Why do my vegetables run to seed, and can I stop it?
Bolting has three different triggers — heat, day length and a check to growth — and which one applies to a crop decides whether you can prevent it or only avoid it.
beginner14 min6 min read
Growing Vegetables
Food you can realistically grow at home.
110 guides in Garden
Why is my garlic small with tiny cloves?
Garlic bulb size is set by cold in winter, leaf count in spring and competition — the four things that produce a small bulb and which of them you can still change.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I sow seeds indoors?
Starting seeds under cover successfully, including the light and temperature that determine whether they thrive or go leggy.
beginner45 min2 min readShould I grow first early, second early or maincrop potatoes?
What the three groups actually differ in — ground time, yield and blight exposure — and which one suits a small plot, a container or a store cupboard.
beginner12 min4 min readWhich vegetables should I sow every few weeks, and how far apart?
Three sowing rhythms sorted by how fast the crop goes over — with the trigger that actually makes successional sowing happen rather than being forgotten.
beginner15 min4 min readWhy does my courgette plant only have male flowers?
Telling male from female at a glance, why a young plant produces males first, and the conditions that delay or abort female flowers.
beginner12 min3 min readHow do I dry and cure onions and garlic so they keep?
Curing is what turns a lifted bulb into one that keeps for months — the neck test, the conditions that work in a British September, and the bulbs to eat first.
beginner30 min4 min readHow do I grow potatoes?
Chitting, planting, earthing up and harvesting potatoes in the ground or in bags, plus the timing that decides your yield.
beginner7 days3 min readWhat vegetables can I sow in autumn to overwinter?
The crops that genuinely benefit from an autumn start in the UK, the timing that decides whether they survive, and the ones that will simply rot.
beginner20 min5 min readWhy are my cabbages not hearting up?
A cabbage builds a frame of outer leaves and then folds the centre — the four things that limit the frame, and why loose planting is the one nobody expects.
beginner15 min4 min readWhy are my cucumbers bitter, stunted or misshapen?
Bitterness, curled fruit and stunted ends all come from stress or pollination — and the male-flower question that only applies to some varieties.
intermediate15 min4 min readWhy are my seedlings tall, thin and falling over?
Why seedlings stretch, whether a leggy seedling can be saved, and the light, temperature and airflow changes that prevent it.
beginner25 min3 min readWhy do my tomatoes have black sunken bottoms?
Blossom end rot is a watering problem, not a disease and not usually a calcium shortage — what actually causes it and how to stop it mid-season.
beginner15 min3 min readWhy is my rhubarb thin and spindly?
Thin stalks come from an exhausted or congested crown, shade, competition or over-picking — and dividing an old crown is the fix that transforms most of them.
beginner20 min4 min readHow do I stop pigeons stripping my cabbages and sprouts?
Pigeon damage looks like caterpillar damage but happens in winter — the netting specification that actually holds them off, and why every scare device stops working.
beginner45 min4 min readHow do I store a potato crop over winter?
Curing the skins, sorting out what will not keep, and the temperature, light and container conditions that get a home-grown crop through to spring.
beginner30 min4 min readWhen do I pick pumpkins and squash, and how do I cure them?
The three ripeness tests, why you never carry a squash by its stem, and the two-stage curing that turns an autumn crop into a store that lasts to spring.
beginner20 min4 min readWhy are my seedlings pale and yellow?
Telling hunger from cold wet compost from too little light, using which leaves went yellow first and whether the stem stretched.
beginner15 min4 min readWhy are my tomatoes not ripening?
The temperature, plant load and timing reasons green tomatoes stay green, and what to do about a late crop.
beginner15 min2 min readIs chitting potatoes actually worth it?
What chitting does and does not do, which groups genuinely benefit, and how to tell a useful chit from a useless white sprout.
beginner10 min3 min readWhat is club root, and what can I do about it?
How to confirm it by digging a plant up, why there is no cure, and the four cultural measures that let you keep growing brassicas on infected ground.
intermediate20 min4 min readWhat should I do with a vegetable bed over winter?
Four honest options for an empty bed between autumn and spring, what each one actually achieves, and the crop debris that must not be left standing.
beginner45 min5 min readWhy are my leeks so thin, and how do I get a long white shank?
Leek thickness comes from spacing, transplanting time and a long growing season; the white shank comes from depth. How to get both.
beginner20 min4 min readWhy have my seeds not come up?
A checklist in the order that finds the fault fastest — depth, temperature, moisture, age, and the seeds that need special treatment.
beginner20 min3 min read