"Charlie Pridham" wrote in
:

As these plants come from Peru, I think my problem may be that our
summer is too short for them.

Are there any tricks you use to maximise the amount of light your
plants get? I'm reluctant to rig up lights in the greenhouse, but I
did wonder
if
perhaps covering the soil in something reflective might help - any
other bright ideas? Do tomatoes (which I hate!) suffer from anything
similar, or are modern varieties bred to cope with our shorter
summers?

You may also find that the general coolness of the cornish summer isnt
helping (it can be on average 10f cooler than the SE) we have trouble
with climbers like campsis for that reason.

I was hoping it wasn't that, as they are still actively growing now, and
don't seem to mind the endless fog and general coolness of a Cornish
October. But possibly they need a max temp to get them started - or maybe
it is the day length that matters. Perhaps I should try one of those soil
warming cables as well as tin foil.

Victoria