Hairy Seaweed

Morning all,

What a difference a week makes, not quite a warm spring day but closer to expectations after last weekend's cold snap and white stuff. I should be positively forecasting a bright and jolly spring and Easter weekend coming up, to get those sales moving, but having had a quick look at the forecast I feel more comfortable predicting an overdose of chocolate and beer. Anything to distract from the disappointing spring weather so far. We're not panicking yet as the cold weather has slowed up the plant growth a bit too, so nothing has really gone to waste to date and once it all kicks off I'm sure we will make it all back up. Fingers crossed.
Managed to get the tunnel cover replaced that got ripped off during the previous visit from 'the beast' which was a relief. Although the tunnels are all net sided and are open at the ends, so they get nice and cold, the extra little bit of overhead protection they provide keeps the plants looking a lot better that when they are left unprotected and working conditions are marginally more comfortable!
We've had a very challenging time in our microprop lab over the last few months with a nightmare scenario of plants going backwards in their growth and multiplication rates. It would appear that we may have had a gradual deterioration in growth quality in there for a while but it came to a head just before Christmas when many varieties started showing signs of serious stress. The frustrating thing was that although we could see it was a problem with the media we were growing in, we couldn't pin it down to a single issue. There are quite a few ingredients in the gel we grow the plants in and we had to tested and change them all in the end, finally pinning it down to a problem with a particular make of agar gel (seaweed extract which makes a jelly when cool) when in combination with a particular make of MS salts (essential plant nutrients and vitamins). When we moved away from both, to new suppliers of each, we suddenly started seeing miraculous recoveries in growth, phew. The growth we are seeing now looks fab, better than we have seen for a while which just goes to show that (almost) every cloud has a silver lining. Now we need to rescue the plant stocks which will take a time and recover the losses which will take longer. Big thanks to all those who helped us out trying to get to the bottom of this especially Nigel at Gentech (another lab, one of the few left in the UK) and our customers who have been very understanding of the difficulties we have been facing.

Ordering POS and header boards for your trays of plants.
Our new wooden POS boards have been making the rounds over the last few weeks. Silk screen printed by my own fair hands, we hope they will help tell the hairy pot story a bit more clearly. We are sending out two similar sets, one larger sized set that can be mounted in our wooden trays (acting as a frame) or separately, and another smaller set for fitting where ever is good for you. Not everyone will have the room to use them all and some may what more than one set, so feel free to return any unused ones for us to reuse, or ask for another set if you need more. There are also a couple of small wooden latex allergy notices with each set which should be displayed to let your customers know of the latex content of the pots in case they are allergic.
We are very happy to send out our little header boards that slip into the front of each tray, whenever you want them, but in the interest of reducing waste, resources and sustainability we try not to over produce them. So if you do want them, please don’t forget to tick, or mark, the right hand column on the availability list . Thanks.

Availability highlights
Despite the wintery weather the Erysimum are looking great with plenty of bud in all the varieties now. Primula denticulata looking strong with the leaves and chunky buds bursting up through the compost. Really attractive finely cut bronzed foliage of Polemonium Heaven Scent looking fab. Buds are showing well now.Tulips are well up with Madame Lefeber already showing her red buds and flower. Pulsatillas have burst forth in a range of colours with their early buds in evidence. The Pinwheel series are supposed to be a little earlier than the straight species although this year there seems little in it. They do hold their heads a bit more upright too which can make them more showy. Over the years they both make a spectacular spring flowering clump. Pulmonaria are showing bud now, with little splash of colour in the Blue Ensign, a stunning dark blue, the others aren’t far behind with their nice tight variegated/silvered foliage and buds showing nicely with the odd splash of colour. Plenty of bud appearing on the Fritillaria now, get them while they’re hot. Muscari Blue Magic looking chunky with bud visible, it will be a little while before colour shows but the promise is there. Spring is bursting despite the cool temperatures and our Lupins have all made delicious vigorous shoot growth from around the plant base. They seem to do so well as an overwintered crop, producing plenty of new chunky basal shoots with the potential for so much flower later in the season. The Digitalis are looking strong and chunky too. Vinca minor are coming into flower doing their spring thing. Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.