I pulled up all the tomato plants today as blight is raging through them. We had a very wet start to the summer, which I think was the cause of the problem. I also had all the plants in the same area of the garden, unlike my normal practice of spreading them around.
Our refuse collectors have been on strike so the garden waste bin has not been emptied for some weeks. Fortunately there was still some space so I cut up the tomato plants and put them in the bin.
I've waited until now as May has been very wet and cold so far. The weather is warmer today and the forecast is that the improvement will continue over the next few days.
I pulled up weeds that were growing between some paving slabs and discovered a Hellebore seedling was among them. Despite it not having any roots I put it in some compost to see if it will survive.
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| Prior to potting up |
I potted up the Marmande and Gardener's Delight seedlings. Haven't potted up any of the Ailsa Craig - the second sowing seeds are now germinating.
The tomato seed I sowed on 31 March failed to germinate. On 18 April I uncovered the containers and found the compost was dry. I had assumed that, because there were drips of condenastion on the inside surface of the clingfilm, the compost was moist. I added more water, and eventually most of the seed, including the coleus, has germinated. However, there is only one healthy-looking Ailsa Craig seedling (this may well have something to do with the small 3 caterpillars I've found in the compost), so today I sowed a few more.
The courgettes have germinated - I've put the bigger one outside in a crate.
I cut back the plant using garden shears. I'm hoping it will generate some new growth.
Tomato varieties Ailsa Craig, Gardener's Delight and Marmande, Courgette variety Astia.
