June
June has started with a mini heatwave perhaps mother natures way of
making up for earlier in the year. I have only minimal shading on the
greenhouse and if plants are grown in good light from the start, I have
found that hot weather is not so detrimental to growth.
My solution to hot weather is to flood the path, this helps to drop the
temperature and boost humidity in the greenhouse. If plants are grown
hard in good light the heat does not seem to have such an adverse effect
although they do prefer cooler conditions. My solution to plants not
looking so good in the middle of the day is simple don’t go in the
greenhouse, wait till the cool of evening or early in the morning. It
has been a season of many changes and the end of July has seen one of
our hottest days on record with temperatures of over 30 degrees. A few
plants got slightly burned but no major damage to my pot plants was
evident.
Unfortunately, due to work commitments the plants have not yet been
staked but 7 weeks holiday should allow for this task to be completed
soon. The plants will be aimed to flower for Dundee Show (August 31)
and as such are now being given a half strength balanced feed at every
watering. If the weather turns duller this will be changed to a
full-strength feed as plants require watered less. The recent hot spell
has seen me using 50 gallons of water a day and whilst not onerous this
is a time-consuming task. Foliar feeding is still being done but will
stop when buds are secured. Plants have now been sprayed against mite
and mildew and most tasks are reasonably up to date.
