2018 growing season

Polytunnels, cold frames, greenhouses, propagators & more. How to get the best out of yours...

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PLUMPUDDING
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My courgettes are miles behind yours Primrose. You can just see the start of flower buds forming.

My dwarf French beans have also grown tall this year and are tied to canes but the tallest is only 3 ft tall so can't compete with yours Tiger. They are usually neat compact little bushes.
Westi
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I've managed 3 courgettes, all green, but wee yellow ones. ucumbers are there but not filled out at the tail end and they are Mini Much which I expect will be ready in the next week. The long ones look like cucumbers & not spiky beasts but only a few inches long.

My dwarf french beans are indeed dwarf, only about 6" high but I've got a crop nearly ready - looks like mine are taking their dwarf name to the extreme, while yours have ignored it completely PP! :)
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PLUMPUDDING
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The Chocolate cherry tomatoes are the first to start ripening. Can anyone remember if they were free seeds with the magazine, I saved seeds from the ones I grew last year and they've produced good plants again.
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PLUMPUDDING
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I took a lot of leaves off them yesterday to get a bit of sun on them. A new variety I've grown this year is Scotland Yellow from the Heritage Seed Library and they've produced long trusses of nice salad sized fruits.

The other varieties are Double Rich, my favourite beefsteak one and Cornu des Andes, a long quite large fruit that has very few seeds, good to cook or in salads or sandwiches with an excellent flavour.

The attached photos were taken on my tablet and I couldn't see what I was taking so pointed it and hoped for the best. Sorry they're rubbish photos.
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PLUMPUDDING
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Sorry I've got one twice.
PLUMPUDDING
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This morning's major job was cutting the overgrown hedge round the edge of the orchard/hen run with assistance from several hens. I managed not to decapitate any. Applied antiseptic ointment to all my scratches and having a rest this afternoon.
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Geoff
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I've never grown Chocolate Cherry which I think means it has never been free with the magazine, not for over 10 years anyway; though not everybody gets the same, subscriptions and newsagents are different for a start. I've grown Black Cherry and Black Opal as dark cherries and both are a great flavour. We've had the first of the beefsteaks this week, best is a Beefmaster at about 2¼lbs, though we have Cherokee Purple (a favourite), Brandywine Yellow and Marmade (from free seeds, bit disappointed with these) as well.
Westi
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I've got my first Black Krim almost ready - it's a medium size one with a cute little tail, more to follow that are bigger! Not black in the least but assuming the black comes from the area it is from in Russia. Indigo Rose - which is very black in colour has done me good again - just waiting the pink flush as the size is good! My self sown cherries on the plot are prolific as usual but not ready. My Banana legs has some wee fruit but hopefully weather this year will see them ripen. Got another couple from my Xmas gift box of Russian Heritage tomatoes that are trying hard to please but doubt I will see the outcome as just going into flower. I'm happy though & some I may try again - not banana legs - they don't look a bit like the picture & I have grown better yellow toms!
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Primrose
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PLUm I was interested in your removal of most of your tomato leaves. Is there any evidence that this harms the plants cropping process. My outdoor tomatoes are bearing a fine crop but the Ferline and Moneymaker plants have very generous sized fleshy leaves and I'm unsure whether to remove some of them or not.

Does anybody have any theories about this. The third and fourth flower trusses are still developing so I don't want to strip them too soon if this will damage the chance of later fruits developing.
PLUMPUDDING
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Most of the leaves I took off were a bit past their best, but I did take off more than I usually do. They say it's ok to take them off below the first truss for a start. There are still quite a few leaves higher up and I'm going to feed them well so they should be fine. Most of the tomatoes are fully developed anyway so just need to ripen.
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I found that if your tomatoes picks up something they don't like as in over feeding or to much manure they will sacrifice the leaves to save the fruits , this happened to mine years ago when I used to use to much cow muck in the beds ,I would empty the beds in the greenhouse then fill with cow muck then spread around three inch of soil on top it happened a few times over about five years then the penny dropped
Westi
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I take the lower leaves off & any that are shading the ripening fruit. Always do - as as robo says the lower leaves are the first to go naturally so probably only necessary in the formative stages of the plant.
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Primrose
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I have five tall pepper plants in big pots on my patio which are absolutely laden with pointy peppers and have noticed that quite a few of the fruits at the front of the plants more exposed to the sun seem to have developed blotch marks which I suspect are Are caused by scorching, as otherwise the leaves and fruits look perfectly healthy.
I,m not sure whether tomatoes might be vulnerable to the same problem in this prolonged heatwave. Perhaps tomato fruits are less vulnerable because they have more liquid in them ?
Last edited by Primrose on Sun Jul 22, 2018 1:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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oldherbaceous
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I have never known Tomatoes getting scorched, Primrose but, I also have pointed Peppers that are.....
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There's no fool like an old fool.
Monika
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Went to pick our gooseberries today on the allotment - all gone! We suspect our visiting pheasants. Some of the last broad beans have also been attacked, not just the pods but the leaves as well. Presumably, the birds are gagging for some moisture, poor things.
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