wgeb to start autumn planting?

[gavilan]

I had an absolutely disastrous summer re tomatoes, onions, fennel, beans ... seedlings refused to grow but would not die either ... altho watered every evening .... even the aubergine turned yellow with sunburn! ... hence I am somewhat nervous about trying again this autumn ... ?anyone any advice ?!

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

On the 'Spanish Garden Info' FB page, it seems that quite a few people have had similar problems this, very hot summer, the message on that page is, don't give in.

Puff

[Rummii]

I can feel for you ....not sure what area you in but we in campo in Malaga province and we get it so hot struggled for first few years but then this summer decided to not really try to grow anything July august and just get soil prepped for autumn... as it didn’t warrant the water for what crop we got ...plus we get issues with insects when it’s hot and dry (spider mites especially) which we don’t really want to insecticide as like the thought of organic veg....have to say autumn veg is looking really good so far....I’m still learning all the time and when you do get good crop it’s such a good feeling.... I’m finding keeping a record of when planted things helps as it seems you could just plant a month different with a certain veg and it can make all the difference .....keep trying

[El Cid]

You are so right. Growing veg in the summer in Spain is almost bound to fail. Even sun loving plants like tomatoes grow but end up with really thick skins to counteract the heat.

We have experimented with almost everything over the last 20 years and the only crop we now grow are nice small new potatoes.

Just give up and spend your time enjoying the sun. Fruit and veg is so cheap and so good from local shops so why bother.

Sid

[gavilan]

somewhere at the back of my mind has always been the idea of 'self sufficiency' ... probably influenced by 'the Good Life' tv series!!! ... and yes, fruit and veg are cheap here but that's probably because they are grown plasticultura and sprayed with chemicals ... not so easy to find such being grown organically... ... so now back to the subject of my veggie terrace in full sun ... a friend has offered to construct a frame over which we will lay a covering of brezo to give shade at hottest times of day ... will need to be strong as said terrace can also be very very windy!!! ... vamos a ver

[El Cid]

It's not just the sun that creates the problem, its the temperatures. For example, we have tried growing peas, as soon as the daytime temperatures reach 25c they just die! It also causes plants to go to seed much earlier.

There is no shortage of organic fruit and veg - even Lidl have a lot.

Sid

[gavilan]

I had forgotten Lidl ... altho 'a bit off the beaten track' from here