Terry Walton is tackling the weather and pests on the allotment
And then there's the nice dilemma of having to squeeze in those gifted plants
The weather is rather mixed up at the moment, as the April showers have appeared in May! Still, this rain is a welcome relief and no ma er how much you water by hand it’s no substitute for the ‘real thing’. The plants that have been si ing there in expectation are now relishing the soaking they’re ge ing. The only concern at this time is the breezy, cold conditions, which are giving the broad beans a hard time. They’re swaying about in the wind and the bees are at rest, so li le pollination is taking place, with a degree of flower drop on the lower end of the plant. The crop that relished the previous warmer than average conditions is the strawberries. These are laden with small fruits, about a month ahead of expectation. When all the flowers are set I net my crop to prevent the marauding birds taking too many. They’re up earlier in the morning and would feast on the luscious red fruits before I arrive at the plot, depriving me of my strawberries and cream tea! It looks like I’ll have finished my crop before the traditional picking time.
Companion planting is the one technique I’m never very successful with on the open plot. Planting carrots among onions to deter carrot root fly doesn’t seem to work on my hillside space. Interspersing crops with aromatic herbs also seems to fail to put off the various pests who thrive on my growing plants.
There's one place, though, where I’m more successful and that’s in the enclosed confines of the greenhouse. Among my tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers I plant Coleus canina. The strong aroma of these plants in the damp, warm conditions of the greenhouse does keep the whitefly at bay. When you brush past them they release a distinctive smell, which confuses the pests that would normally take residence in the shelter of the greenhouse.
One of the difficulties on an allotment is saying no to gifts of plants from other plot holders, even in these socialdistancing times. I often arrive at my plot to find plants left outside my greenhouse door like an orphan with a note a ached!
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes these are welcomed and needed, but at other times they give you problems. I’ve finished my tomato planting and then a new variety appears at my door – I take them in and try to squeeze them in my already crowded greenhouse.