Kiwis are sprouting

Both the kiwis are sprouting new leaves which is great to see. This is the actinidia arguta I think the variety is issai. It is still in a pot but looking well

 

Growing round the door bell to

 

This is the actinidia deliciosa which was grown from a seed, this part of the plant is in shade but there are leaves breaking out much better further up on the garage roof

Wakefield today is warm and sunny and gorgeous.

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Plenty of plums

the Victoria plum has lots of plums developing, however the Dennistons superb doesnt have nearly as many plums on

I have an iris in a 9inch pot that my father in law gave me and it is surviving very well even though it is pot bound. It gets a little bone, fish and blood now and then

the Boskoop Kiwi plant is now nearly 5ft, it started off as an 18inch woody stem at the start of the growing season

Weather report - mixed weather, sunny and raining on and off all day, Wakefield, England

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What a lot of Borage

I had to smile the other day when I spotted these and I had to stop and think what so many seedlings would be. Three years ago I planted a borage plant in the same spot, it came the second year, but last year it never appeared after winter. I was a little sad as it is a nice herb and the flowers look great. I am 99% sure these are borage seedlings. There are a lots of seedlings. I had read some where borage excelled at self seeding and I fully agree with that now, this is only one spot, there is another grouping about a foot away of equal measure

This is a shot of my actinidia deliciciosa "Kiwi" plant growing up the side of the garage. This will be its third year from seed collected from a supemarket kiwi fruit. It is well on to the roof now although this shot does not show that to well

Check out my guide about growing kiwi from seed here

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Climbers every where

Here are some of my climbers and they are doing very well and I very happy with them.

This is an actinidia arguta variety "issai", otherwise known as an hairless kiwi plant. The variety issai is self fertile which is a plus

This is actinidia deliciosa "Boskoop". Self fertile and showing signs of very strong growth.

My last climber is Wisteria "Prolific", this is not fruit bearing and I still dont known if I want to keep it or not. One thing extending its stay is that it is doing very well in a 9inch pot. I cannot ask for more

All the above climbers are in pots or old supermarket flower buckets. They are all growing strongly thanks to the recent hot weather

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Peas are coming on nicely and so are most things....

The peas are growing well, these are the bijou and champion of England varieties. I am very happy with them so far and they are now outside

The Jerusalem Artichoke is also growing very quickly, I have some more at my fathers and it is only just poking out of the ground where as these are away

This is the kiwi cutting I took, not looking great, it is sat in a pot that is sat in a tray with water in constantly. I will keep posting progress

 

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It is still cold outside!!!

I noticed this week after Emily pointed out to me her spuds had suffered windchill/cold temps on a night time that the kiwi has took a bit of a nip and so has my Victoria plum tree


Actinidia Deliciosa, 3yrs old grown from seeds

Victoria plum tree

and finally the greenfly on my gooseberry bush is being beaten back in style by a friendly ladybird (or as the Americans say ladybug... I think)

I dont use any pesticides in the garden and this is why.

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Propogating Kiwi - Actinidia Deliciosa

Yesterday I was checking out the growth of my Kiwi plant that grows up the side of the garage and I accidently broke a piece off the main plant. No big deal as it is 8ft high already and growing very well.

However I would like to try and propogate the cutting. The cutting was about 6inch long with a small heal on where it was attached to the main stem. The cutting is this years growth.

I got a deep pot and filled it with general purpose potting compost. Got the cutting and removed the lower 4 or 5 leaves. I then dibbed a hole in the compost and placed my cutting in the hole.

I then watered the pot and the hole which then filled with  compost as the water ran away (as opposed to squashing the compost around the cutting) because I read "some where" this was the best way.

The pot has been left in a small container with some water in so it doesnt dry out

I have read that you can propogate kiwi in this manner. I have also read that the cuttings are best done in conjunction with using a misting unit too... To be honest, I will be very surprised if this will root but as they say. nothing ventured nothing gained

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