Lupin Update

So a few days ago I posted about one of my lupins looking like it was about to pop its cloggs (die). The leaves gad all wilted and the flowers were turning brown and limp to one side. From that post David Innes replied and gave me a check list to see if I could work out what the problem could be.... So I did. I looked over the plant to see if I could find anything abnormal above soil level other that the obvious wilting there was nothing.

I then cut one of the stems to see if I could see any discolouring or rot, nothing again. So finally I I dug it up and looked at the roots.

I didn't even need to wash the dirt from the roots to see the problem, large parts of it had turned to a squiggy mush and turned a rotten brown. And where the root met the stem it was semi rotted turning blacky brown and hollow. THATS WHY IT WILTED! The Stems were not getting water nutrition because of this rot.

What caused this, I do not know but all my other lupins will be being watched carefully. It could be disease or it could be the soil conditions i suppose that instigated the down fall of my poor Lupin.

Lupins and Fusarium Root Rot? Or something else completely!?

Its still early in the summer and I have few plants in flower, my Lupins being an exception. They are in full bloom and looking amazing as they always do. However over the last couple of weeks one of the plants has started to look really ill. Nearly all the leaves have become yellow and wilted.

As you can see from the picture it is looking in a right state, the flowers are now even starting to go the same way. As soon as I noticed I looked at the RHS website to see if I could find a cause, but powdery mildew and leaf spot the only too listed diseases didn't fit the bill. I may be wrong and being a hypochondriac about my plants the symptoms seem to point to root rot or Fusarium wilting. Two terms when applied to Lupins means absolutely nothing to me.  The literature I have found online has been rather wordy and does not state if there is anything I can do... just the symptoms and the causes. This blog article was the most indepth info i could find and probably inseminated my mind that my lupin has Fasarium Root Rot.

In any case this Lupin looks like it is on its last legs and I will probably dig it out in the next day or two. My other lupins are so fare unaffected and Iwant to keep it that way whatever the reason it is wilting on me.

Home made Sun Jar Mark 1

I had a bit of an epiphany the other day, I was in Ikea buying  buying some Jam Jars for this years harvest and some bottles for a bit of homebrew. They are buy far the cheapest around and of decent quality. The below Jar was 80 pence. When I got home it occurred to me that they would make great Sun Jars. The cost of which are quite expensive a quick google finds many at from £10 upwards. This cost me less of course... the most expensive part being the glass frosting spray. 

Garden Vlog Growth, Flowers and FRUIT!!!!!

Okay so I finally made another video, think I am a little shy! Anyway just a quick look round the greenhouse as things are really progressing in there!

Solar Lights Better than I Imagined

In an effort to remember that the garden is just not my domain but also my girlfriends I bought some solar lights. Which had been something she had talked about having, I have to say I was not that keen for whatever reason. So I parted with £15 and bought 20 meter length of LED's, simple warm coloured and not shaped like butterflies. The problem with the internet it can show you some very seductive and amazing design pictures and its not always something you can replicate. However on this occasion I am happy with what I have done. The pictures of course can't do it justice, the limitations of smartphone photography at dusk/night are all to plain!   

Indigenous Micro-organisms/IMO

I spend a hell of a lot of time googling things to do with my garden, I have have lost many hours at home and work looking at stuff, projects, plants, DIY....... ETC. I am always looking for new idea's and ways of doing things and improving what I do now. I certainly enjoy the process of looking and trying things out. It was through one of my googling sessions I came across Indigenous Micro-organisms or IMO's for short, these are present within our soil and are a good gage on its fertility. I have been over the last two years using the Bokashi composting system which employs IMO's to breakdown waste anaerobically. This process which I have wrote about previously (Bokashi Composting) creates both a quick way to make compost as well as a liquid feed rich in nutrients as well as IMO's. Its very much a winner for me, However the one and only downside to it is the cost of the Bokashi Bran itself, which isn't cheap in my opinion. But as it turns out the Koreans have been farming with IMO's for centuries and you don't need a laboratory to create it. All you need to begin with is some rice and some sugar!! If your at all interested in making your own bokashi its well worth watching Bryan McGrath's Vlog linked below.







I found that taking notes from these videos helps as they are quiet long and indepth, yet the actual process on paper seems simple. I have already begun the process of collecting my own IMO's with my bowl of rice, fingers crossed that in a few days when I look it will be full of nice white mold.

The aim eventually is to make my own Bokashi, using the IMO's i have collected and grown and then inoculating wood shavings that I already buy in for the chicken coop. I may even see if I can use shavings that I have taken out of the coop and separate out most of the manure. Its all a bit of an experiment but after reading a few studies on the effectiveness of IMO's on soil quality I think its certainly worth trying.

Finally built the needed garden gate!

I finally got round to building a gate and thus stop my girls escaping into my flower garden and into next doors garden. I have had no end of escapes and running around after excitable hens. But no more!

Instead of the above ramshackle, temporary thing I had made a gate out of an old pallet as well as two planters to sit on the wall either side of it. In the planters I have put in some rosemary and the Idea is to have a little hedge further fortifying the Chicken area!