May
May has finally seen some
movement on the begonia front, and most of the plants are now in their
final pots, I have 45 picked out to grow as pots and all are now finally
starting to grow, amazing how some sunny weather helps get things
moving. Those plants that did not produce shoots where I required them
have been stripped down and will be grown for cut flowers.
I have around 500 plants
in the greenhouse which will be gradually thinned down to allow plants
sufficient room to grow. The extra plants will be grown on in the cold
frame to produce tubers for next year.
Plants are now at the
stage to start foliar feeding with Maxicrop which takes place every
night with a Sunday reserved for Maxicrop Xfol which has feeding as
well as a growth stimulant. Plants have now also been given a feed of 1
3 1 fertiliser to encourage the root growth that will help to produce
flowers later in the year. In addition, after seeing signs of greenfly
I have been reminded that it is time to spray for it using Aphox. In the
following weeks plants will be given preventative sprays for mildew and
mite.
It is now time to start
shaping pot plants and one of the main tasks for next month will be
putting canes in the plants and trying to make sure all the shoots are
growing in the required direction. This will then be an ongoing
procedure.
Cuttings are looking well
under the mist and first 200 have been potted on to make way for new
arrivals with side shoots from the single stem plants being removed when
they are 3 to 4 inches long. The method of removal is simple a cut above
and below the bottom eye and a simple push. These are rooted in plain
peat as I have found that using compost with fertiliser added often
causes them to rot. Around 4 to 6 in a three-inch square pot. I have
found that allowing these shoots to develop does not detract from flower
size and homes can always be found for extra stock.
The greenhouse which
last month looked fairly empty is now reaching the point where it is
full to overflowing and whilst this is a good problem to have it does
increase the time that has to be spent on them and a 5 o’clock start is
now the order of the day. Watering can be done quickly with a cane and
a cup the one I use came from my Mentor Dan Ramage who came up with lots
of handy ideas and this was one of his best. It is easy to judge just
how much water each plant receives and if this correctly done begonia
growing becomes much simpler. I use two barrels that are filled using
the hose, which hold 80 gallons and in warm weather they have to be
filled every third day.
The pot plants are now
growing well and the current sunny weather conditions are conducive to a
high nitrogen feed and this will be given using a 50/50 mix of mono
ammonium phosphate and calcium nitrate at a teaspoon per gallon. The
foliage is now starting to turn the blue green colour that indicates the
plants are liking the growing conditions.
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