grown in succession throughout spring/summer
• Can be grown under cloche in spring
• Slugs & snails are a problem - copper tape
• No chemical control, use resistant cultivars/crop rotation
• Downy mildew-affects in cool damp climates, yellow patches on leaves and whitish mold
• Ventilation is key to prevent/ crop rotation. Chop of infected leaves

Question 8

Veg with high, medium, low nitrogen requirements?

Answer 8

• Very high – Cabbage
• High – Potatoes
• Medium - Onions
• Low - Radishes

Question 9

Watering requirements for Leafy/ Fruiting/ Root veg

Answer 9

Leafy

• Frequent watering
• The most critical time between 10 and 3 weeks before maturity
• Watering during dry conditions

Fruiting

• Critical watering time for fruiting vegetables is at flowering times when fruit is setting and swelling
• Watering during dry conditions at 11 litres/m² each week
• Overwatering before this period will result in excess leafy growth and smaller fruits

Root

• A steady supply of water for steady growth
• In dry conditions water more regularly

Question 10

Filling modules for veg growth

Answer 10

• Overfill with growing medium and ensure corner modules are full
• Tap/Bang on bench to ensure there are no air pockets
• Level excess growing medium
• Lightly firm medium to just below the rim of module to allow space for watering
• Label modules after sewing