18 April 2025
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Ruth has a theory why her greenhouse plants have failed
LAST winter I popped a very ripe homegrown ‘ Tigerella ’ tomato into a pot of compost and hold off to see what would happen . After a few weeks on a faint windowsill , I was thrilled to discover that a clutch of seedlings had emerged , and duly grew on my plants until they were prominent enough to go into growbags in the greenhouse . They grew powerfully , bloom and started to set their fruit , but that ’s where problem start to make themselves known .
A lot of the tomatoes were afflict by blossom conclusion rot , a condition induce by erratic watering that dissemble the uptake of calcium , so authoritative for cellular telephone growth in healthy fruits . We know how gentle it is to get blossom oddment rot in tomato , and have been ask care with watering and feeding , so its arrival was an unpleasant surprisal .
Not only this , but a heap of the plants were n’t fruit as they should . Some only make tomatoes the size of peas , and others produced fruits of a good sizing , but they start to go bad on the vine , soften and splitting before they were declamatory enough to reap .
The problem has none of the symptoms of blight or tomato leaf mould , and the plant remained healthy - looking , with rich green leaves unblemished by the telltale brownish shrivelling and rotting that comes with both diseases . I know it has been a strange year for horticulture , and I ’ve read many reports about fail crops and scarce pickings – even the usually reliable courgettes have been let people down .
But I inquire whether these ‘ Tigerella ’ gobbler flunk because of some genetic ‘ defect ’ in the homegrown yield from which I saved that has caused them to fail ? Or maybe because of our best movement , our watering and feeding was n’t up to excise .
How has your veggie patch done this class ? What has succeed , what has bomb and has it throw up any surprises ? Let us do it ateditor@amateurgardening.com
Some toms are only pea-sized
Prolonging pots
Keep deadheading and fertilise
1 . Deadhead as soon as flowers set out to slicing . If you are develop dahlias , take out the elongate ‘ bud ’ which are the develop seedheads leave by spend bloom , but leave alone the neat circular ones as these will flower .
2 . Keep feeding with a K - deep melted fertiliser to encourage continued flowering . water supply during dry spells , but do n’t overwater , peculiarly as peat - spare composts can depend dry on top but we wet underneath . Stick your finger in and if it feel damp , leave lacrimation for a 24-hour interval or two .
grow potatoes for the merry mesa
One veg that has cropped well this yr is potatoes , farm in bags on the patio .
recreate by our success , I ’ve decided to develop some for the Christmas mesa so this fortnight I ’ve been potting them up . There is a lot of discussion about the why ’s and wherefores of growing Christmas murphy , but I have gone for ‘ Charlotte ’ spud , a 2nd other variety that is a true grower and tastes delectable .
But when to plant your festive tater ? The window is pretty much open from July to October , but as 2d earlies take 10 - 16 week from planting to harvest , mid to late September is probably your cut - off point .
At this time of class it is safer to farm potatoes in bags than the soil because of the seasonal drop in temperature . Place your cum potatoes , shoots face upwards , on a layer of multipurpose compost in a cup of tea or sack , cover with another level and water . Keep the compost dampish , not soggy and when the weather go to get colder move your container into a greenhouse or light porch . Watch out for blight in autumn , and help to extenuate it by select care not to dampen the leaves when irrigate . When the top increase dies back you’re able to lead your potato in their compost and glean them when needed .
I’m planting ‘Charlotte’ potatoes in bags, starting them on the patio
It’s been a good year for potatoes
