Features
Never say die!
We are now at the peak of what has been an unusual growing season. After a warm sunny April when crops got a good start, conditions changed dramatically. Overcast skies and unseasonably low temperatures became the norm with night temperatures dropping as low as 4°C in early July.
Crops which need higher temperatures are struggling to give their best, to say the least. An obvious sign of poor growing conditions could be seen in poor weed growth - a small plus!
Cucumber Care
Certain things will help the grower to get the most from his crops in difficult times. Our cucumbers started cropping one week into June and all looked well for a bumper crop. By early July the leaves were discoloured and vigour absent – the tell-tale signs of small cucumbers browning at the flower end was an indicator of stress. This was accompanied by poor side shoot growth. So what can the grower do at this point? The first thing we did was to apply compost around the base of each plant and then all rotting small fruits were removed with a scissors – this can be several hundred in a tunnel of cucumbers. Good cucumbers were harvested each day at a modest size to avoid extra strain on the plants. All misshapen fruits were also removed. We are now into early August and the plants are still yielding a modest crop despite the fact that the plants look as they should in mid-September, so all is not lost.
Tomato Tips
In the tomato tunnel, cherry tomato plants look well but ripening is slow to date. We have just finished topping the plants at about one foot over the cropping bars to get as many trusses as possible and still have them ripen before November bites. The important point at this stage is to remove all unnecessary growth, which can be a substantial job in a full tunnel with all crops crying for attention. Watch for suckers growing from the base of plants and long side shoots at the top of plants which will slow ripening and knock the plants over. Once these jobs are done, ripening should begin in earnest. Make sure also that plants have adequate water to avoid splitting, but water with care to avoid fungal diseases. I sprayed mine regularly up to two weeks ago with liquid seaweed for extra potash and trace elements. Organic tomatoes are always in high demand, so extra care will be well rewarded.
Sad Salads
On the salad scene, in a difficult growing year, good disease resistant varieties are a must. With lettuce, sowing extra to cover losses which are inevitable is essential to maintaining a consistent supply for your customers. During the cold conditions of May/June we were losing plants regularly to botrytis but, by budgeting extra into each sowing, we were able to keep up supply. Care with hoeing is important to avoid damage to plants which lets disease in.
If tunnel crops look very poor at the end of August it may be worthwhile to pull them out and replace with a winter crop of lettuce, spinach, rocket, mizuna, winter purslane, scallions and so on. Get these in while growth is still good – who knows, perhaps an Indian summer beckons!
Gillian Westbrook has been appointed to the new position of
General Manager with IOFGA. Coming from a background in the regulatory area...
