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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 11, 2023 20:28:31 GMT
Went to the hut this morning for some potting compost. The potatoes had come in so I got these as well,3 kilos each of Casablanca and Kestrel and 2 kilos of Charlotte for growing in tubs .I couldn't stay all morning as I used to because I can't leave Rosemary for that long. Geoff, the secretary, had made alterations to many of the prices. A lot of them had gone up but they will still be cheaper than shops and garden centres. Geoff had made the alterations by hand on last years price list and I brought it home. I have last years price list on my computer and it is my job to make the alterations on it and print off a copy. This what I will be doing now for the next hour or so. Someone else prints all the copies to give to people at the hut.
This afternoon I put the potatoes in trays ,the right way up, and put them on a greenhouse shelf to "chit". I then started re-potting all my plants in the greenhouses that were in 5 inch pots and over. I knock them out of their pots ,remove some of the old compost then re-pot them in fresh compost. Most plants go back into the same pot but if I don't think the root system is large enough I pot them into a smaller pot. The compost that I remove I use for growing potatoes in tubs. I just mix some extra fertiliser into it.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 12, 2023 20:21:31 GMT
This afternoon I took the horticultural society price list that I had amended to Geoff and he will get it photocopied to give out at the hut. Spent the rest of the afternoon carrying on re-potting my pot plants. Found a few vine weevil grubs in some of the fuchsias.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 13, 2023 20:43:52 GMT
Most of the plants that I have been potting are in my larger greenhouse and I finished those today. There are just a few in my other greenhouse that need doing. I have also discarded a lot of plants that I didn't think were worth re-potting so they are all outside waiting to be emptied. This evening I have been to a meeting on the allotments but it only lasted half an hour.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 14, 2023 21:14:36 GMT
Today I have re-potted the plants in my smaller greenhouse that needed doing so they are all done now
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 15, 2023 20:53:46 GMT
This morning I sprayed the chrysanth stools and cuttings with fungicide to help prevent white rust. Spent the rest of the time tidying up. Emptied all the pots that I had discarded then sorted all the pots out into their sizes and put them in neat piles.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 16, 2023 20:04:09 GMT
It was a bit drizzly for our walk at Blackleach this morning. On my way home this afternoon I had an errand to do and all I had time to do after was go in the greenhouse to look at my seeds in the propagator that I sowed last week. When I sow them and put them in the propagator, I put sheets of glass on the trays and they stand on top of each other then I can put more in. After about 4 days I have to look at them every day to see if any have begun to germinate .When this happens, they need light so they have to go on top of the pile or be taken out of the propagator.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 17, 2023 19:10:21 GMT
This morning I took about thirty coleus cuttings. Spent the rest of the day carrying on with tidying up the area in front of the shed and round the greenhouses .When I got the leaves off the top of the greenhouses a few weeks ago I didn't go round the back of the larger greenhouse ,between the greenhouse and next door's fence so I did that today. It is difficult to because there is not much room to work and I had to shift things that I store behind there.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 18, 2023 19:51:30 GMT
Heather arrived last night and is here till Monday. As you know, I can only go on the allotment when she is here to look after Rosemary so I took the opportunity to go today, both morning and afternoon. I thought this was more important than going to the hut because we are not busy there at this time of year. I pruned the rose hedge along the bottom of the allotment. This took me all morning and part of the afternoon. Brought all the prunings home to put in the re-cycling bin. I also picked the last sprouts and pulled up the plants. They are only small but are usable. Then did a bit more weeding.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 19, 2023 21:22:52 GMT
Went on the allotment this afternoon and just carried on with the weeding. Finished the "others" bed and started what will be the brassica bed. Brought home another of the frames. Something I have not told you about my allotment this year is that I normally have a load of manure delivered in January but this year I can't have any because our usual supplier needs to use it all himself. The secretary has been trying to find another supplier but without success up to now. It won't be a disaster, though, because I have been on my allotment for 24 years and it has been manured every year so the soil should be good enough .
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 20, 2023 20:20:14 GMT
Almost another full day on the allotment. Just carried on weeding. Finished the bed I started yesterday then did some on what will be the potato bed. Brought home the remaining frame. Heather went home this evening so I won't be able to go on the allotment again for a while.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 21, 2023 20:14:47 GMT
This morning I filled my re-cycling bin with some of the rose prunings that I brought home from the allotment. Cut them up into short lengths then I could get more in. I intended to put the rest in next door's bin and one across the road but the bin wagon came before I could do it .This afternoon I decided to take the rest to the re-cycling centre along with two sacks of weeds. Spent the rest of the day tidying up the area in front of the shed where I had boxes and pots from behind the greenhouse. I raked up the rest of the leaves behind the greenhouse then put the boxes and pots back in neat piles.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 22, 2023 20:05:01 GMT
Been in the greenhouse most of the time. Took 52 chrysanth cuttings from disbud varieties and 17 sprays. Also took some cuttings off my overwintered basket plants, diascias and bacopas. I don't have much success overwintering surfinias .There are no cuttings on them and most look to have died.
Most of the dahlias on the propagator and the warming mat in the house are growing but none on the warming mats in the greenhouse yet because they are not as warm so I swopped some of the boxes over.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 23, 2023 20:23:46 GMT
It was nice for our walk at Blackleach this morning. When I got home this afternoon I only had time to go to the greenhouse and look at my seeds which I do every day. There are two varieties of flowers that like growing that weren't any of my catalogues for this year. They are Rudbeckia "Indian summer" and Marigold "Tall Scotch prize". I decided to try and save my own seeds so last Autumn I took of the spent flower heads that were going to seed from the plants and dried them at home. This evening I got the seeds from the heads and put them in envelopes ready to sow .
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 24, 2023 20:08:59 GMT
This afternoon I went to Blackleach to do my bird count. This time I took Rosemary with me and wheeled her round the reservoir in her wheelchair. She used to do it with me regularly but hasn't done so for over a year. I have also washed some more pots in my wheelbarrow under the car port.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 25, 2023 19:33:37 GMT
Washed some more pots this morning. The pots I am washing now are mainly for the second potting of chrysanths and dahlias. They are not needed till April but I am busier then than I am now so I am getting them done while I'm not as busy.
We went for another walk this afternoon and when we got home I went in the greenhouse and sowed some more flower seeds , three varieties of African marigolds( Space hopper, Vanilla and Marvel), Pansies (giant fancy), Echinaceas and my saved seeds of Rudbeckia (Indian summer).
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