NOVEMBER

Even though it has been sunny at times, most of my plants only need watering once a week, so I have increased feed to full strength No 3.

Below is a photo of a plant that had quite a lot of the old root ball removed as described in the October section.  This was done three weeks ago.  As you can see the roots have romped away in the fresh compost and found their way to the bottom of the pot already.  This does show that this method really works.  By doing this one does get a few yellow leaves. I go through every plant and remove them, checking for any pests at the same time. 

                                DECEMBER

It was a mild November here so I delayed putting the bubble wrap insulation in the greenhouses until this month.  All the sides have been done, as always I leave all the roof area until the frosts come. This means that the plants will benefit from the extra light, and doing the sides gives them added protection from the cold easterly winds on the Suffolk coast. The roof area was insulated on the 12th as the temperature has taken a big dive, with the first frost on the 16th. 

I started to treat plants with Provado to protect them from pests during the winter months.  I mix it in with the feed and as I water from the bottom do it twice in succession to make sure they get enough.

I make use of this time over the Xmas period to sort out what plants are needed  for shows, and work out stopping dates.