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late flowering cherry - care
2 years back when I moved into a new house I planted a late flowring
cherry, it is not doing as well as it might having been badly attacked by aphids and having to put up with a poor clay soil described by the builders but no one else as top soil. The extreme and almost continous rain my areas has had to put up with over the last 2 years hasn't helped. It was planted in a peat based compost with added sharp sand and was fed with "Fish Blood and Bone", it is well supported and hasn't been pruned. I was think of using potash rich feed but is this a good choice and when should this be applied. ? |
#2
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late flowering cherry - care
2 years back when I moved into a new house I planted a late flowring
cherry, it is not doing as well as it might having been badly attacked by aphids and having to put up with a poor clay soil described by the builders but no one else as top soil. The extreme and almost continous rain my areas has had to put up with over the last 2 years hasn't helped. It was planted in a peat based compost with added sharp sand and was fed with "Fish Blood and Bone", it is well supported and hasn't been pruned. I was think of using potash rich feed but is this a good choice and when should this be applied. ? I'd suggest that you add the fertilizer in the spring, and consider spraying with an insecticide if the aphids are really doing that much damage. If the growth is very poor, consider using a liquid feed and spray it on the leaves once they have emerged. There are organic and non-organic fertilizers that you could use. If you want to stay organic you could mulch with some farmyard manure or home-made compost at any time of year. Organic fertilizers such as manure tend to break down only when the temperature is reasonable, which is when plants are growing and need it. During the winter the fertilizer will just sit there till the spring. Nutrients are released when the temperature increases and microbes start to act and break down the compost/manure/etc. There's a lot to fertilizers, but this is most of what you have to worry about. If you need any further or more specific advice, just ask. If might be worthwhile buying a soil testing kit to see if there are any deficiencies, though I'd doubt it as you say you're on a clay soil. Dave. |
#3
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late flowering cherry - care
On Mon, 4 Nov 2002 09:17:57 +0000 (UTC), "AWM"
wrote: 2 years back when I moved into a new house I planted a late flowring cherry, it is not doing as well as it might having been badly attacked by aphids and having to put up with a poor clay soil described by the builders but no one else as top soil. The extreme and almost continous rain my areas has had to put up with over the last 2 years hasn't helped. It was planted in a peat based compost with added sharp sand and was fed with "Fish Blood and Bone", it is well supported and hasn't been pruned. I was think of using potash rich feed but is this a good choice and when should this be applied. ? Hi, Maybe you have over fertilised in your anxiety about the quality of the soil. Another respondent has dealt with this but I would just lay a shit load of mushroom compost around the base and let the worms and micro-organisms do the work to make the food available to the roots. It's very hard to over fertilise on this manner. The aphids will have much more detrimental if the plant is weak for some reason and will set up a vicious circle which won't much be helped by chemical insecticides which will destroy, to boot, all the natural predators. Have you thought of giving it some "companions"? I believe there are various companions which deter aphids. I don't think it's just the plants themselves but the organic compounds they put in the soil and then get taken up by the plant to be protected - thereby making it less appetising to the blighters. I believe garlic is a good companion for this purpose so I suggest an under planting of this - not the bulbs from supermarket shelves (Mediterranean) - but a hardier variety (sativum?). I believe other pungent plants such as Artemisia and Chamomile have a similar effect. Then, as the cream topping, plant a clump of a sacrificial herbaceous plant nearby which will attract on to it the aphids. Different aphids for different plants however. Are there any other plants in your garden which sometimes get the very same aphids (look at them with a magnifying glass). If push comes to shove, try a clump of nasturtiums but with these the aphids will probably be vying for the meal with black fly. Once everything is back in balance you should have a colony of predators such as hover fly, lacewings and guzzling ladybirds which will dine, thrive and multiply on the bugs they find on the sacrificial plant and pick off any that stray onto the Prunus. You never said which variety - some are more susceptible than others. It's worth a try to work with nature rather than against it. Grow a little garden. Hussein |
#4
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late flowering cherry - care
On Tue, 05 Nov 2002 00:11:42 +0000, Hussein M.
wrote: .... just adding something having browsed Bob Flowerdews impossible tome (impossible because the info is so scattered). What I wrote below is fairly o.k. (except of course black fly are themselves aphids). Other plants as aphid deterrents: Chervil, Coriander, Dill, Anise Mint (especially pulegium or "Pennyroyal" which has been known as a deterrent since time immemorial). Mint also discourages the ants which farm certain species of aphid). Hosts for beneficial predators (hoverflies etc.): Wild or German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) sometimes known as ''scented mayweed" but the commoner Chamaemelum (syn. Anthemis) nobile is probably just as good. Limanthes (poached egg plant). Dear Bob recommends planting it everywhere! Sacrificial plants are a bit of a problem unless you know which aphid is the cause of the infestation. Hope this helps a little. My choice - do it with plants rather than chemicals. Your call - do you want your insecticide to arrive on the buzz of lively wings or the deathly silence of thisamine thatsate? Oh yes, if you plant Artemisia close by, the ''Southernwood" abrogatum (I find the smell quite bracing) rather than the more foul "Wormwood" absinthum. Tarragon is an Artemisia as well. Loads of garlic though some of the prettier alliums may serve just as well. PFAF database here I come. I myself have a newly bought Prunus to protect and my roses have proved to be a little prone (chemically over fertilised by the prat I used to be). Grow a lively garden. Hussein Have you thought of giving it some "companions"? I believe there are various companions which deter aphids. I don't think it's just the plants themselves but the organic compounds they put in the soil and then get taken up by the plant to be protected - thereby making it less appetising to the blighters. I believe garlic is a good companion for this purpose so I suggest an under planting of this - not the bulbs from supermarket shelves (Mediterranean) - but a hardier variety (sativum?). I believe other pungent plants such as Artemisia and Chamomile have a similar effect. Then, as the cream topping, plant a clump of a sacrificial herbaceous plant nearby which will attract on to it the aphids. Different aphids for different plants however. Are there any other plants in your garden which sometimes get the very same aphids (look at them with a magnifying glass). If push comes to shove, try a clump of nasturtiums but with these the aphids will probably be vying for the meal with black fly. Once everything is back in balance you should have a colony of predators such as hover fly, lacewings and guzzling ladybirds which will dine, thrive and multiply on the bugs they find on the sacrificial plant and pick off any that stray onto the Prunus. You never said which variety - some are more susceptible than others. It's worth a try to work with nature rather than against it. Grow a little garden. Hussein |
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