Melon Recovery

I am pleased to say intensive daily feeding of my melon plants has resulted in much greener leaves and fruit setting on the plants. The very hot weather a couple of weeks ago caused quick growth of the plant, not feeding them enough caused the plant to go slightly yellow and drop the potential fruit flowers. Picture attached of happy melon plant with fruit.

I have never grown Aubergine plants before, they are really easy and productive, no pinching out side shoots like tomatoes.

Obviously, I am very fortunate this year to have some glass to grow them under. They are really big plants, probably 1 meter tall and 60 cm wide. They would happily grow in a large 20 litre container on a patio terrace or equally in a grow bag. like tomatoes they need plenty of feed and water when the temperature is warm.

I think this year our herbaceous border seems to be under stress, maturing a little earlier than usual. We have had very high temperatures recently, high winds, low rainfall during spring and early summer all this is taking its toll on our plants. Last weekend I put the sprinkler on some of the shrub beds as the plants were wilting. I should have put on a thick mulch in the winter to retain what moisture we had. Improving the soil with organic matter will aid water and nutrient retention and provide a more stable environment for the roots of the plant.

The summer pack bedding season is nearly over, we now have more mature bedding and herbaceous plants coming into the Plant Area. There are a few vegetable plants left as we change over to more vegetables for the autumn.

The Cafe team are as busy as ever baking delicious cakes for you to enjoy with tea, either here or at home.

Enjoy your garden, if you are at a wedding I hope the sun shines.

Ashley