Garden news
14 June 2021 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeMy towel-tomatoes have started putting out flower-buds -- despite being only six inches high with a couple of pairs of leaves each!
I tried transplanting a couple of them into a bigger pot on their own, but I get the impression tomatoes suffer a lot of trauma from being transplanted; it seems to have set them back appreciably. The two that were moved have been overtaken in size and vigour by the three that remain, despite having greater soil depth and a lot more root-room, and probably better compost. Likewise the single magazine-tomato that I put into a big pot on its own has a thinner stem and less foliage than the two that were left behind (and which have never actively been released from their original cardboard egg-cells!)
The 'official' tomatoes are definitely looking more healthy and promising than the second-generation ones that were grown from seed saved on the towel (and they have yet to panic and start throwing out flower buds before bushing up -- although to be fair, they germinated a week or so later), but at least it looks as if there will be a second generation of fruit to demonstrate how true that variety will breed, as an interesting experiment :-)
I seem to be suffering a plague of caterpillars, after the plague of aphids (which has not abated; everything under the briar rose is now thickly coated with honeydew, and aphids are sucking on everything from the necks of the poppy-heads to the stems of the dill, despite vigorous attempts at eradication on sight). Some moth has evidently flown in and laid some eggs on something, and I keep finding little caterpillars arching their way along the leaf-edges of all sorts of plants. At least the aphids only weaken the plant and make a mess -- a single caterpillar allowed to grow to any size will strip all foliage overnight :-(
The thyme hasn't really recovered from the plague of blackfly, either; I ended up pinching out pretty much all the infested growing tips to make it usable, which of course meant all the growing tips, and it has yet to grow again.
I have yet another unknown plant (that had sneaked into the back of my miniature rose pot) throwing up a round flower-bud that has now dropped its head -- I wonder if that, yet again, could be the elusive yellow poppy? ;-D
It does have completely different leaves to the others, which despite their very assorted growth habits (from rosettes to tall, thin, lanky leaves) all basically had the same foliage.
The fresh set of yellow poppy seeds I sprinkled into the six-pack have shown no signs of germination despite being kept warm and moist for the last three weeks, and as I said, I'm not holding my breath. There's not a lot more of the seed left, either -- just three or four empty pepper-pots in the envelope.
The first of my big velvety pink oriental poppies with the cross in the centre has now come into bloom ;-) They really do look very expensive and exotic, even though this crop were literally grown from the seed-heads of plants self-seeded in the cracks of the pavement -- presumably garden escapees. I'm watching eagerly for the first of the seed-heads of the red poppies to be ready to harvest in order to ensure next year's crop (although they also seem to pop up like weeds in all sorts of places where they're not expected, but one can't rely on that!)
There have been a lot of chilli-plants on sale locally -- they are popping up in front of newsagents, etc. -- and I've actually had the chance to buy some on a market stall on a couple of occasions. I probably ought to have taken the opportunity, in order to acquire a plant of known variety... but those commercial seedlings were really at no more vigorous a stage of development than my own home-germinated ones, and my supply of large pots (and space for potting on) is already severely limited. I was mainly motivated by the amount of work I'd already put into the other (probably unsuitable) ones, though, which is on the face of it a bit daft.
I have, however, subsequently potted up the most vigorous of those seedlings into a pot on its own with fresh compost, and it is looking very healthy alongside the tomatoes, as are the two left undisturbed behind. The comparison between the various generations of discards heeled in alongside the corn-chamomile is very instructive, I'm afraid; it's clear that basically none of them have grown *at all* since being transplanted there. The handful that went in as thinned-out newly-germinated seedlings have just about managed to produce a single pair of dwarfish true leaves in the space of a couple of months. The one that was so vigorous in comparison to those now looks tiny compared to the contemporaries from among which it was thinned out -- its leaves have grown no larger, and it hasn't perceptibly become any taller. In practice I might just as well have uprooted the plants and thrown them away.
(Meanwhile the corn-chamomile is about three feet high and is busy flowering with abandon, producing a fine display.)
The strawberry-plant I acquired last year (a free giveaway off a garden wall in the course of my travels) is now producing large ripe fruit, and I had some in a fruit salad ;-)
The marigolds are now doing quite nicely. The two seeds that were put in as part of the original six-pack experiment have almost caught up to the ones planted earlier, and all are starting to bush up nicely and even put out some flower buds. Although the most advanced of all in terms of flower buds is the Smallest Marigold in the World, which germinated as a single pair of leaves in a shallow tub back in March, and has been sitting there at a height of about two inches with one set of true leaves more or less ever since (like various other 'suppressed' seedlings -- maybe the chillies are likewise reaching sexual maturity without actually growing!)
To my astonishment it threw out a single flower bud on top of its single pair of leaves on its single stem, and is now on the point of bursting into flower (the tips are already out, and the whole thing will probably have opened in a day or so)... while still being only about four inches high with no foliage development to speak of. In the same tub I also have the Smallest Chrysanthemum in the World (an incredibly small, thin and weedy specimem about six inches high, bearing almost no relation to its carefully-nursed and bushy siblings, yet now furnished with an unmistakable round flower-bud on the top of that spindly stem) and a tiny 'outdoor mesembryanthemum' that is only about an inch high and an inch wide, but is also putting out a flower bud ;-D
The other mesembryanthemums have flopped again, and turned round and started growing upward again, and I've pretty much given up worrying about it. I just try to cover up the weedy exposed root every time they do it. They seem to like growing in a horizontal format (one of them has now grown its main stem in an almost complete circle due to falling over repeatedly), which at least provides them with some form of support! Lots more flower buds coming, and they are looking fairly plump and healthy, at least when their foliage is facing upwards rather than lying collapsed on the compost...
We shall see if we can get some viable seed off those too :-)
I have given up trying to stop my rocket bolting, which on past experience is pretty much a waste of time anyway -- you cut off a flower-stem, and instead of producing more leaves from the base it simply throws up another one -- and am letting it flower in the hopes of getting seed, since last year's seed bred true satisfactorily. The second batch of rocket seedlings from the six-pack have grown large enough to harvest already, and are also thinking about flowering; I should probably be planting some more (and probably ought to be uprooting at least some of the bolted ones so that I can reuse their pots, but of course I'm now waiting for the seed to set...)
The dill and coriander are also thinking about flowering. It's getting too hot for dill now, and I should probably try to get some seed off it before it dies :-(
The overwintered dill did well this year, but the (saved) seed that germinated in the spring has largely failed; the seedling plants have gradually died off one by one without ever getting very large. Probably a combination of competition from the established plants, where I was hoping for a succession in the same pot, and of not being large enough to cope with climate extremes of hot/cold/dry etc. The six-pack dill seedlings are actually looking quite vigorous at the moment, although the tomato that germinated in their midst isn't -- the pot is of course much too small for it, and I should separate it and either plant it out on its own or throw it away. I'm afraid the latter would be by far the most sensible course.
I've had a couple of good harvests of coriander, but again I think it's probably time to focus on allowing it to set some seed now in order to ensure a future supply.
I tried transplanting a couple of them into a bigger pot on their own, but I get the impression tomatoes suffer a lot of trauma from being transplanted; it seems to have set them back appreciably. The two that were moved have been overtaken in size and vigour by the three that remain, despite having greater soil depth and a lot more root-room, and probably better compost. Likewise the single magazine-tomato that I put into a big pot on its own has a thinner stem and less foliage than the two that were left behind (and which have never actively been released from their original cardboard egg-cells!)
The 'official' tomatoes are definitely looking more healthy and promising than the second-generation ones that were grown from seed saved on the towel (and they have yet to panic and start throwing out flower buds before bushing up -- although to be fair, they germinated a week or so later), but at least it looks as if there will be a second generation of fruit to demonstrate how true that variety will breed, as an interesting experiment :-)
I seem to be suffering a plague of caterpillars, after the plague of aphids (which has not abated; everything under the briar rose is now thickly coated with honeydew, and aphids are sucking on everything from the necks of the poppy-heads to the stems of the dill, despite vigorous attempts at eradication on sight). Some moth has evidently flown in and laid some eggs on something, and I keep finding little caterpillars arching their way along the leaf-edges of all sorts of plants. At least the aphids only weaken the plant and make a mess -- a single caterpillar allowed to grow to any size will strip all foliage overnight :-(
The thyme hasn't really recovered from the plague of blackfly, either; I ended up pinching out pretty much all the infested growing tips to make it usable, which of course meant all the growing tips, and it has yet to grow again.
I have yet another unknown plant (that had sneaked into the back of my miniature rose pot) throwing up a round flower-bud that has now dropped its head -- I wonder if that, yet again, could be the elusive yellow poppy? ;-D
It does have completely different leaves to the others, which despite their very assorted growth habits (from rosettes to tall, thin, lanky leaves) all basically had the same foliage.
The fresh set of yellow poppy seeds I sprinkled into the six-pack have shown no signs of germination despite being kept warm and moist for the last three weeks, and as I said, I'm not holding my breath. There's not a lot more of the seed left, either -- just three or four empty pepper-pots in the envelope.
The first of my big velvety pink oriental poppies with the cross in the centre has now come into bloom ;-) They really do look very expensive and exotic, even though this crop were literally grown from the seed-heads of plants self-seeded in the cracks of the pavement -- presumably garden escapees. I'm watching eagerly for the first of the seed-heads of the red poppies to be ready to harvest in order to ensure next year's crop (although they also seem to pop up like weeds in all sorts of places where they're not expected, but one can't rely on that!)
There have been a lot of chilli-plants on sale locally -- they are popping up in front of newsagents, etc. -- and I've actually had the chance to buy some on a market stall on a couple of occasions. I probably ought to have taken the opportunity, in order to acquire a plant of known variety... but those commercial seedlings were really at no more vigorous a stage of development than my own home-germinated ones, and my supply of large pots (and space for potting on) is already severely limited. I was mainly motivated by the amount of work I'd already put into the other (probably unsuitable) ones, though, which is on the face of it a bit daft.
I have, however, subsequently potted up the most vigorous of those seedlings into a pot on its own with fresh compost, and it is looking very healthy alongside the tomatoes, as are the two left undisturbed behind. The comparison between the various generations of discards heeled in alongside the corn-chamomile is very instructive, I'm afraid; it's clear that basically none of them have grown *at all* since being transplanted there. The handful that went in as thinned-out newly-germinated seedlings have just about managed to produce a single pair of dwarfish true leaves in the space of a couple of months. The one that was so vigorous in comparison to those now looks tiny compared to the contemporaries from among which it was thinned out -- its leaves have grown no larger, and it hasn't perceptibly become any taller. In practice I might just as well have uprooted the plants and thrown them away.
(Meanwhile the corn-chamomile is about three feet high and is busy flowering with abandon, producing a fine display.)
The strawberry-plant I acquired last year (a free giveaway off a garden wall in the course of my travels) is now producing large ripe fruit, and I had some in a fruit salad ;-)
The marigolds are now doing quite nicely. The two seeds that were put in as part of the original six-pack experiment have almost caught up to the ones planted earlier, and all are starting to bush up nicely and even put out some flower buds. Although the most advanced of all in terms of flower buds is the Smallest Marigold in the World, which germinated as a single pair of leaves in a shallow tub back in March, and has been sitting there at a height of about two inches with one set of true leaves more or less ever since (like various other 'suppressed' seedlings -- maybe the chillies are likewise reaching sexual maturity without actually growing!)
To my astonishment it threw out a single flower bud on top of its single pair of leaves on its single stem, and is now on the point of bursting into flower (the tips are already out, and the whole thing will probably have opened in a day or so)... while still being only about four inches high with no foliage development to speak of. In the same tub I also have the Smallest Chrysanthemum in the World (an incredibly small, thin and weedy specimem about six inches high, bearing almost no relation to its carefully-nursed and bushy siblings, yet now furnished with an unmistakable round flower-bud on the top of that spindly stem) and a tiny 'outdoor mesembryanthemum' that is only about an inch high and an inch wide, but is also putting out a flower bud ;-D
The other mesembryanthemums have flopped again, and turned round and started growing upward again, and I've pretty much given up worrying about it. I just try to cover up the weedy exposed root every time they do it. They seem to like growing in a horizontal format (one of them has now grown its main stem in an almost complete circle due to falling over repeatedly), which at least provides them with some form of support! Lots more flower buds coming, and they are looking fairly plump and healthy, at least when their foliage is facing upwards rather than lying collapsed on the compost...
We shall see if we can get some viable seed off those too :-)
I have given up trying to stop my rocket bolting, which on past experience is pretty much a waste of time anyway -- you cut off a flower-stem, and instead of producing more leaves from the base it simply throws up another one -- and am letting it flower in the hopes of getting seed, since last year's seed bred true satisfactorily. The second batch of rocket seedlings from the six-pack have grown large enough to harvest already, and are also thinking about flowering; I should probably be planting some more (and probably ought to be uprooting at least some of the bolted ones so that I can reuse their pots, but of course I'm now waiting for the seed to set...)
The dill and coriander are also thinking about flowering. It's getting too hot for dill now, and I should probably try to get some seed off it before it dies :-(
The overwintered dill did well this year, but the (saved) seed that germinated in the spring has largely failed; the seedling plants have gradually died off one by one without ever getting very large. Probably a combination of competition from the established plants, where I was hoping for a succession in the same pot, and of not being large enough to cope with climate extremes of hot/cold/dry etc. The six-pack dill seedlings are actually looking quite vigorous at the moment, although the tomato that germinated in their midst isn't -- the pot is of course much too small for it, and I should separate it and either plant it out on its own or throw it away. I'm afraid the latter would be by far the most sensible course.
I've had a couple of good harvests of coriander, but again I think it's probably time to focus on allowing it to set some seed now in order to ensure a future supply.