If you have been reading my blog over the past few days, you will know that yet again my tomatoes are having to cope with the insidious effects of weedkiller contamination. Yet despite this, the plants are setting fruit. Their urge to reproduce is very strong! I suspect that some of their fruit will not be true to type though. These weedkillers often alter the fruits of a plant as well as the leaves and stems. This next photo is of "Maskotka" tomatoes beginning to develop:
Normally, "Maskotka" fruits are round, but to me these ones look distinctly plum-shaped. What do you think?
Still, as long as they taste nice, and there are lots of them, I don't really mind what shape they are!
The chilli plants are suffering too. Not only do they hate the cool, gloomy weather, they have also taken several batterings from exceptionally heavy rain, and hail. This "Cheiro Roxa" plant has many leaves perforated by the hail.
Some of the plants are also affected by the weedkiller problem, though fortunately not many, and not very severely this year.
 |
| Chilli plant affected by weedkiller problem |
Despite all this, there are chilli fruits appearing now. This one is an "Aji Limon", on one of the over-Wintered plants that lost most of its leaves when I used the wrong washing-up liquid spray but then recovered.
This is another Good News item - all four of the side-shoot cuttings I took from a "Larisa" beefsteak tomato plant have all rooted well, and are developing into nice strong plants.
Just a couple of days ago I re-potted them into bigger pots, and with more space and fresh compost I expect they will grow quite rapidly, but I'm still not convinced they will be able to get big enough to bear fruit before our Summer (such as it is) is finished. Only time will tell.
I now have 9 pots in the greenhouse, sown with broad beans, to test different combinations of manure, topsoil and compost. In a few weeks time I hope to prove the source of the weedkiller contamination to my veg garden and polytunnel. Adversity is a good word for it!
ReplyDeleteOh no, that's such a shame!
ReplyDeleteThe Larisa (Louisa hehe) side shoot cuttings look good. I've wondered about doing that before but haven't needed any extra plants to have an excuse to try it out.
It seems so unfair that you're having to deal with the weedkiller contamination again. I hope that you finally find the source of the problem in time for next year.
ReplyDeleteI've never thought of trying to root the sideshoots of my tomatoes, but I'm going to give it a try now.
I can't believe how badly the weedkiller is still affecting your crops! Hopefully they all still taste good. I always plant a couple sideshoots up - they take so easily and before you know it, you've got a full sized plant with loads of tomatoes, without the hassle of having to plant seeds hah!
ReplyDeleteI didn't think the weedkiller was affecting your peppers - only the tomatoes with the possibly contaminated canes. Have you also used those canes for some of the peppers or would this be from another source?
ReplyDeleteA few of the chillis are showing mild symptoms. I think my home-made compost from last year must have some contamination from affected plant material. It's the only common factor. I put some of it in the chilli pots.
DeleteI'm wondering where you've got your compost from, Mark? I've been fortunate in avoiding weedkiller contamination and yet have used a combination of composts for my pots - at one point using the contents of a B+Q bag that I found under the ivy when clearing the middle garden! Otherwise I'll use what's cheap (Morrisons) supplemented with liquid nutrients or what's very good (Dalefoot peat free). Also, I'm amazed that your chilli plants are outside in the rain! Mine are sort of outside being sheltered on my balcony. I have green fruit but it's just not ripening. I was thinking of taking my chillies up to the allotment where they'll get more light, and trying to cover them for protection. (Sorry, this was a very long comment!)
ReplyDeleteCaro, I have bought compost of various types and brands - trying (vainly) to find some good stuff. The compost that caused the contamination in my garden in 2014 (I'm still suffering the effects now!) was probably Westland MPC - though Westland insist they never use green waste. These days commercial compost is so bad I think of it only as a bulking agent to fill-out my homemade stuff. It mostly seems to have poor texture and almost no nutrients.
DeleteIf there's an upside problems like this, I think it's that gardening helps to make one more fatalistic – to accept that there are some things one can't do all that much about. And, as your post shows, there's usually always some good news too!
ReplyDelete