The first tomato we picked weighed 1.2 kg, with another whopper a week later. The tomato season had got off to a flying start. Sadly, these triumphs were short-lived; by the beginning of September we saw a few leaves turning brown, and during the following days the blight spread, not only to the leaves but also some tomatoes and the stems. We picked off everything that had been affected by the blight, and over a couple of weeks all the leaves were gone and several of the biggest tomatoes. Then the weather changed, the sun shone and we were able to pick a respectable crop.
From your comments, many of you had the same problem, and wondered if there was any cure. The short answer is No, but there are several things that might help. Firstly, for indoor grown tomatoes, try to keep the air circulating; don’t plant too close together; water at the base of the plants and don’t wet the leaves. Some people claim that spraying with a weak solution of baking powder and vegetable oil, while it won’t cure blight can help to keep it at bay. The are some varieties that claim to be blight resistant, although evidence for this is mixed. The best solution is to pray for a dry sunny summer with very low humidity. Maybe next year?
The slugs had a field day with some of the young runner bean plants, so we’re not overwhelmed with the usual barrowloads, but enough survived to produce a good crop later in the season. The climbing yellow French bean ‘Neckargold’ did even better, and since this bean remains tender and buttery even when the pods swell with the beans so could be left on the plants far longer than most varieties. Courgettes started well but tailed off and we never had to contend with unwanted marrows appearing overnight. By contrast, our one dwarf cucumber was more than enough to keep us going for weeks, and beetroot seemed to enjoy the low – key summer weather.
The weather had a generally more adverse effect on the flowering plants. Our tub of Osteospermum were planted to cope with the continued dry weather but suffered as the skies turned and remained grey. They come from South Africa, so this year definitely did not make them feel at home. We grew a lot of **f and they successfully evaded the ever hungry slugs to grow into strong plants. They brightened up the border, except for several that produced a lot of buds and not a single flower. Curiously our Agapanthus that like Osteospermum originate in southern Africa seemed quite unaffected by the dismal weather and flowered as prolifically as ever. I always used to think they were difficult to grow, but obviously I was wrong.
Garden jobs
Final cut of lawns. Last chance to trim hedges. Continue or start planting spring bulbs- except tulips which are best planted in November. Cut back faded herbaceous perennials and add them to the compost heap, unless you’re too busy, in which case leave them until spring so that they can be used as winter homes for insects. Seed heads left throughout winter look nice when covered in frost and are good for the birds.
passing of Mavis Farrer, on November 2nd. at the age of 98 .
