Grafted plants appear to be increasingly common, particularly tomatoes, but also peppers, chillies, aubergines, cucumbers, and so on. They offer two potential advantages – vigour and disease resistance. Depending on the sort of rootstock used, a grafted plant may be much more vigorous than a non grafted plant. This vigour may be directed towards increase… Continue reading Grafting tomato plants
Tag: tomatoes
Planting out: beans and tomatoes
After a little less than two weeks, our first sowing of French beans had developed into robust plants ready for planting out. It is probably a month or so too early to plant these tender crops outdoors, even here in our sheltered southerly locale. It is, though, a good time to plant in the polytunnel,… Continue reading Planting out: beans and tomatoes
Sowing this week
This week’s main task was planting out some of the broad beans that we sowed a few weeks back. They had developed into robust young plants in perfect condition for moving on. Whilst we planted out the peas in the polytunnel, broad beans do not do so well under cover as they rely on pollinating… Continue reading Sowing this week
Sowing this week
This week was all about tomatoes – one of our favourite crops. As usual, we went a bit mad and sowed 48 pots, 29 of which will be planted out in the polytunnel and the remaining 19 in one of the glasshouses. Early March is a good time to sow; the young plants will be… Continue reading Sowing this week
Emergency tomato sauce
As far as the kitchen garden is concerned, August is a bad time to take a holiday. Sadly, our Bellegarde peaches ripened and dropped from the tree whilst we were away. They would normally ripen around the beginning of September, but with the mild start to the year everything seems to be fruiting a bit… Continue reading Emergency tomato sauce
Sowing continues
This weekend we avoided the gloomy weather and made more under cover sowings. Down the centre of our polytunnel is a four foot wide bed, which we use for general planting of crops including beans, peas, sweetcorn, saladings, and so on. At this time of year, it is warm enough, especially under cover, to make… Continue reading Sowing continues
Seeds at Amsterdam’s Bloemenmarkt
Among the many sights of Amsterdam, there is the floating flower market, although one is not really aware that the row of large stalls is floating alongside one of the many canals, being so securely fixed in place. Its claim to be the world’s only floating flower market is, then, not nearly as impressive as… Continue reading Seeds at Amsterdam’s Bloemenmarkt
Sowing plan – peppers, chillies, aubergines, and tomatoes
The miserable days of winter might dissuade one from venturing forth to the plot, but it is the ideal time for reviewing one’s seed collection, browsing catalogues, and deciding what to sow in the coming season. Whilst there is generally some time left for this task, some plants need an early start for best results,… Continue reading Sowing plan – peppers, chillies, aubergines, and tomatoes
Botrytis brings an end to the tomato crop
Grey mould, caused by Botrytis cinerea, has struck both the glasshouse and polytunnel tomato crops. Spores of this fungal disease are generally present in the environment and typically infect dead or dying plant material. In theory, grey mould could cause problems at any time of year, but in order to develop significantly, a certain amount… Continue reading Botrytis brings an end to the tomato crop
Tomato taste test – update
In a recent post, we put 16 of our 18 tomato varieties through a thoroughly unscientific taste test. At the time, the remaining two varieties – Moneymaker and Pera d’Abruzzo – were not at all ripe. Today, though, we picked two good examples to complete the taste test.