The Lysimachia is in full flower this week (although they have been producing flowers over the past 2 weeks). The Jumbo is still far superior to the Mambo which is still showing leaf necrosis and chlorosis. They are also apparently very prone to spider mite? The second planting of Asclepias “Apollo Orange” is now in […]
Week 34 & 35 (2018) Update
Some of the Scabious that were cut back in week 33 have started to shoot again but some are very slow to recover. It will be a few more weeks before we know if the “hard” cut to the ground or the “soft” cut leaving about 50cms of foliage is the most successful. As stated […]
Downy Mildew Sensitivity testing – update.
We have today received the report of the sensitivity testing that FERA have been undertaking for us and it makes very interesting reading. Firstly just a quick reminder that these tests were undertaken on isolates from 5 nurseries (2 in Norfolk and 1 each in Lincolnshire, Northern Ireland and Cornwall) using 9 different fungicides. The […]
Week 33 (2018) Update
This week the Lysimachia started to flower and there are major differences between the Jumbo and Mamba. The Manba is showing leaf chlorosis and necrosis as well as some stunting (see left hand photo) whereas the Jumbo is very even and not showing any problems. As these are being grown side by side there is […]
Week 32 (2018) Update
Most of this week was taken up with the preparation for the Open Day and of course the actual Open Day itself on Wednesday. As usual we had a very good turnout with the presentations being well received and the tour of the trials generating a lot of discussion. As always, the hog roast also […]
Update on the column stock Fusarium susceptibility variety trial.
Management of fusarium wilt in cut flowers Fusarium wilt impacts a number of cut flower species, but is a particular problem in cut flower column stocks, requiring growers to regularly steam sterilise soils to keep the pathogen in check. New work as part of AHDB funded project FV/POBOF 452 is looking to detect and quantify […]
Week 31 (2018) Update
The first planting (week 20) of the Asclepias are now in flower and have produced some very attractive blooms. However there is an issue with water uptake (owing to the latex in the sap) and this is now being investigated in order to assess the vase life potential of this crop. The lily crates were […]
Week 29 & 30 (2018) Update
The Veronica started to crop in week 29 and it is now clear that pinching at different times has achieved exactly what we wanted with the white and pink ie the first pinch cropped throughout week 29 and 30 with the second pinch coming in later. However this was not the case with the blue […]
Week 28 (2018) Update
Firstly an update on the stocks downy mildew trial at FERA. Phil Jennings has successfully inoculated seedlings with spores from a number of column stock downy mildew samples from growers and are now bulking up the second round of seedling in order to provide enough inoculum to start the actual sensitivity testing in the […]
Week 27 (2018) Update
Oh well you can’t win them all and Orlaya Grandiflora certainly seems to fall into that category. Back in week 20 we planted some superb large plug plants of this species (see top left hand photo) which initially grew away well and started to flower after about 3 week (see top right and photo) and […]
