Avoid coming a cropper
they have withered the plants have often lost a lot of roots which causes a big setback.
Pigeons are a real pest. They will peck and eat brassica plants at virtually any stage in their life so if you find ragged slashes in the leaves you need to act fast before the whole crop is ripped to shreds.
In both cases bird netting is the only sure answer. Use it to protect newly planted vegetables, particularly lettuce and brassicas, at least until they have grown big enough to cover the ground. As a bonus it also protects them against being scratched up by cats looking for toilet facilities. If you live in an area with a big pigeon problem then it’s worth covering winter brassica crops again from autumn onwards and ideally throughout their entire lives.
Slugs and snails are everpresent hazards. Most people put down an assortment of bait, traps and deterrents when they first plant their patch then think, “Job done”. It’s not. You need to keep up the good work. Once crops cover the ground there are plenty of places for pests to hide during the day so for perfect results you have to keep on top of them regularly. For best results I’d recommend using several different organic methods simultaneously. Coffee grounds spread around susceptible plants are the current suggestion.
Weeds are a no in a vegetable patch. They harbour pests, particularly slugs and snails but also greenfly and plant diseases and they also take up a lot of the water and nutrients plants need.
What makes weeds unwelcome is the way they smother vegetable plants under an umbrella of large, fast-growing foliage. If weeds aren’t removed quickly they cut out light and air from crops which then go yellow, mouldy and rotten.
If there’s just one thing you should make a habit of, it’s hoeing. Try to go through the vegetable patch once a week, doing the job while weed seedlings are tiny. It won’t take long and crop quality will be 100 per cent better for it.
If you haven’t kept on top of the weeds this season, next year it might be worth halving the size of your vegetable patch and looking after what is left twice as well. You will produce double the amount of high-quality usable crops.
Gardeners do not usually think of feeding and watering as a problem when the ground has been well prepared in the spring before planting and we have a summer with regular rain. But when vegetables or salads are grown close together in intensive beds or containers where roots are restricted, frequent watering and liquid feeding are essential.
If everything hasn’t come up trumps this year, don’t be put off. Work out what went wrong and try to do better next year.