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That is very similar to the random plant sickness I’ve been experiencing. I’m thinking some varieties are particularly prone to it. I had it quite big-time last year with Ruth Bible and this year, from a different source of seeds, I’m experiencing it again. And yet other growers seem to...

That’s beyond awful @heirloomgal. My heartfelt sympathies. It makes the one or two giving up the ghost, which I was worrying about, seem very minor. Have you identified the destructive caterpillar? You seem confident the attack is under control now, thank goodness. Have they moved on, or into...

I’m heartened to find I’m not alone in this phenomenon. It’s natural to either feel one has done something wrong - any manure in the soil wasn’t well enough rotted was one thought I had - or fear a disease which will spread or be in contaminated soil etc. It has been unusually hot here too. No...

I’m growing Sunshine too from your gratefully received seeds. Not quite as far advanced as yours (sown 14th May) but growing strongly and not too far behind. Looking forward!

I have a kind of sudden death issue. Sometimes one plant in a row which seemed to be doing fine, will look sick and all the growing points wither and die. This often happens quite late on when they have lots of flower buds. I pull them up in case it’s catching, but there’s no obvious sign of why...

Understood. Just to pursue this to the bitter end (!), have you observed that planting deeper, in whatever way, encourages speed? Is there an argument for thinking that the plant might put its energies into forming new roots rather than producing flowers and fruit? On the assumption that a...

I I find this interesting too. I grow tomatoes in a polytunnel in cordon style. But for me, the vigour of tomato plants, when I plant them normally without worrying too much about depth or angle, is definitely as much as I would want. If there’s a problem for me, it’s that many tomato varieties...

They eat them voraciously, from the edges inwards, often just leaving the veins. More and more of my vegetables here are netted. Certainly all brassicas all year, to protect from pigeons and from egg-laying butterflies. More recently all alliums, in my case to protect from allium leaf miner...

A photo of my tomato chaos just to illustrate the different methods. Sunviva, the tallest in the photo, is a strong grower and is already six feet tall at least, and still June when the photo was taken.

And a few bush bean flowers, just because they’re so lovely.

I enjoy photographing bean flowers. These four are the first of my pole beans to flower.

Yes, one stem. As you say, you’re growing for maximum seed yield. Tomatoes are very generous with their seeds of course. It would be interesting, though, to compare yields from the two methods. Grown on one stem, they can achieve a considerable height, eight or nine feet in some cases I’m...

Thanks for the full explanation. Your cages look splendidly robust and there is great attraction in leaving the plants to do their own thing. As a rather height challenged creature I think I’d struggle with the picking. My plants are much more crowded and take much more controlling to keep to...

Sympathies. I do have a love-hate relationship with peonies. Here they always flop and that together with how quickly they’re over makes them constantly frustrating. Brief, flawed beauty.

I don’t really understand how tomato cages work. Do you reach into them from above to prune your tomatoes and then to pick them? How do you stop the cages falling over when the plants get heavy? As far as I know it’s unusual in UK to grow tomatoes in cages. Under cover mine grow up strings...

I can vouch for the beauty, usefulness and general benefits of allowing celery, in particular Redventure in my case, to go to seed. Having received seed of Redventure from @Triffid I now have lovely red stalked celery popping up in many odd corners of my garden. Where it’s not significantly in...

Ah, penny drops! Thanks

Interesting. Allium leaf miner arrived here about three years ago. I had always assumed they only like alliums. So allium leaf miner flies will make for celery flowers? I’ve begun to have more celery and dill flowers around so will hope that has an effect.

The brief note that I have from last year is ‘Sparse growth but early.’ I guess sparse growth could equate with delicate.

Interesting, but they seem to have a lot of wasted space - or am I misunderstanding something? And having looked up tobacco float trays, I’m interested to know whether you actually float them in water when raising your seedlings.