Crow's Seedstockers on the wrong side of the tracks

[Crow River]

It was a lovely evening so I made some cages and headed to the Bramble plot. Picked up a big bag of crushed chillies on the way. Doesn't look like the bunnies have been back, which is a bit of a relief although the devastation still smarts a bit.

 

Nearly all the girls look as though they'll at least partly recover. There are a couple with hardly any leaves left that may struggle, but hey they're still alive for now. I re-did the stem repair on the big Critical, bound with electrical tape then tied a twig to the stem to act as a splint. Hopefully in a couple of weeks she'll be good as new. The other Critical has only two tiny leaf shoots near the base of the stem, I don't hold out much hope but let's see.

 

I gave them a handful of FBB as a top dress, then a handful of moist coco on top, then a wee drink of water. Then I surrounded them all with cages, using some stakes to hold them in place. Forgot to bring pegs, so that's a job for next time. Sprinkled crushed chillies around the base of each cage, and also at the spot where I think the bunnies got into the plot.

 

I'll leave them now for a couple of weeks, unless we get a sustained dry spell, then I'll do a water run.

 

BCN Critical XXL Fast x 2

 

Cages and chillies

[Crow River]

Went to the Bramble plot to see what had survived. Unfortunately, the BCN Critical XXL Fast that had been severely munched has died. RIP. However, the other girl has hardly skipped a beat and is getting bigger. I removed the splint and the twine from her stem as it had swelled up and seemed to be fully healed. I've left the electrical tape on for now. I gave her some liquid seaweed, did some light weeding round the survivors, and then the rain came down and it was time to go. 

 

[OldFord]

Rip the slug munched one & the others looking pretty happy mate 

[Crow River]

@OldFord no slugs, feckin BUNNIES. 

 

Took a wonder round the area near the plot, and under a big old tree, what I thought was a fox den is most likely a rabbit warren. I saw the blighters heading for bushes near there. It's only about ten metres from my plot... A LOT of rabbits hopping about that area this year, they've obviously been breeding like, well you get the picture. 

 

No cages required last season, but from now on my girls will be caged like Mad Max Thunderdome.  

[Crow River]

The surviving BCN Critical XXL Fast is doing great down at the Bramble plot. She's nearly 4 feet tall now, no sign of flower but maybe not too far away. Good side branching developing too. I'm delighted at how resilient and tough this girl has proved to be. Will be back in a fortnight, maybe she'll be flowering by then. 

 

[Crow River]

I was at the Bramble plot at the weekend. The surviving BCN Critical XXL Fast is doing just fine. She's grown more, about 4 feet high just now, and is at the start of flower. Remarkable recovery over the past six weeks.

 

[Crow River]

Finally made it to the Bramble plot this evening. Meant to go on Sunday, but ran out of time. Easy to do that now that sunset is getting earlier every day. Been two and a half weeks since I saw the girls. Took along ten litres of Flower Power and five of nettle tea. 

 

The BCN Critical XXL Fast is fully in flower now. Quite a few dead, dying or yellowed leaves on her - I carefully removed damaged bits or dead leaves as they could potentially spread rot.

 

Wildlife has been active on the plot. I found fox droppings, and a dead bird that was probably killed by a fox. Just left there, not eaten. No sign of rabbits, unsurprisingly given the presence of predators. One far less welcome species is the bugs (or caterpillars) that have been munching the plants. The BCN Critical XXL Fast hardly damaged at all thankfully.

 

After a feed, I refreshed the crushed chillies round the cages. And that was it. Didn't bother to weed this time as all the girls are fairly well established now and can outcompete most other plants. If it gets too out of hand I'll sort things out next time. Forgot to take my Buckwheat seeds, so I've missed the opportunity to sow a cover crop as next visit the soil will probably be too cold. Ah well. I had brought tubs to harvest brambles, but they are mostly finished, either rotted, eaten by birds or taken by me last time. A few still left, but not enough to be worth bothering with. 

 

I hope the girls have been enjoying the warmer weather and the sunshine recently, as that's probably the last of the Indian summer now. I'll be back again in a fortnight, I'm trying to keep visits to a minimum for better security, less chance of being spotted.

 

Anyway, some pics taken before I removed dead or damaged leaves.

 

Bramble plot

 

BCN Critical XXL Fast

 

[Crow River]

Went to the Bramble plot early evening to check how things are going. A real autumnal feel to the plot now, birch leaves scattered around, brambles dying back. The girls are all still alive and growing, but they're not doing that great. Nearly all of them have some capsid bug damage now, and this is starting to cause problems as the damaged tissue dies off, gets wet in the rain and rots. I went round trying to pick off dead and dying leaves again, to prevent a total rot fest. 

 

Unfortunately the BCN Critical XXL Fast, despite having hardly any capsid damage, had a few upper buds that were already afflicted by rot despite not being fully developed. I cut out what I could, but it's not looking good for this girl. You can't really see it in the photos but it's much worse up close. 

 

[Amnesialocal]

13 hours ago, Crow River said:

Went to the Bramble plot early evening to check how things are going. A real autumnal feel to the plot now, birch leaves scattered around, brambles dying back. The girls are all still alive and growing, but they're not doing that great. Nearly all of them have some capsid bug damage now, and this is starting to cause problems as the damaged tissue dies off, gets wet in the rain and rots. I went round trying to pick off dead and dying leaves again, to prevent a total rot fest. 

 

Unfortunately the BCN Critical XXL Fast, despite having hardly any capsid damage, had a few upper buds that were already afflicted by rot despite not being fully developed. I cut out what I could, but it's not looking good for this girl. You can't really see it in the photos but it's much worse up close. 

 

Quite impressive the comparison with last year.

[Crow River]

@Amnesialocal well, this is last year around the same time:

 

 

 

This year, obviously set back by rabbit damage in the summer:

 

 

Also, last September we had a lot more sunshine, and it was warmer. Last week or so has been well below average temperatures. The summer was generally much more overcast than last year too.

 

This girl has done really well considering, but she's relatively late - as are all the other girls on the plot. The forecast for October is looking pretty good, let's hope that turns out to be the case!  

 

 

[Brother B]

This weather is fucking horid