Veg Bolting

[Veggiesauraus]

My Mooli has bolted and flowered and my radish is straight and has huge leaves and my pots have 2-3ft high tops!!! What on earth is going on this year!!!!????????

[Odsox]

Dry weather causes lots of vegetables to bolt, leeks and onions do it, as do normal radishes but I've never grown Mooli.
I think it's a survival thing, setting seed as quickly as possible before the plant dies in a drought.

[bonniethomas06]

Mine is the same - I have had to snap the pathetic scrawny and tiny heads off all of my broccoli, which have bolted, radish has been a total no-go this year and almost all of my red onions have flowers on them.

I can't water everything - we are on a meter and it would take me all night - plus the high temperatures make growing leuttice or spinach nearly impossible.

Hey ho..I would only be moaning if it was wet and everything was mouldy and rotting not to mention being munched by slugs (who have been conspicuous by their absence this year?

[herbalholly]

ah well that makes me feel a bit better. this is my first year of veg growing and I was feeling a bit disheartened at how badly things were doing, I thought i was just being crap. I planted about 50 lettuces and only have 2 to show for it, my rocket has flowers, and the beetroot I planted first has flowers too. I did some more later on and they look a bit better. The only things that seem to be doing well are beans, peas and sorrel (and sadly I'm the only person who likes sorrel round here)
I decided in a passing melodramatic fit of gloom that I was hopeless at growing veg and should turn the whole garden over to fruiting bushes and small fruits trees. I've got over myself a bit since then and am happy to just keep trying.

[battybird]

Keep going, it takes time to work out which veg grow best in your ground, and thats without the inconsistent weather which scuppers the best laid plans! We have found that although there are fewer slugs, the pigeons are eating stuff they usually leave, maybe they are thirsty??? Theres always something! It would be boring if everything always went to plan...but wouldnt it be nice if it did sometimes???

[Millymollymandy]

Lettuce always bolts in summer, that's why I've been watering them every night for the last 2 1/2 weeks to keep them at bay. You can't grow radish in the middle of the summer as it goes woody before it's ready, it's a cool season veg. It's not just being dry it's the heat.

It does take me hours to water and we're all on meters so it costs a fortune, as all the IBCs and butts were emtpy ages ago.

However I'd rather pay for loads of water and have a decent crunchy lettuce rather than the floppy pappy stuff they sell here.