Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Bill and Ben, Dinosaur Eggs and Other Updates


Time for a few updates ...

Bill and Ben are both happy and healthy, and have both grown noticeably since you first saw them two weeks ago. But differences are starting to emerge.

Bill and Ben are the marigolds who are taking part in my crocks/no crocks experiment, to see if drainage material at the bottom of the pots helps or hinders the plants. At the beginning of the experiment both of them were roughly the same size, although Bill (crocks) already had a very small flower bud. Now, after two weeks of continuing equal treatment, Bill is flowering and a second bud is forming. But Ben (no crocks) is not far behind in terms of flowers, with a well-formed bud not far from blooming, and is visibly larger (though the photo doesn't show it well).

So at the moment "no crocks" seems to be winning. We'll see how things go on ...


I've had less success however with my Sunflower in a Can experiment. On the left you can see what it looked like back in April.









And on the right, here's what it looks like now.




I think I've finally identified what is wrong with my hollyhocks and mandevilla. I suspect it's downy mildew. The mandevilla doesn't seem too bad, but there's no sign of flowers. On the hollyhocks I'm still losing lower leaves , but not at a rate that is damaging the plants, which are continuing to flower. I now have two pink and two white, and four or five more in bud. I suspect that may be what's attacking the leaves of my beans too. Anybody know a remedy, apart from chemical spraying? Can't seem to find much on the web.

And finally, the dinosaur eggs. Thank you to everyone who left comments on that post, but it was clear that a lot of you didn't really believe in them. Well, you doubting Thomases, they've hatched. Click here to see ...

4 comments:

Helen/patientgardener said...

Ha ha - loved the dinasour eggs. Strange about the sunflower seeds - normally they germinate anywhere

Anonymous said...

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LadyLuz said...

Hi Sue

My hollyhocks are also playing up - they're wilting as if they haven't enough water and something's attacking the bigger leaves. Gonzalo next door has been urging the use of sulphur powder because of the high humidity lately with all the rain, sun and fluctuating temperatures. So the vines, tomatoes and now I'll try the hollyhocks have all been treated. Just put it in an old sock and pat it around. It might work.

Anonymous said...

I love your blog and I'm interested to see how your project "Bill and Ben" turns out. I'm always curious to see whether the drainage materials really works.

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