James Hutton Institute

HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH ON OUR DOORSTEP

The James Hutton Institute, (formerly known as the Scottish Crops Research Institute) is based in Invergowrie, and has been carrying out research into food crops for over sixty years.

In the early years it was recognised that agricultural productivity was very poor due to pests, diseases, weeds, growing systems and poor yielding varieties of crops. Research stations were set up all over the UK to rectify these problems, often at local levels with the Scottish Horticultural Research Institute being set up at Mylnefield farm in Invergowrie in the early fifties.

I can remember my time at SCRI in the mid sixties when research was concerned with plant breeding to create higher yielding crops, disease resistance in soft fruit and vegetables, fertiliser trials, weed control and studies into plant viruses and eelworm in potatoes and raspberries. We also had a museum collection of apple trees from all over the world to assess their suitability for Scottish conditions, and the first blueberries, saskatoons and aronias were planted.

Many problems of that time were solved, as chemical controls were found for many pests, diseases, and weeds, but today most of these chemicals have been withdrawn, creating more problems to solve.

Growing methods have also changed, so plants suited for open fields are no longer the best for tunnel production as demanded by the supermarkets.

Effects of climate change are also being addressed as Scotland suffers a wetter climate but with a milder winter.

Work is also undertaken to establish isotopes to identify the authenticity of Scottish whiskies in the battle to prevent inferior counterfeits. Isotope signatures are also used for olive oils.

Fruit crops

Strawberries no longer suffer from red core disease, botrytis (apart from this very wet year) and virus and SCRI bred Symphony and Rhapsody are very popular

Raspberry breeding gave us a heavy yielding Glen Ample, but now pressure is on to find resistance to raspberry root rot (phytophthora) as it is so widespread that growers are finding it difficult to find clean land unaffected by root rot. They are now growing them in compost bags in tunnels with Glen Fyne one of the most promising new varieties. Work is ongoing to breed other varieties resistant to common strains of root rot, while still having good size, flavour, colour and taste.

Blackcurrants are mainly grown commercially for production of juice high in Vitamin C, though many of the Ben series are excellent for gardeners. I grow Ben Conan on my allotment. It is a very heavy cropper with large sweet fruit and not troubled by any pests or diseases. The new variety Big Ben has huge fruit, twice the normal size, and suited for supermarket retail sales. I intend to plant this variety in the winter as we like to eat fresh blackcurrants straight from the bush, as well as putting them in compote and summer puddings. Research is ongoing to continue to find ways of increasing the levels of vitamin C in the fruit for new varieties. Other research is underway to tackle the problem of lack of winter chill as we get milder winters. Blackcurrants need a period of cold weather to initiate fruit buds and have been suffering poor crops following recent mild winters, which have also advanced flowering times making the young fruit liable to damage with a late frost.

Gooseberry breeding has been successful in creating mildew resistance and an almost thornless bush. A new variety is approaching release. I have harvested some fruit from these bushes and lost very little blood, whereas my Invicta bush has superb fruit, but it is a vicious bloody battle to pick the crop.

Blackberries for tunnel production include Loch Ness and Loch Tay.

Vegetable crops

Potato breeding is looking at the problems of late blight in our wetter climate, as well as increasing levels of vitamin C and other healthy traits. A new range of Phureja varieties such as Mayan Gold with enhanced levels of carotenoides in the deep yellow fleshed tubers have been created from potatoes grown in Peru.

Turnips and Swedes are being bred with resistance to clubroot and powdery mildew, such as Invitation, Gowrie and Lomond

Plant of the week

Livingstone Daisy (Mesembryanthemum criniflorum) is also known as the Ice plant as the succulent leaves have a frosted appearance. However it is quite tender and really thrives best in a sunny hot summer. Gardens are planned well in advance, so I had the perfect spot for a dwarf annual that would thrive in a dry sunny border at the top of a wall. Seeds were sown in early April in trays indoors, then after a good germination (they are pretty easy to grow) they were pricked out into cellular trays to grow on for another few weeks. Nice sturdy plants were planted out in May awaiting the long hot sunny summer so they could burst into a mass of dazzling colour. They were quite outstanding on several occasions, but this was just not their best year.

They can withstand a bit of salt spray so are perfect for maritime planting locations, and are fine for sowing direct into the soil in a normal year.

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REJUVENATE THE HERBACEOUS BORDER

REJUVENATE THE HERBACEOUS BORDER  

Herbaceous and border plants are no longer confined to the formal straight rectangular border, but can be planned to fit in with other shrubs or garden plants. However it is useful to group together plants with similar flowering times for impact and maintenance. Modern herbaceous plants can happily be mixed in with other border plants, annual bedding and annual flowers from seed. Underplanting with bulbs such as snowdrops, crocus, anemone blanda, narcissi, tulips and lilies can extend the flowering season and keep an interest going for most of the year.

 Herbaceous plants start flowering in early spring with the Hellebores, Doronicums, Pulmonarias and bulbs planted in between large meandering drifts. There is plenty of time for bulbs to flower and grow before the herbaceous plants need the space, and at the end of the season those that lose their foliage early can be underplanted with cyclamen which flower at the end of summer and come into leaf in autumn.

Flowering continues right through till autumn with the Anemone Honorine Jobert, Phlox, Aster (Michaelmas daisies) and red hot pokers. Whilst we are still enjoying these later flowers many of the earlier flowering types are now looking a wee bit bedraggled and in need of some attention.

Flag Iris is well past its flowering time and even growth has slowed down allowing disease to affect older leaves, so they really need a good clean up. Remove all old dead leaves, flowering stems and give the plant a trim. This is a good time to replant, replace and plant up new varieties. Older clumps can be lifted up and divided to keep them fresh. Use young growths with two or more prominent buds, and some decent roots. Dig over the border, adding garden compost and replant about a foot apart with the rhizomes are still visible above the soil. Make sure the transplants are well watered just in case we get a dry autumn, (it is possible!!!) Try a few new varieties from a specialist UK grower sourced from the internet.

Delphiniums, Oriental Poppies, Campanulas, Shasta daisies and other spring and summer flowering plants now need dead heading and cutting back the old foliage. Also remove any canes or stakes and ties no longer needed. Delphiniums start to plump up buds for next years flowering stems and in this wet season slugs and snails are having a fantastic time, so keep sprinkling the slug pellets or next years show could be quite diminished. Sometimes the Oriental poppies will flower for a second time after cutting back if luck is on your side.

Peonies tend to retain their foliage till late autumn so I leave them intact to build up good crowns for flowering the following year.

Some of these clump forming plants can now be dug up, divided and replanted into a freshly prepared border. It is best to fork out small plants from the outside of large established clumps as these will be the youngest plants. As the borders are permanent for several years, this is the time to add a generous helping of well rotted garden compost. I have a huge compost heap, but it is still rotting down so I will be using the Council’s Discovery compost, which is readily available, cheap, weed free and well rotted down, so very easy to add to the soil. It is also excellent for those areas of established border with a lot of spring bulbs so you can’t really cultivate to any depth. I spread Discovery compost on these areas about two inches thick and lightly fork it in taking care to replant any tulips, crocus or other bulbs I accidentally dig up. Always apply a compost mulch in autumn before any early bulb foliage such as grape hyacinths, appears otherwise you may bury new emerging young leaves.

Herbaceous plants such as some low growing Bellflowers, Campanula are excellent for ground cover to create permanent planting areas of low maintenance, lasting for three or more years, but then every so often you do need to dig up and replant, getting rid of old spent clumps. With careful selection you can establish a border with plants that need no staking. Many herbaceous plants can be quite tall so support is essential, but Iris, Hemmerocallis, some Phlox, Heucheras (see below) Bergenias, Kniphophia (red hot pokers) Anemone Honorine Jobert, Hostas and Doronicums and many others can be left unsupported.

Plant of the week

Heuchera is an herbaceous perennial plant grown for its brightly coloured foliage in green, pink, bronze, scarlet and variegated with long racemes of white, pink and red flowers in spring. It is very popular on account of its evergreen foliage and ability to thrive in most situations, and is the perfect plant to brighten up a dull corner. The common name is alumroot and they come from North America so are very hardy in UK. It tolerates winds, sea spray, dry and many different soils, but will thrive better in rich well manured soils as it can be a gross feeder. It is happy in full sun or moist shade and rarely affected by pests or diseases. Even the slugs and snails leave it alone.

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FRUIT FOR THE END OF SUMMER

FRUIT FOR THE END OF SUMMER  

The soft fruit season is just about over other than raspberry, Autumn Bliss which will continue till mid October. If autumn weather is mild they will be fine, but if the cool wet weather continues they will not be sweet and will suffer from botrytis rots. Perpetual strawberry Flamenco will be the same, i.e. it will continue outdoors till the frosts come, but although it may look terrific, it will taste like a turnip without some sunshine. Blackberries will continue well into autumn, with late varieties unaffected by early frosts, but newer varieties bred for tunnel production will rot in a cool wet autumn outdoors. My bramble Helen is very early and finished cropping in August. This year was not a good year for Helen as lack of sunshine and warmth reduced the sugar content of the fruit.

However, although the soft fruit season is ending other fruits are now getting attention.

Cherries. The new dwarfing rootstock Gisela 5 has made a huge difference to growing cherry trees. In the past other rootstocks created a tree too big to cover with a net, and on a garden scale the cherry crop from one tree is a huge target for local blackbirds, who can devour cherries at an alarming speed. My smaller growing cherry Cherokee is only five foot tall and I will train it in a fan shape keeping the height down to about six feet. That way I can protect it with a net. This year I got quite a few cherries though many were split due to wet weather.

Commercially, growers in this area are diversifying onto this new crop and planting them in tunnels to protect them from adverse weather and birds.

Peach Peregrine has finally grown away from the menace of peach leaf curl, but it has been a constant battle cutting out and removing every affected leaf. At one point the tree was almost completely defoliated, but now growth has returned and summer spur pruning is being carried out. This tree was to be fan trained, but the original fan shape has been lost with peach leaf curl disease, so I will start again and try to find a way to sort out its shape. Once again fruit drop has reduced my crop, but there is still about a dozen fruit beginning to colour up.

Apples

This has not been a good year for the Arbroath Pippin (the Oslin) as brown rot has taken one fruit after another. This disease has also affected Discovery and Red Devil, but if you remove affected fruit as soon as you see them you can stop it spreading. This problem is not usually serious in a normal year. However I did get three Oslin apples. They were not as sweet as previous years, but the strong flavour is fantastic. This is an excellent apple, and my next early variety, Discovery also has a wonderful flavour and should be grown commercially in this area. I just hope the supermarkets stock this UK grown apple. George Cave is another early apple with a distinct aromatic flavour well worth growing.

Plums failed this year so nothing to get excited about, and my pears are just completing their second years growth after grafting, so 2013 will be the first year I sample The Christie and Beurre Hardy.

Figs are showing an excellent crop, but they need a wee bit more sunshine to ripen up. Growth has been strong so some summer spur pruning is being done to allow more light into the wall trained bush and encourage next years figs to form. A high potash tomato feed also helps to ripen up the figs. In Scotland they really need a warm sunny south facing wall to succeed outdoors.

Grapes

Outdoor grape Brant has had the third spur pruning to discourage vigorous growth, (cutting back every young shoot to one leaf) and allow sunshine to ripen up the bunches. Glasshouse grapes need constant watching as botrytis can form in bunches that have not been thinned. Remove any grape beginning to rot before it spreads to others. Keep the greenhouse well ventilated and I now remove all new growths as well as some leaves to aid good air circulation around the ripening bunches.

Plant of the week

Angels Trumpet, (Brugmansia) is a large leaved tropical plant from South America with long pendulous flowers in a range of colours. They have a strong exotic perfume especially at night as they are pollinated by a night flying moth. This plant is a tree in its native habitat, but grown here as an ornamental specimen plant in a tub or flower bed. It can be lifted at the end of the growing season and dried off. Store in a cool but frost free place till next spring where it can be brought into a warm greenhouse and started into growth again. Take care with this plant as all parts are very poisonous especially the leaves and seeds. Brugmansia belongs to the same family as the potatoes and deadly nightshade and contains high levels of hallucinogenic alkaloids especially scopolamine and atropine. Traditionally, it was used in South American cultures in medicine and rituals for communicating with the dead as well as a poison in black magic.

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Reap what you sow

FRESH HEALTHY SUMMER FOOD

The allotment is now providing fresh fruit and vegetables for the table for immediate consumption as well as stocking up the freezer, and cut flower for the home. We grow a wide range of fruit and vegetables, but in smaller amounts using successions of sowings so we can eat very healthily right through the summer.

Summer vegetables

A little bit of warmth and plenty moisture has brought out the best of some vegetables. Cabbage, kale, turnips and salads have just loved this weather. Early sown beetroot was held back by the cool weather, but those sown a couple of months later got away to a good start and are now just as big as the earlier ones.

Lettuce has been perfect and I have now sown my fourth row to give us succession of cropping. Other salads are also going in where ever I can find space, such as in between my strawberry rows as this crop is finished and the old leaves have been mown down and removed together with the straw. I dig over the middle of the row about 15 inches wide and get a quick crop in before the new foliage needs the space.

I am sowing a row of Pak Choi, the Chinese cabbage which is very high in vitamin A and C. It can be used as a stir fry leaf, and is ready in a few weeks if you just use the leaves or a few months if you leave it to heart up.

Soft fruit

Blackcurrants are now harvested so the bushes can be pruned. I remove any low growing branches round the outside cutting back to the nearest fresh young shoot which will fruit next year.

Early bramble Helen is also harvested and most of the berries in the freezer.

Autumn raspberries are very late and only just starting to crop.

Gooseberries have had a great year with our best yield ever, but really needed more sun to sweeten up the fruit. We eat what we can and freeze the rest. Some will go into summer fruit compote, some will be stewed and some will give me a few demijohns of wine.

Blueberries are now cropping with a decent crop of good sized berries, but all well netted to protect them from the birds.

Cherry Cherokee gave a decent first crop, but there was a lot of split fruit which I will blame on the bad weather.

Saskatoons were later than previous years, but still yielded a good crop of berries. They are getting quite tall so some pruning to reduce height will be done once the nets have been removed.

Glasshouse crops

Tomatoes have only just started to ripen up, and two plants were so poor I removed them and replaced them with some large cape gooseberries which were getting too big for the windowsill.

Black Hamburg and Perlette grapes are looking good, (but not Flame) though very slow to ripen.

I now remove all new growths and any unhealthy looking leaves to allow good air circulation and sunlight to penetrate the canopy to ripen up the bunches of grapes.

Flowers

Dead heading is needed on poppies, geraniums, fuchsias, delphiniums, roses and any other flowers which may go to seed. Collect seed heads for sowing from poppies. Iceland poppies were sown a few weeks ago and have now germinated. These will produce plants to flower next spring.

Wallflower seed was sown in between my rows of sweet corn which were not growing strongly so there was ample room. They have now been transplanted into nursery rows to grow on ready for final planting in October.

Forget me nots, pansy and polyanthus were all sown several weeks ago and have now been transplanted into cellular trays to grow on for planting in tubs and baskets for flowering next spring.

Roses were poor on the first flush, but came back very strong for the second flush.

E H Morse, my best scented red rose has been outstanding.

Plant of the week

Phalaenopsis comes in a range of colours and is one of the easiest orchids to grow. Our white phalaenopsis lives in the bathroom so gets a warm moist atmosphere with dappled sunlight. It may get repotted with orchid compost every three or four years as it tends to grow out of its pot and may fall over. It never fails to flower in mid to late summer. They are available in numerous garden centres and florist shops, but although quite common, they reward you with a glorious display of flowers which can last for several weeks.

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Garden bees

ENCOURAGE BEES WITH FLOWERS

Not many people realise the crucial role that bees play in the production of our food and flower crops. The vegetables we grow from seed in wee packets is only possible because the crop was propagated from a flowering plant that needed to be pollinated by bees to fertilise the seed so they would be viable. Apples, pears, plums, strawberries, raspberries and most other fruit whether grown in UK or abroad still needs bees to pollinate the flowers so the fruit can set. Those brilliant fields of golden rape seed need a lot of flying insects to pollinate the crop to ensure a good harvest.

Some crops such as sweet corn is a grass type plant that is wind pollinated, and many trees are wind pollinated, but most of our food crops and flowering plants need ample bees and other flying insects to pollinate the crop.

Bees have been in the news a lot in recent years as their numbers of some species are in serious decline. Bee keepers in the business of producing honey have seen massive losses of bee populations, and scientific studies on a global scale all report declining numbers of bees.

A lot of the problems have been due to virus disease spread by the Varroa mite infecting the bees as well as the Nosema fungus, but other factors such as loss of natural habitat and agricultural crop spray programmes have not helped.

In the past there was a lot of really toxic chemicals such as the organophosphorus, parathion and malathion and the organochlorines such as DDT used for crop protection. These were excellent for killing pests, but were not specific and had a devastating effect on bees and other wildlife.

Most of these chemicals have now been withdrawn, but debate is still ongoing with existing pesticides still in use by farmers and growers. Seeds are often treated with chemicals before sowing and this can have a devastating effect on bee populations.

It is hard to strike the balance between the need to produce sufficient food crops to feed the world and protect vulnerable wildlife. If the bee numbers decline so will food crops which depend on pollination.

Bees, just like humans need a varied diet. However, it seems it should not be too complicated as they derive their protein and nutrients from pollen and their carbohydrate from nectar. This is complicated by the fact that pollen and nectar vary from plant to plant, and whereas we are encouraged to eat at least five or more fruit and vegetables a day, the bees also need a varied diet. In the past there was a huge variety of wild flowers rich in different types of nectar and pollen, but farmers have cleaned up the land and field boundaries and killed off most of these wild flowers, and urban expansion has also eliminated areas of weeds (wild flowers). Roadside verges have also been mown too frequently in the past, though economics is reversing this trend, and new verges and motorway embankments are now deliberately being sown with wild flower mixtures.

A bee’s life is not easy in a world dominated by humans, though our future depends on their good health.

A garden for bees

It helps bees if we can provide a wide range of flowers that they can use for pollen and nectar collecting. I am aware that the Berberis darwinii flowering in late April is a magnet for bees which then find my plum trees which need pollinating. Even in this cold year my peach was very late in flowering but then it was in bloom when there was a few bees around, so they helped me with the pollinating, which is normally done with my sable brush.

Apples, plums and pears all need pollinating so bees need to be encouraged into the garden. Poppies, lavender, heathers, pyracantha, fuchsias and numerous other plants all attract bees. Unfortunately a neighbour’s unkempt garden full of weeds including willowherb, nettles, dandelions, dockens and ragwort, may not be very attractive, but the bees just love these wild flowers, and probably prefer the garden where nature has taken over. You can buy wild flower seed mixtures to add into alpine meadows, pastures and hedgerows or other wild garden areas.

These just need simple management so the seeds don’t become a nuisance to neighbours.

Plant of the week

Scented Trumpet lilies produce huge colourful flowers in mid summer and a very heady perfume making them perfect plants around the patio. They like well drained deep soil with plenty humus added before planting. They do not mind a dry stony soil so long as they can get their roots deep down to seek out moisture. They can grow up to six feet tall so need staking, and be careful when getting close to them as the stamens are rich in pollen and this can stain clothes.

They are best propagated by retaining the seed pods and sowing the seed in late winter in a cold frame. Germination is usually fairly good and the plants only need two or three years to reach flowering size.

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