Marrows & potatoes
 

Good morning,

I bought a marrow plant last week, that I was going to plant this weekend.
Being relatively new to this gardening lark I assumed that a marrow would
grow in the same manner as a cucumber or tomato plant - I've since found out
that this is not the case and that a plant can easy cover a large area of
ground with its leaves - I was originally going to grow the marrow in a pot
on the patio!

I planted some potatoes in March and they have already grown to roughly the
same height as those grown last year. I was thinking of digging up a small
section of these and planting the marrow in their place.

Does anyone have any idea how large the potatoes are likely to be at the
moment - if there is a good chance of them being the size of 'new potatoes
I'll happily dig them up and eat them! - if not I would rather wait a couple
of weeks to give them a chance of growing a bit and putting the marrow in a
pot temporarily.

Cheers,


Andrew

Marrows & potatoes
 

In article , ajr
writes
Good morning,

I bought a marrow plant last week, that I was going to plant this weekend.
Being relatively new to this gardening lark I assumed that a marrow would
grow in the same manner as a cucumber or tomato plant - I've since found out
that this is not the case and that a plant can easy cover a large area of
ground with its leaves - I was originally going to grow the marrow in a pot
on the patio!

I planted some potatoes in March and they have already grown to roughly the
same height as those grown last year. I was thinking of digging up a small
section of these and planting the marrow in their place.

Does anyone have any idea how large the potatoes are likely to be at the
moment - if there is a good chance of them being the size of 'new potatoes
I'll happily dig them up and eat them! - if not I would rather wait a couple
of weeks to give them a chance of growing a bit and putting the marrow in a
pot temporarily.

You should find some small tubers under your potato plants which you
could use as 'new' potatoes, though obviously they would grow larger if
they were left in.

Depending on where you are, you could still have a last frost or near
frost, so if you can keep the marrow plant going for a couple more
weeks, it will be safer to wait until then to put it out. That will also
give the potatoes time to grow on a bit. Marrow or courgette plants need
quite a bit of space, we give ours 5ft. clearance all round. If you only
want one or two marrows though rather than courgette production, you
could restrict the plant's growth to one or two fruiting stems, and the
stems to one marrow each. Or you could plant the marrow in the space
left by say, two lifted potatoes, then take potatoes out as the marrow
needs the space. It's a sort of Hobson's choice, but have a try anyway.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

Marrows & potatoes
 

"Alan Gould" wrote in message
...
In article , ajr
writes
Good morning,

I bought a marrow plant last week, that I was going to plant this
weekend.
Being relatively new to this gardening lark I assumed that a marrow would
grow in the same manner as a cucumber or tomato plant - I've since found
out
that this is not the case and that a plant can easy cover a large area of
ground with its leaves - I was originally going to grow the marrow in a
pot
on the patio!

I planted some potatoes in March and they have already grown to roughly
the
same height as those grown last year. I was thinking of digging up a
small
section of these and planting the marrow in their place.

Does anyone have any idea how large the potatoes are likely to be at the
moment - if there is a good chance of them being the size of 'new
potatoes
I'll happily dig them up and eat them! - if not I would rather wait a
couple
of weeks to give them a chance of growing a bit and putting the marrow in
a
pot temporarily.

You should find some small tubers under your potato plants which you
could use as 'new' potatoes, though obviously they would grow larger if
they were left in.

Depending on where you are, you could still have a last frost or near
frost, so if you can keep the marrow plant going for a couple more
weeks, it will be safer to wait until then to put it out. That will also
give the potatoes time to grow on a bit. Marrow or courgette plants need
quite a bit of space, we give ours 5ft. clearance all round. If you only
want one or two marrows though rather than courgette production, you
could restrict the plant's growth to one or two fruiting stems, and the
stems to one marrow each. Or you could plant the marrow in the space
left by say, two lifted potatoes, then take potatoes out as the marrow
needs the space. It's a sort of Hobson's choice, but have a try anyway.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

------------------------

Thanks for that Alan.

The usual thing, I forgot to think of the bleeding obvious!!

One row, and the couple of potato plants either side, look as though they
have grown enough to yield a few new spuds - I dig them up tomorrow and
replace them with the marrow.

Marrows & potatoes
 

"Alan Gould" wrote in message
...
In article , ajr
writes
Good morning,

I bought a marrow plant last week, that I was going to plant this
weekend.
Being relatively new to this gardening lark I assumed that a marrow would
grow in the same manner as a cucumber or tomato plant - I've since found
out
that this is not the case and that a plant can easy cover a large area of
ground with its leaves - I was originally going to grow the marrow in a
pot
on the patio!

I planted some potatoes in March and they have already grown to roughly
the
same height as those grown last year. I was thinking of digging up a
small
section of these and planting the marrow in their place.

Does anyone have any idea how large the potatoes are likely to be at the
moment - if there is a good chance of them being the size of 'new
potatoes
I'll happily dig them up and eat them! - if not I would rather wait a
couple
of weeks to give them a chance of growing a bit and putting the marrow in
a
pot temporarily.

You should find some small tubers under your potato plants which you
could use as 'new' potatoes, though obviously they would grow larger if
they were left in.

Depending on where you are, you could still have a last frost or near
frost, so if you can keep the marrow plant going for a couple more
weeks, it will be safer to wait until then to put it out. That will also
give the potatoes time to grow on a bit. Marrow or courgette plants need
quite a bit of space, we give ours 5ft. clearance all round. If you only
want one or two marrows though rather than courgette production, you
could restrict the plant's growth to one or two fruiting stems, and the
stems to one marrow each. Or you could plant the marrow in the space
left by say, two lifted potatoes, then take potatoes out as the marrow
needs the space. It's a sort of Hobson's choice, but have a try anyway.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

------------------------

Thanks for that Alan.

The usual thing, I forgot to think of the bleeding obvious!!

One row, and the couple of potato plants either side, look as though they
have grown enough to yield a few new spuds - I dig them up tomorrow and
replace them with the marrow.

Marrows & potatoes
 

"Alan Gould" wrote in message
...
In article , ajr
writes
snip
Depending on where you are, you could still have a last frost or near
frost, so if you can keep the marrow plant going for a couple more
weeks, it will be safer to wait until then to put it out. That will also
give the potatoes time to grow on a bit. Marrow or courgette plants need
quite a bit of space, we give ours 5ft. clearance all round.
snip
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

Ooops!
I have three courgette plants (two yellow, one green) and I was planning to
grow them in patio tubs.
5' all round is a little more than I expected.
Now trying to decide if I should reserve a corner for the jungle or keep
them pinched back.
Do they hang down?
[Not a personal question :-) ]
Just considering if the pot was raised several (4?) feet off the ground if
the courgette plant would then hang down all round ( a bit like a low level
hanging basket). This would give 4' spread in a vertical direction by the
time the shoots touched the ground.
Hmmm...- plastic planter on top of an upturned plastic planter would get the
plant at least 3' off the ground....

A more whacky alternative would be to grow one on the balcony and let it
trail over the edge - this assumes that the plant is strong enough to
support trailing shoots with courgettes on.

Just had a further vision of a small wooden platform across the ridge of the
garden shed, and courgettes trailing down over the (solar heated) felt roof.

And this vision is without the aid of alchohol or a safety net.

Logic (!) further constrains me to ask - if you grow climbing plants up a
wall from a pot at the base, can you suspend a pot 6' (or more) up a wall to
grow trailing plants down it?
Thinking mega window box/hanging basket here.

Then again I recall a Garfield cartoon:

Garfield: "If cats can run up trees, then why can't cats run down trees?"
ZONK!
"Garfield, you are very very stupid!"

Still like the raised pot on the patio idea though.

Cheers
Dave R

Marrows & potatoes
 

In article , David W.E. Roberts
writes
Garfield: "If cats can run up trees, then why can't cats run down trees?"
ZONK!
It is said that cats can talk, but up to now they have never heard
anything worth replying to.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.