I went this morning with the intention of planting more gladiolus. I actually ended up planting things in the poly tunnel.
Aunty tish has shared some sweet potatoes. So these are the very things ever to be planted in the poly tunnel.
There was also some aubergines and sweet peppers sat in a box.
They were looking a bit sad, but reasonably sized.
And have now been sunk directly into the ground. We have black beauty, dancer, diamond and tres hative de barbentane aubergines. As well as California wonder sweet pepper and Nigel the outdoor chilli. Have been watered in, and around the base I have put sand and the little blue pellets of doom. All of which were then covered with fleece.
There is hot patio sizzle, hot thai, and pretty purple in pots still in another transparent box. These are heavily slug damaged at the moment; and I’m going to wait til they get a bit more leafier again.
These are my second more diminutive batch of chillies, bells and super hots. The bengle, Dorset nagas and choc habanero are in the left, assorted scotch bonnets and jamaican jerk in the middle.
These were a later sowing, and they are late maturing Superhots some of them. They sit by a sunny bay window, which helps the boost up when the sun is out. But the current growth seems painfully slow.
The tomatoes are already out in the 4TB, nestled in fleece but at the moment uncovered. Have gone a bit purple stemmed; but have not keeled over.
Since they look greens and leafy; I have transferred some of the chillies and aubergines to the Wendy house. These are sat in tented fleece as it is all a bit precarious still. They look reasonably robust; and will all be going into the polytunnel anyway in about a month to six weeks.
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These are the nine other ones that’s remain. These are significantly smaller, with the two nagas, and two types of scotch bonnet.
There is growth in the four tier blowaway. The danver carrots are starting to break through and become seedlings. Have yet to see any autumn king carrots. I have never had any success in germinating and propogating parsnips, and as you can see we have a handful of babies making an appearance. In comparison to the carrots, these have taken quite a while to come through. Not uncommon to the experiences of other people. Golden self blanching celery is also coming through. I appreciate that there are lots of seedlings in the pots. Alas, sowing them seed by seed is somewhat fiddly.
chillies one
chillies two
chillies three
The chillies, bells and superhots are taking great strides. There is of course a variation across all of these given when they were all sown. Nigel, Pretty Purple, seranno, patio sizzle and hot thai are reasonable stout. Whereas as others, the hots and superhots, are actually quite slow growing. Early Jalapeño, Nigel, hot patio sizzle are starting to flower, which could actually be a sign of stress. All of these, are very, very thirsty. I observed that last year with the pretty purple rainbow chilli. Need a litre every other day, otherwise it would shed its leaves and flowers.
Arise of the triffids, the first batch! These are of course the aubergines. Early long failed to make it. So we have tres hative de barbentane, diamond, dancer and black beauty. Very, very leaf, and velveteen. Suggests that they are quite delicate at the moment. The aim, is to have them planted into the poly tunnel with the chillies and bells at the end of May. Prior hardening off will be required.
In other news, marketmore, femspot and crystal lemon cucumbers are germinating both in the four tier blowaway and the window sill. Hoping to sow runner beans and sunfloo’ers at some point. There will have to be rotation amongst the wendy house and four tier blowaway.No cabbages and brassicas yet. Though we did harvest some purple sprouting broccoli.
A heaving gallery of pictures for you today. Today’s session started with mama h and I sinking corden trees. These Victoria plum, conference pear and falstaff apple had been in pots for nearly two years. However these were proving to be too small. So these are now sunk into open ground. Hopefully this will contribute to them doing better. Also tidied up the inside of the poly tunnel. It has been up to
30 degrees Celsius in there, with my glasses steaming up as I go in.
The next task was to pot up tomatoes. These were starting to become tall and gangly beyond their baby leaves. Some of their foliage is now quite frilly.
Taking a quick look at the peppers and aubergines. Had to some emergency potting up these week, with both of them as they have an accelerated growth spurt with the spring sunshine. There are quite a few aubergines, I know. Mama h quite likes them, so it will be interesting to see if they fruit. All being well, chillies and bells will be in the poly tunnel. Dorset and bengle nagas are small, but growing. Pretty purple rainbow chilli is romping ahead with its purple tinged leaves, with early jalepeno hot on its heels.
The Superhots are coming along. The challenging Jamaican jerk has made an appearance, as well as orange habanero. Hot scotch is also present. We are still waiting on yellow scotch bonnet, but I am not holding my breath for that one. The California sweet pepper isn’t doing too badly either. >
Tiny, but it’s here! I had serious doubts about this variety germinating; I still don’t think it has high chances of surviving. Have been keeping an eye on it for a few days since the seed case cracked. It has just unfurled it’s leaves now. Has been placed on the warm window sill with a food bag.
This rather frail dainty looking creature is an orange habanero. He is rather dainty as he has just exited the heated prop, it makes for seedlings being rather spindly. He is now sat on the window sill, within a insulating foodbag in a gravel tray. Out of six sown, this is the only one to come through as of moment. There is still one yogurt pot left in the heated prop.
Having sunk lots of hot peppers, I had neglected to sink sweet peppers. An emergency sowing was sunk on that realisation. Six seeds were sank into yogurt pots and placed upon a window sill. I didn’t put these into the heated prop as it was full. And you can tell the difference. That which comes out of the heated prop, is usually a thin wiry seedling. These have a much thicker seedling and look far more robust. These are staying in the window sill. I have added a few more bits of dirt, to help bolster the seedlings. I wouldn’t want them to keel over know. I think there is there a fourth seedling in there ready to sprout. The seed case has visibly cracked.
The last few days has seen mild spring like weather. Weather that window sill babies have been basking in; least of all the chillies. I am growing the chillies from cold, I am not using grow lights or heated mats. This means that the chillies are perhaps a little smaller, and their growth rate is little below than those with grown with sophisticated equipment. So one has a bit of capsicum envy.
See I know full well that at this time of the year, chillies will be diminutive. A couple more weeks, and they will start to pick up and plume. That does feel a little like a distant memory, and it’s quite a leap to fully fledged, foliaged plants ready to be transplanted to the poly.
Whilst the sun is out, the chilies are loosely lidded with a prop cover. They are sat on reflective aluminium foil to help absorb some heat and light to keep the plants from getting too cold at night and then keel over. With the second Superhots are sunk, I would like to be optimistic. However I’ve been told that Jamaican jerk is very difficult!
Have realised that the windowsill babies are getting on a bit. Some of the seedlings have started to grow past their baby leaves, albeit a little slowly. The aubergines have been growing quite quickly compared to the chillies. Thought I might as well pot everything on.
Seedlings are still a little small; but it is still very early. Perhaps won’t have more accelerated growth til later. I have for the moment removed the foodbag cloches. Just hope things don’t got pair shaped!
horticultural 'obbit 