³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Q – I tried growing quinoa on my allotment but it looks unlikely to ripen.Ìý Should I persist or is this a novelty crop?

Ìý

Pippa – I’m not convinced this is worthwhile

Ìý

Bunny – Bear in mind though that no-one grew sweetcorn north of Watford before the early 1970s and that has since changed.Ìý Maybe things will change for quinoa too.

Ìý

Chris – Amaranth is a better grain and easier to grow.Ìý

Ìý

Q – When and how should a contorted Hazel be pruned?

Ìý

Bunny – You need to prune the non-growing side harder in order to encourage it to shoot more and grow.Ìý I’d be tempted to pull a few out for Christmas flower arranging.Ìý I would prune a bit in the summer.Ìý

Ìý

Chris – They don’t like heavy pruning and if you heavy prune you’ll enter a real battle with the suckers.Ìý Put a light underneath it and allow the light to shine up through the canopy and the shadows have a very sculptural affect.

Ìý

Q – Someone told me to cut up banana skins and put them around shrubs as the potassium is good for them.Ìý Have you heard of this and does it work?

Ìý

Chris – The organic matter would be beneficial but it’s better to rot them down in the compost first

Ìý

Peter – Bananas also take a long time to break down

Ìý

Pippa – Yes, they will rot much quicker in the compost

Ìý

Q – I recently bought a Madagascar Dragon Tree for the conservatory.Ìý I’ve noticed what looks like tiny pieces of cotton wool on the leaves.Ìý Is this a problem and how should I care for the tree over winter?

Ìý

Pippa – It sounds like Mealybug – a very common pest of house plants.Ìý If you look really closely at the leaves you’ll see numerous grey/pink tiny creatures that look like miniature woodlice.Ìý They cover themselves in the white waxy fibres as protection.Ìý They suck the plant’s sap so they can do a lot of damage to plants e.g. cacti.Ìý Control them by either introducing an Australian Ladybird called Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, which will eat the Mealybug, or use an alcoholic spirit on a cotton bud and that will get rid of the waxy cotton wool-like stuff.

Ìý

Bunny – This is Dracaena and I find them easy to keep inside if you give them a good watering once a week, keep on top of the bugs, and give it a feed in the spring.

Ìý

Q – I can’t seem to grow a swede on my allotment.Ìý Can you advise?

Ìý

Bunny – I imagine the soil condition isn’t quite good enough.Ìý I’d try growing in a raised bed.Ìý Celeriac I find quite easy to grow as long as you leave them in long enough.Ìý With swede, I would raise it and give it a good moisture supply.Ìý

Ìý

Pippa – Give it 25-30% sandier soil into the mix.Ìý But make sure you are able to retain water still.Ìý I would make sure the soil is well fed with well-rotted manure and some phosphate feed too.Ìý

Ìý

Chris – You need a firm soil that is reasonably heavy and quite deep (go for 90cm rather than 30cm (35inches rather than 12inches) then you’ll get strong root growth

Ìý

Pippa – Whenever it’s windy make sure you go and re-firm your plants, especially brassicas.

Ìý

Ìý

Correspondence:

Mycorrhizal fungi

Ìý

Ìý

Q – Could the panel suggest something interesting to grow in the allotment next year?

Ìý

Pippa – Sweet potatoes.Ìý Okra (Ladies’ Fingers).

Ìý

Bunny – Physalis (Chinese lanterns).Ìý Varieties like ‘Little Buddha’, ‘Peter’s Beste’, and ‘Biscuit’ – they’re all really sweet and lovely to have after dinner.Ìý Green-leaved Pyrilla.Ìý

Ìý

Chris – On Chateaux la Chaire on the Channel Islands used to grow bananas and their own sugar cane too.Ìý If you’ve got room then go with a Pomegranate (Punica granatum).Ìý Under plant that with caper berries would grow like a nasturtium around the base.

Ìý

Q – For the last three years I have hacked lumps off our mistletoe at the Winter Solstice for Christmas.Ìý What should I do to manage the plant properly? It’s hosted by an old apple tree.

Ìý

Chris – Only take one third of any one bunch in any one harvest.Ìý Make sure you have a good distribution of male and female (the females carry the berries).Ìý Reinvest the berries into the stems of the host plant.Ìý

Ìý

Ìý

Ìý

Ìý