Encore 2003

Well, today, January 3rd 2003, we have had complete sun from 0900 hours (an hour after 'sunrise') until 1300 and the plants figured here really do need it. Since we planted them on December 20th there has been virtual 'darkness'

with constant rain except for a few hours sunshine on one of the days. Fortunately none of the plants have flowers out or even good buds visible in the heads so there is at the moment no risk of aborting the first truss. So we hope that conditions may improve from now on.
The variety is Encore, a version of the variety we have been using in recent years. It has more resistance to disease. We hope that it will perform well in the months to come!
Today we did the first twisting of the strings round the plants to keep them growing upright. Always at this stage they are very fragile with paper-like leaves and thin stalks. But in a month they will have grown up into adult status and will require a lot of energy to train them and keep them growing on to the first truss ripening at the end of March.
To go back to the seed sowing letter of last December click the button below. Wish us well!