This week was forecasted for the weather to be wet – and it was. unfortunately it was also the week when I planned to give the whole sea buckthorn plantation a spring clean. It is time for the plants to have their next compost tea feed; the grass and broad leaved weeds are determined to dominate the field; the Altaiskaya sickness problem needs solving; and the site needs to be smarted up for the summer.
Like all problems, the Altaiskaya issue needs taking into perspective. my father used to say that ” things were never as bad – nor as good as they seem”. So when I look at these plants of a group of 48 I have 16 that I would qualify as being critical. Critical defined as having lost 50% or more leaf, with the remainder being distorted and drying.
The problem is aphids. Small ( approx. 1mm ) green aphids which seem to remain relatively local as they have infected one group of 7 plants in two adjacent rows but not spread into other plants which look relatively healthy. It seems to only have impacted upon Altaiskaya as a variety. Even Elizaveta which has been particularly prone to problems in the past, show no signs of issues.
Having identified the problem – the solution?
The site laid out by InCrops in 2011 has 6 Siberian varieties planted in 18 replicate groups of 48 plants. 18 replicates made up of 3 groups of each of the six varieties. So this morning I have sprayed the three Altaiskaya groups with two treatments: one of compost tea/ one with compost tea with a high dose of seaweed in the expectation that the seaweed may reduce the aphid numbers. The plants are crawling with ladybirds so nature might rebalance the excess numbers of aphids. As a more radical approach I have ordered some neem spray. as an organic natural insecticide this will cure the issues and it will be a good product to have in my medicine cupboard for the sea buckthorn in the future. As it will kill all insects it will be used on the critical plants, not all of them as I see that some are recovering of their own accord.
Spraying the rest of the plants with foliar feed of compost tea/seaweed I have noticed the seasonal incoming of vapourer moth caterpillars.The treatment is manual removal and destruction. I have grown to respect these pests and even one is too many. The issue is one that demands vigilance.
Berries are starting to appear on plants. Up until now I have ignored the rooks and jackdaws. They have done a good job in clearing the ground of grubs, slugs and other insects following the mowing of the site. Last year’s experience of allowing them to strip the berries off the plants is not one that I intend to repeat. They are intelligent birds. Scaring them will need to be flexible and credible. kites like hawks; scarecrows;bangers are all possible. Audio systems will be the next degree of upping the strategy. The last resort would be the traditional root which they do respect.
The final issue for this week relates to pollination. Walking the site yesterday it looks like not all plants have berries that are setting. Last year there were berries, therefore I know that the males are viable. Some have been affected by disease, some have been replaced. It is clearly crucial that there are males to cover each 100 sq m section of the site to provide wind pollination for the females. The question is whether different winter weather patterns influence how both the males and females develop so that they are viable for pollination at the same time. There is a concern that as some varieties break bud as early as January they are not behaving as they would in their native Siberia. Therefore their development cycle might be different as well as they come through the end of winter and into the spring. Different varieties might be influenced by having to adapt to our coastal temperate weather in different ways. So in the long term some might be viable for farming in the UK some might not. I will give the whole site two weeks for the berries to properly set and then survey the site before trying to make any conclusions.
