As part of my morning duty of checking and watering the Twin Span polytunnel I cut back some Cyperis papyrifer plants as they had been scorched by frost when the boiler broke down over a month ago. New shoots are starting to push out, the scorched parts of the plant has also been riddled with a kind of suckering insect - probably aphids - as it was what looked like their scales all over the place.
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| Photo 1: Cyperis papyrifer cut back. |
Sowed more lettuce 'All the Year Round' and 'Sweetheart' lettuce seeds for an educational workshop of pricking out - like last time 5 seeds spread out in a 9cm pot on the surface, sprinkled lightly with vermiculite. They don't need heat to germinate, but these were put on the heat bench to quicken their germination. All compost for seed sowing are watered with Serenade (a bacterial based fungicide) - 10ml per 1 litre - the big watering Haws cans are 70L so we mixed in 70ml with these, it smells strongly medicinal - the same kind of acridity as something like TCP.
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| Photo 2: Everytime we used mixed up a watering can of Serenade we had to tally it up, these numbers will then be recorded periodically. |
I also helped prick out some Limonium sinuatum 'Fortress Mix' - a colourful mix of Statice and Scabiosa 'Oxford Blue' in bigger than usual 8 x 8 jiffy pots as these are expected to grow big quite quickly. After seedlings are pricked out, if any are left and are required (if initial seedlings pricked out run the risk of dying or more are needed), then a red tape is put on them and put in the pricking out area. The plants pricked out are placed in Doug's cooler house of around 10°C.
Prop. had their weekly department meeting, bio control is starting with Aphidius ervi and A. colemani - parasitic wasps that prey on aphids (some signs of it are the type that is sprinkled on top of plants and looks like vermiculite), so they are putting the temperature up in the houses twice a day for a short period to help get them going and moving around, otherwise at this time of year they stay put where they are sprinkled and are ineffective. Before this if we spotted any aphid attack in the smaller quantities they are found during the cooler months, we squished them by hand when we saw them. Hefty pinching out of plants in Doug's house is also now required. Next week will be the start of the 'silly season' where situation will turn and change very quickly, seeds can germinate in a blink.
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| Photo 3: Beautifully deformed Abutilon leaf possibly from aphid attack. |