Glad we didn't grow any pumpkins this year, I couldn't afford all the safety gear

Interesting to see this topic, our whole allotment appeared to be under a cloud of whitefly last weekend (perhaps a slight exaggeration). They don't really bother me too much, but this year they appear to be in greater numbers at the moment, earlier in the year there were very few I guess this is co...

Red cabbage seems less prone to damage from the normal pests. We do have a problem with them growing blind (no heart) two out of a row of 20 this year.

Regarding wasps we had a number in the middle of September, otherwise it has been very quiet.

We are very careful, severely damaged are thrown away, mild damage are put in the use quickly bucket and good ones once dry are put in paper sacks. We check the sacks regularly to remove any damaged potatoes that have been missed earlier

We have had the problem on our Cucumber plant in the polytunnel, the plant has seemed to struggle all year and are not surprised that it has been hit. Poor crop from the cucumber this year. Outdoor the courgettes were hit with mildew on the leaves a few weeks ago but have continued to crop well. Can...

Which have carried out a survey that has been carried by a number of newspapers that states that a number of the top seed companies are selling poor quality seeds. The company I deal with are not mentioned and I am generally happy with my supplier, but I would be interested in what other people think.

The potatoes that have gone off, possibly had slight damage when put into storage, perhaps even blight, any damage will quickly go from one to another if stored in a sack. We check our stored potatoes regularly often taking them all from one container to another. This comes from bitter experience fr...

We use a range of methods, some are dropped in the compost bins, some fly over the fence into the nettle patch. If the damage is too great we resort to pellets, normally the young brassicas that are under netting.

Although blight can be in the soil, it is important to remove or burn all the potato tops, I had to do this a few weeks ago. We could not harvest the potatoes at the time so we removed all the tops although not all the plants were affected. Then I burnt all the tops, this was the safest method of di...

There are two easy ways to get rid of slugs and snails. 1. Encourage your neighbours to use slug pellets these attract the slugs and snails and hence they will migrate to your neighbours and instant death. 2. Leave plastic sheets or planks of wood lying on the ground overnight, next morning turn the...