Saturday 27 January 2018

January 2nd Week

According to My Middleton in Dig On For Victory we have 7 tasks this week :

1) Manure and Lime: More Digging. - Continue digging when possible and if the ground is suitable. Beds manured in the autumn may be limed now. Never apply manure and lime at the same time. Lime should be applied at a half-pound per square yard, lightly forked into the surface taking care not to leave it on top or bury it too deep. 

2) Onions and Cauliflower. - Do another sowing on onions indoors for planting out in May. Sow a few cauliflowers in a seed tray in heat to provide plants for putting out in April. Keep them in cooler conditions once they have germinated. If you managed to make September sowings you should now have some good hardy plants in the cold frame which will need examining to keep slug free and ventilate when the weather permits.
Autumn sown onions outside in their beds might need protection against the extreme weather conditions. Cover with a cloche or fleece. 

3) Water Lettuces. - Water lettuce that is growing in the greenhouse beds in which the tomatoes were previously growing. Prevent water from getting on the leaves. Remove any brown leaves and wilting lettuce. Make another sowing inside to follow these plants, choose a variety such as Arctic King.

4) Sow Peas in Pots. - Peas can be sown one or two per small pot and kept in a cold frame to be planted out in March.

5) Examine Potatoes etc. in Store. - Those in dark storage such as potatoes, remove tubers that are rotten or going bad. Check other root crops such as beetroot, carrot & turnips and remove any bad specimens.  Onions & shallots kept in cool airy storage, check over shallots being kept for replanting remove any mouldy or soft ones. Onions, use any showing signs of decay up immediately. If you intend to save your own onion seed, to sow next year, then choose a couple of good ones that you have in storage and put each into a 7" pot now.

6) Prune Fruit Trees. - Complete winter fruit tree pruning so that winter spraying can commence without wastage.

7) Winter Spraying. - Winter washing fruit trees involves spraying them with a mixture of organic plant oils diluted with water. Spraying can help control pests and diseases by knocking out overwintering eggs, removing debris and reducing fungal spores. It’s especially useful for controlling aphids and woolly aphids on fruit trees like apples, cherries and plums. However, you may also remove overwintering aphid predators such as queen wasps, as well as other hibernating wildlife.

last updated 14/01/2021

No comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive