Plant update
22 September 2023 11:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeThe marigolds are still setting seed copiously, to an embarrassing degree (I need to start simply throwing it away!)
I did get some seed off the Swan River daisies, but comparing it with last year's seed I'm not at all sure it's ripe. Still, this is why we keep seed on a two-year rotation, in case of a total crop failure in one year....
It is going to be quite questionable whether the replacement pink Swan River daisies ever flower at all, I think -- they are barely starting to form flower heads. On the other hand, the self-sown ones I discovered in one of the former narcissus pots (presumably there is still a bulb in there somewhere, unless it has rotted?) are on the point of flower. (Blue, I think.)
Weirdly, I have an unmistakable sage seedling in the wildflower trough. My one surviving sage plant did flower copiously, but I wasn't aware that it had set any seed - I should probably transplant and carefully preserve this offshoot, even though the adult sage currently appears to be in vigorous health, as is the thyme that nearly died... along with its supposed replacement, now getting quite large!
I have cut down all the tomato plants save for the Roma (which I should probably likewise cut down and take the unripe fruit from). An excellent crop this year, even better than last year if possible, thanks to the favourable weather: warm, wet, no heatwave to abort flowering/setting. I have been eating my own tomatoes for several months :)
(I left a side-shoot from the stump of the tomato in the largest pot which appears to be trying to flower, even though I know there isn't a hope of getting any fruit off it at this stage in the year....)
The 'empty' pots are currently harbouring a fine crop of very fleshy self-sown mesembryanthemums (although only pink ones have flowered). Also a rogue poppy that managed to grow up and rush into flower in the space of a month or so :-)
Still plagued by caterpillars on the pak choi and herbs. The Cumbrian poppy hasn't flowered at all this year, and neither have the evening primroses.
The Demon Red chillies are still struggling to turn colour (and definitely the lower (older) fruits first, as with last year) -- they start orange at the tip and progress backwards. None of them are red all over yet, although half a dozen are now tinged at least slightly. It is going to be a very close-run thing as to whether the seed is actually ripe or not, although I suppose I do have some left over from last year, as per usual policy. It would be nice to have practical proof that the variety is self-perpetuating, however!
The smaller of the dark-leaf chilli plants has put on a massive growth spurt (and fallen over sideways again after straightening itself up the first time), and now has a single dark chilli and several purple flowers on it -- almost completely pointless for culinary purposes, but it did eventually make it! The full-size one now has quite a lot of purple fruit on it, even though I'm not sure whether they are actually supposed to go red or not. I have a feeling they were, but it has been a long time since I picked that fruit ;-)
I did get some seed off the Swan River daisies, but comparing it with last year's seed I'm not at all sure it's ripe. Still, this is why we keep seed on a two-year rotation, in case of a total crop failure in one year....
It is going to be quite questionable whether the replacement pink Swan River daisies ever flower at all, I think -- they are barely starting to form flower heads. On the other hand, the self-sown ones I discovered in one of the former narcissus pots (presumably there is still a bulb in there somewhere, unless it has rotted?) are on the point of flower. (Blue, I think.)
Weirdly, I have an unmistakable sage seedling in the wildflower trough. My one surviving sage plant did flower copiously, but I wasn't aware that it had set any seed - I should probably transplant and carefully preserve this offshoot, even though the adult sage currently appears to be in vigorous health, as is the thyme that nearly died... along with its supposed replacement, now getting quite large!
I have cut down all the tomato plants save for the Roma (which I should probably likewise cut down and take the unripe fruit from). An excellent crop this year, even better than last year if possible, thanks to the favourable weather: warm, wet, no heatwave to abort flowering/setting. I have been eating my own tomatoes for several months :)
(I left a side-shoot from the stump of the tomato in the largest pot which appears to be trying to flower, even though I know there isn't a hope of getting any fruit off it at this stage in the year....)
The 'empty' pots are currently harbouring a fine crop of very fleshy self-sown mesembryanthemums (although only pink ones have flowered). Also a rogue poppy that managed to grow up and rush into flower in the space of a month or so :-)
Still plagued by caterpillars on the pak choi and herbs. The Cumbrian poppy hasn't flowered at all this year, and neither have the evening primroses.
The Demon Red chillies are still struggling to turn colour (and definitely the lower (older) fruits first, as with last year) -- they start orange at the tip and progress backwards. None of them are red all over yet, although half a dozen are now tinged at least slightly. It is going to be a very close-run thing as to whether the seed is actually ripe or not, although I suppose I do have some left over from last year, as per usual policy. It would be nice to have practical proof that the variety is self-perpetuating, however!
The smaller of the dark-leaf chilli plants has put on a massive growth spurt (and fallen over sideways again after straightening itself up the first time), and now has a single dark chilli and several purple flowers on it -- almost completely pointless for culinary purposes, but it did eventually make it! The full-size one now has quite a lot of purple fruit on it, even though I'm not sure whether they are actually supposed to go red or not. I have a feeling they were, but it has been a long time since I picked that fruit ;-)