Gardeners Tips

A little used gardening term is ‘Remonant’, said of a plant flowering more than once in a season.

I first came across the term in an article ‘Autumn Encore’ by Simon Garbutt in  The Garden September 2003 . The main thrust was on reflowering varieties of Iris, called rebloomer at Seagate Irises.

• Where the growing season is long enough, remonant irises are bred to produce an autumn flush of flowers. In the USA where they are popular they are also known as “Cycle rebloomers”.
• Continious flowering or Repeaters are now being bred to extend the flowering period. The answer to a regular display of Iris is to choose your species and variety with care.

Hydrangea Macrophylla ‘David Ramsey’ is one of the remonant bloomers in the Hydrangea range that is similar to Endless Summer. ‘Blooms age green and red during the summer for an antique look. This one can rebloom in more climates if cut right after first bloom’.Hydrangeas Plus.com

Many perennials are regular rebloomers to the point where they are not worth calling remonant as it is our normal expectation. The exception I would make is the ‘Rose’ or to be more specific some old garden roses that flower either once a year or once in the spring and again in Autumn. By specific variety derived from parenthood some roses are remonant.

It is a regular debate whether you should leave your tomato leaves on the plant or snap them off. For intermediate varieties I am strongly in the ‘get them off camp!’

Starting to remove lower leaves 5th June 2017

Why Remove Lower Leaves

• It removes one variable in the attempt to maximise crop yield. You are growing tomatoes not leaves!
• It helps allow the air to circulate and get an air-flow round the plant that reduces the chances of blight and disease.
• The sun can get to ripen the trusses of tomatoes.
• To combat diseases caused by splashes up from the soil.
• To open  up your access to the roots for watering, feeding and checking for pests.
• To preserve NPK nutrients that would otherwise go into leaves. We are encouraged to pinch out the side shoots so amputating lower leaves is not much different.
• Upper leaves start to create shade  and with less available light the lower leaves reach a point where they draw more sugars from the plant.
• As plants grow taller the lower levels of the greenhouse become more humid increasing the possibility of disease such as early blight and anthracnose.
• By removing the bottom leaves the greenhouse  floor is cleaner and reduces any spread from soil to a plant from splashing water.
• Many commercial growers remove leaves.

Methods

• Remove from the bottom always leaving 12 main leaves. Some advocate one leaf per cluster and nearer 20 leaves are common in commercial production.
•  Let the plant retain the upper leaves or if you are worried try leaving 1 in 3 on the plant. Snap off the lower leaves in preference to cutting.
• Trim unruly, yellow or damaged leaves. I also take off the harder darker leaves that have lost their vibrancy.
• Remove leaves that seem to be getting out of control.

The start of the Leaf Jungle

Other Comments

• There is the other school of thought that all leaves are helping photosynthesis. But do you need so much leaf for your intended crop.
• As leaves die they return most unused sugars back to the plant.
•  Direct sunlight on fruit can cause yellow or green shoulders and cracking Shading can improve fruit yields.

 

 

Schizanthus pinnatus ‘Hit Parade’ growing in a conservatory at Normanby Hall Country Park Scunthope.

Facts about Schizanthus pinnatus

• Schizanthus is sometimes called the butterfly flower for the vibrant and varied colours of the flowers. Also known as the poor-man’s-orchid the blooms have that orchid type funnel with atypical internal markings and often with a contrasting eye A third name of fringe-flower presumably links to the scalped edge petals so three descriptive names to add to the binomial of this member of the Solanaceae family.
• Schizanthus pinnatus ‘Hit Parade’ is a bushy half hardy annual up to 30cm tall with fern-like leaves.
• Four main varieties of  Schizanthus pinnatus are  ‘Dr Badger’, Angel Wings, ‘Star Parade’ and ‘Hit Parade’, which display magentas and darker pinks. with its delicate clouds of flowers in pink, mauve, cream and white,
• The species currently recognized in the Schizanthus genus are:
  • Schizanthus alpestris, Schizanthus candidus, Schizanthus grahamii
  • Schizanthus hookerii , Schizanthus integrifolius  Schizanthus lacteus
  • Schizanthus laetus, Schizanthus litoralis,  Schizanthus parvulus
  • Schizanthus pinnatus,  Schizanthus porrigens, Schizanthus tricolor
• The orchid-like flowers  in shades of pink, red, cream and lilac have distinctive spotted and blotched  markings.
• Schizanthus are native to the Chile
• Pot-plant growers sow Schizanthus first thing in the New Year to be ready for Mother’s Day

…

Read More Read More