The first flush of the overwintered Veronica was cut down this week. The trial was originally planted at a density of 25 per sq/m but they have now been thinned to 12 per sq/m in order to ensure more air movement and hence make powdery mildew control a little easier. The stem length (over 1m) and stem strength have been excellent but powdery mildew has been an issue. This flush also suffered from a high degree of fasciation (see top right hand photo) with around 30% of the pink showing the problem. We would be interested to hear from anyone else who has seen this problem this year because it does seem to have been an issue with garden plants as well.
Downy mildew has been a bit of an issue since the wet weather last week and growers should ensure that they maintain an appropriate spray programme as per the guidelines given in the CFC/AHDB technical note produced last year which can accessed vis the link below.
