as you all know due to ill health i had to give up my lottie so this year im concentrating on growing veg in containers / pots / tubs
so any advice on what and when to grow would be well appreciated

I think Wardy and Dom will be able to help you out on this one. I grew nothing last year , apart form weeds, so not much idea I'm afraid.

HT you can grow almost anything in containers, most important is size, drainage and of course keeping them watered... What do you fancy growing?
Carrots will need deep containers, spuds can be done in old compost bags, salads in shallow containers.... Oh and they'll need feeding too.... You can make nettle feed in old dustbin, preferably with lid cos it smells
My mother used to grow courgettes in old trough on balcony, and when my granpa had to give up his garden he grew toms etc on balcony too....
Oh and herbs will thrive in pots

'tumbling tom' tomatoes do well in hanging baskets (and look beautiful) as do strawberries.
I am planning to bung a leek or three in the back of each flowerpot on the decking this year.....they'll add height and foliage and be ready for soup once the geraniums have died down
I've seen an advert for a pea called 'halfpint' which does best in a pot. If I find a stockist I'll let you know
I have always had much better results from pot grown peppers (sweet and chilli) than the ones planted on the plot.
blueberry bushes need very acid soil and are best grown in containers filled with eri.....erica...sod it, camelia compost.
Figs need their roots contained in order to fruit well.

The list goes on and on,

I've given up my allotment too HT, gutting isn't it? but now that it's done....I'm quite enjoying finding novel ways of growing what I want

thanks dom thats a big help if i can i want to grow tatties/carrots/peas/runner beans oh and of coarse onions

wow Tara you've giving me some good ideas there thanks sweetie

Have grown all the things you listed in containers, no allotment. Carrots , several of smaller varieties or round ones very suitable. Have grown dwarf runners, quite productive.
At moment have both carrots and peas growing in my unheated greenhouse.

I've also grown most of the stuff listed here in containers at my last house. Also found dwarf french beans, spring onions and cut and come again salads are great and I grew cucumbers in a growbag I grew my salad leaves in window boxes fixed to the side of the shed - seemed to get less slug damage that way

Before I got a lotty, I grew full size runners in two large pots with wigwams. I also put a cane between the two pots for any extra growth but I think I would pinch them out nowadays.

Carrots - I have ordered Danvers Half Long from DT Browns - a maincrop that might be good in pots. White Gem parsnips might be all right. Think everything else will just be all right without buying special varieties or doing anything really special.

Although a bit more expensive than some Thompson and Morgan do quite a range of mini-veg especially for the patio

Yes I used some of that range when I first startes

cheers all plenty of good tips and ideas for me to be getting on with

And we want pics, HT

Even on the lotty I still use containers for courgettes, toms of all kinds, cucumbers, peppers, chillies. I use boxes or baskets (those left over from food hampers) for sowing various salad leaves, spring onions and radishes. Galvo bins get used for strawbs or courgettes, mint in large pots and chives will grow in owt My spuds did brill in a big tub - a broken reject from Tesco for £2

thanks wards nice to have you back hope you got your puter problems sorted

oh, forgot to say HT that I grew pak choi in a grow bag. You can get plenty in

Got my internet connection back but apparo the prob is sommat to do with Pipex, but my son fiddled about with the jumpers and got us back on last night. New version of Internet Explorer is a bit pants cos it keeps bouncing me back to its home page

But at least I managed to get back on here and catch up with everything. Gone all jungly since I was last here