CULTURAL DIARY   2017

Ron Aldous

Growing Begonias My way

February

Hi everyone, the time has just flown by since I wrote the last article for the bulletin, so I will crack on and bring you up to date to where I am to date.  The weather with me has not been so bad a few odd days of frost, nothing to hard clearing quickly then some showery days with odd days of sun so not bad.

In the last bulletin I mentioned I had washed lots of canes around 1,000 well since then I have been washing pots 9-11-13cm 1.5-2-3-5-7.5-10ltr about 850 plastic 150 clay, some scrubbing, I scrub them all dry first to remove most of the muck (1) and then I wash then in Jeyes fluid see pictures more earache from my wife (2)  who can not stand the smell.

 A little about my plot now.
I have a south facing plot with my greenhouse running North South which (3) is 30ft/21ft two pitches 8ft at the eaves, it is a commercial one which if needed can be extended both ways if required. I also have a 28ft /7ft shade house (4) in which I grow a few cut blooms and my cuttings. I started most of my cutting tubers off on the of January (5) and my Cut-Restricted-and Multistems the last week of January,
( 6)  Around about forty of the cutting tubers have started just odd one or two of the others. The compost I used for starting them off in was half JI2 last years 7/8 and half Irish peat no fertiliser added.   The first few days of February have been quite settled so I have been at it in the garden clearing up around my border plants and pollarding two ornamental trees, that was five good trailer loads to the council skips just a few miles away, good job done.

A couple of weeks ago I had my delivery of compost from singletons 100 bags made up to my spec,  six loam four peat Irish moss, two sharp grit made up to JI No2.5.  The one thing you can be sure of with Singletons is that it 100% fresh that for me is important.  I have had Tom Hunt down and a couple of other chaps down to collect theirs, the rest I will need for my Begonias and Chrysanthemums.  Talking of Chrysanthemums I have already taken 100 plus in four weeks’ time they should be ready to pot up into three and half inch pots. I am keeping my propagators at 70/75°f and the air temperature around 45 degrees, I would like to run at 50°f but for every 5 degree lift it doubles  the cost or so I am told.  This Saturday is our AGM so I am looking forward to meeting some of you their, so tat ta for now speak to you all next month.