Posts

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 I am growing sesame for the first time this year. It's a beautiful and very useful plant. I never grew it before so i made lots of mistakes. I planted them into the ground while they were still very small and then i lost 15 out of 20 seedlings to slugs and snails in the polytunnel. This one is about to flower soon and the next one too. I have only 5 plants from 4 different varieties (one variety i have two plants left) whereas i planted 20 plants 4 each of 5 different varieties With a bit of luck i might get some seeds of all remaining plants i hope.
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Feijoa. Photos of my plants, planted very close on pourpose thanks to Miyawaki. They will create a hedge and since all plants are seedlings the close planting miyawaki style will enable much easier selection. Anyone can enhance/adapt/make grow better any given plant by sowing diverse or cross-pollinated seeds from several varieties grown together and then selecting the best fruiting individuals and either taking them out or cutting back the other less good ones around it.
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 Avocadoes. I am trying to grow avocadoes in my polytunnel and outdoors. I managed to obtain Del Rio avocado seeds and 5 seedlings are growing under plastic. They survived the winter but the smaller ones suffered more than the larger ones so i wonder if it's the seedlings size or if some are hardier.  This is the biggest and also the best looking Del Rio seedling after the winter. It had the least leaf damage. One of the two small seedlings that both suffered most damage. And the second small one. Then there is two medium sized ones  They both look pretty good so i am asking myself if the size determines hardiness or if hardiness determines size.                                In other words, has the largest of the 5 seedlings the least leaf damage because it's larger, (and then the other ones could be the same when they get bigger) or did its inherited frost resistance help it along all the way and that's why it's the best one in shape? In any case here is a picture of
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 Mirabelle plum seedlings after the winter. They survived frost that killed all my cherry seedlings. Now i continue to be interested in whether i will get good fruiting trees from this mass sowing. There is about two hundred of them. My plan is to plant them very close in rows and have the rows make hedges. Then by maintenance the place where new varieties were selected can be transformed into a productive fruit giving wall of plums. So far the idea anyway. When you take a closer look diversity can be seen in the seedlings appearances.
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 Feijoa. The vlies was blown off, but all seedgrown Feijoa's look very good. We had a strong frost recently. They were protected with P17 vlies. They all look very good, even the small ones. Feijoa seedlings doing ok. Over a hundred seedlings were planted outside.
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 Fagus sylvatica tortuosa. My two largest dwarf beeches are continuing to grow despite being nibbled on by deer. I need to protect them better. The shapes are unique and beautiful.
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 Araucaria araucana. Monkey puzzle. I took the special little seedling and one other normal one of the same height and potted them up and took better pictures. Now the difference is much more noticeable. All the other seedlings have long spiky ordinary leaves like the plant on the left. The leaves of the mutant seedling are much shorter and are growing closer more upward next to the trunk. The effect is that they prick your fingers much less when you touch them and they seem softer. Example of a normal seedling of the same height. The mutated seedling in comparison. It doesn't look like a monkey puzzle anymore. I will try and look after it well. I hope it will be female one day. It seems much easier to just sow its seeds than to collect its pollen and try to cross it then. In any case that won't be until at least 20 years from now.