A couple of chilling sights in recent days. Here is a text book case of blossom end rot. These tomatoes were San Marzano (the Italian plum tomato you get in tins from the supermarket). They clearly don't enjoy the Scottish climate. This was my last attempt to grow them and I have had to axe four out of the six plants I raised from seed so as to reduce the risk to other plants.
Another nightmare was the state of the potato patch on my last visit to the plot:
I have, of course chopped these blighted tops off and here's hoe it looks now:
Still on the theme of nightmares we visited Chillingham Castle in Northumberland last Saturday. It's not a National Trust Property being still in private hands, and is rather refreshingly quirky as a result. The claim that it is the most haunted castle in Britain has done nothing but good for the visitor numbers. The very first alcove I came to rather took me aback I must admit.
I had to picture this sign for the stairs up to the dungeon!
Once you got to the roof there was a splendid view of the formal garden with the herbaceous border along the ramparts.
Here's the reverse view from the end of the formal garden
with some eerie figures keeping watch.
Mystical creatures adorn the water feature in the middle of the lawn
And a bat keeps an eye on the weather:
Spooky
We seem to have escaped the blight this year. What a bizarre place.
ReplyDeleteI guess it is the other side of the coin given that we have had so much more rain than you. The earlies have all been massive so I am confident that the maincrop will not disappoint on the size front. It is just the keeping quality that is a cause for concern.
DeleteDid you see Beech Grove last week. They seemed to like a potato called Athlete which appeared to be blight resistant. I think they said it was a new variety.
ReplyDeleteMight see if I can find some for next year.
Thanks Martyn. No. I will have to add it to my ever growing catch up viewing list! Weren't the Sarpo series of potato touted for blight resistance? I tried one (Sarpo Mira?) but was not overly impressed.
DeleteAre the potatoes blighted or just died back? Mine are still in the ground and the tops have died off but they seem ok
ReplyDeleteI guess that is the key question, Dicky. To be on the safe side I remove the tops. This stops (any more) spores falling to the soil and getting washed down spoiling the tubers. The fact that we have had a lot of humidity recently and the speed of the collapse, together with the blotchy patches, suggest blight. Once it hits an allotment site it will blow from end to end so it is no longer a surprise that the potato growing season comes to a premature end. Given the size of the spuds already dug this year there is no problem with the size of the crop, just the keeping quality.
ReplyDelete