Moulsecoomb Allotments & Horticultural Society

MAHS News Autumn 2018

In this edition:

1. Maggoty Apples – and Pears: take action

now!

2. Shop opening times & stock

3. Butterflies this summer

4. Autumn tasks on the allotment

5. A few messages from your Site Reps

6. The Nature Site gets bigger

7. How did your crops fare in the drought?

8. Caroline’s Radish

9. Potatoes: to water or not?

10. Seedy Sunday: a date for your diary

11. Autumn Show success

12. Waiting list fee

13. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Maggoty Apples – and Pears: take action now! by Liz Yeats

Our apple crop was good this year, well we had lots of

them. The trouble was every single one contained at least

one maggot, plus loads of damage caused by the maggot!

This can’t go on! Out with the RHS book and Mr Google.

So, what insects are responsible and what can we do about

it. It seems that apple Codling moths are the main culprits,

tiny white caterpillars with brownish heads, but also to a

lesser extent Winter moth and Apple sawfly.

Apple Sawfly: (affects apples)

Easily identified as a brown ribbon-like spiral mark on the

surface of the fruits. Sawfly lays its eggs on the base of the

flower (April- May). After the petals fall, eggs hatch, & the

caterpillar tunnels into the fruit, first beneath the skin, then

down into the core. Badly damaged fruit will fall as part of

the ‘June drop’, but some may continue to grow- becoming

scarred and/or badly misshapen apples. Caterpillars are

white with brown heads.

Winter moth: (affects all tree fruit)

Adult moths emerge from pupae in the soil from late

autumn to mid winter. Males have wings and fly, females

do not. They crawl up the trunks of fruit trees, laying eggs

on the branches, binding leaves together with a silk nest for

the caterpillars in Spring. The caterpillars that hatch in late

spring are up to 1inch long, yellow green with pale lines

along their bodies. They eat fruit blossom, growth tips and

make holes in the fruitlets which become misshapen.

Codling moth: (affects apples and pears, occasionally Quince and Walnuts)

Females fly to lay eggs onto the new young fruitlets on warm

nights in early to midsummer (May- July). They hatch 2

weeks later, and the caterpillars (white with brown heads)

tunnel into the young fruit at the eye end, leaving no visible

hole. After feeding for 4 weeks, they leave the fruit to spin

cocoons beneath flakes of bark & leaf litter beneath the tree

to over winter. A few pupate into egg-laying moths in late

summer, producing a second generation in early autumn.

How to control these pests the organic way:

Grease bands: (Winter moth) wrapping bands of sticky grease tightly round the trunk of each tree

in October catches the female moth as she climbs up the trunk to lay her eggs. It will also catch

ants and any other harmless insect as they climb your tree. Remove the band in late winter, to

prevent ‘by catch’ and to stop it restricting the growth of your tree trunk. Has no effect on Codling

moth.

Winter Tree wash: (Scale insects, greenfly, red spider mite). This is a plant oil- based tree wash,

to be sprayed on trees on a mild dry days from December to spring, to reduce over wintering scale

nymphs ‘& other insects’. Scale insects can excrete sticky ‘honey dew’ on the surface of leaves,

which in turn can attract ants and ‘sooty mould’. Heavy infestations can result in poor growth.

Spraying it on thickly, and using it repeatedly over the winter seems to be indicated. I can find

nothing to indicate this helps combat ‘maggoty apples’.

Pheromone traps: (Codling Moth). An open sided box is

hung in the tree in early May. The floor of the box is

sticky - to catch insects but not birds- and a Pheromone

(scent) pellet is placed on it. The scent attracts male

Codling moths which stick to

the box and are stopped from

mating. Result, fewer eggs are

laid, fewer caterpillars hatch.

You can probably reduce fruit damage by around 40% using this method

(says Geoff Hamilton). Commercial growers use Pheromone traps to

indicate when to spray the tree with pesticides achieving 100% success

rate.

Nematodes: (for Codling Moth, Apple & Gooseberry Sawfly) Nematodes are microscopic worm-

like creatures that infect caterpillars with a fatal bacteria. Spray onto trunk and ground

surrounding each tree in Sept- Oct. As all caterpillars under the tree will become infected

(including butterflies), keep the ground under fruit trees clear, butterflies will lay their eggs on

wildflowers and grasses so should not be present on bare soil. Nematodes will only kill your

current generation of codling moth, & not ones that fly in from neighbouring fruit trees. You will

need to repeat the process each year.

Natural predators : birds, other insects or your own sharp eyes can help by picking off the

caterpillars of Apple sawfly and Winter moth, manually squashing the eggs, and picking off &

destroying small damaged apples before the caterpillars can move on to another fruitlets or drop

to the soil to pupate.

Resistant fruit varieties:

Apple sawfly: particularly susceptible varieties are Worcester Pearmain, Charles Ross, James

Grieve, Ellisons Orange. Cooking apples are rarely attacked.

Codling Moth: no apple have been found to be resistant, though early harvested varieties may

escape 2nd generation codling moth attacks. Pear varieties with ‘stone cells around the calyx’ e.g.

Bartlet, are less susceptible as the caterpillar is unable to penetrate the flesh. (No, I don’t

understand what this means either!)

So what am I going to do?

We’ve bought some nematodes to spray (3 goes at weekly intervals during October, £20, at

Nematode Direct). We will put up some Pheromone traps in Spring (one trap plus 2 pheromone

lures, enough for 5 trees, £9 from Marshalls), and put sticky bands around all apple and pear trees,

(more than enough for 6 trees £7.50 at Wyevale.) And I’m going to cross my fingers!

Shop news

The shop is now open for winter hours from 12 noon to 1 pm. It is open most Saturdays and

Sundays – the full list is available here on the Shop page of the website.

Now is time that many of you want to sow peas and broad beans, and plant garlic bulbs and onion

sets. The shop has them all at bargain prices! Meteor peas and Aquadulce broad beans, are both

at £1-30 per tub. Onion sets are £1-00 per pot – Senshyu white onions and Red Winter red onions.

Caulk White hardneck garlic costs 95p per bulb.

In previous years, the shop has opened in winter at 11am for an hour. Many of you asked for this

change to 12 noon. If you find the new time more convenient (or indeed less so) please tell the

shop volunteers. When the shop goes back to summer hours, would you prefer to have it open

from 11am – 1pm or 12—2pm? Please let us know.

Butterflies this summer

It’s been a glorious summer for butterflies. I’ve seen so many on the allotment site. By May,

everywhere was teaming with Meadow Brown’s, Common Blue, Ringlets , Skippers, gatekeepers

and Small Tortoiseshell’s. I got especially excited by seeing a couple of small coppers on our plot-

beautiful little creatures with luminous orange and brown

wings soaking up the sun on some bare ground. We also

saw a Marbled White a couple of times, not a butterfly I’ve

seen on the allotment site before and perhaps a result of

plots with long grass in which their caterpillars overwinter.

On the Nature Site we saw a few ‘firsts’ as well, the lovely

luminous green Green Hairstreak, and half a dozen or more

Orange tips (pictured here).

Autumn tasks on the allotment by Liz Yeats

Many of you will have winter crops already growing, leeks, cabbage, sprouts, kale etc need almost

no attention until the time for picking. Cabbage family do attract, aphids - green white or black can

all infest and kill off plants. Spray with a soap and water mix, or squash them.

Lettuce and other salad crops such as Miners lettuce (claytonia), or land cress can be planted now

as small seedlings in your empty green house or polytunnel, or given protection from fleece or a

Perspex sheet hooped over them. You’ll be picking them in March, or maybe even earlier if the

winter is mild.

Onions, garlic and shallots sets: especially the hardy Japanese varieties can be planted out now.

Broad beans and peas: especially hardy varieties such as Aquedulce broad beans can be planted in

the next few months. Unless we get a really hard winter you’ll get an earlier crop, the plants will

also be too tough for the black fly invasion next Spring. Early peas should escape pea moth

caterpillars.

Trees, shrubs and perennial flowers: November is the ideal time to plant or move fruit trees and

bushes. The soil is still warm, but the plants have gone into their dormant mode. They’ll get lots of

water over winter, and should develop a healthy root system by next Spring, when they’ll put all

their energy into growing new branches and fruit.

Pruning fruit trees: ‘pip' fruit (apples and pears) are pruned over winter when their leaves have

dropped. ‘Stone’ fruit, such as plums and cherries must be pruned during the growing season

(they can repair cuts to their wood faster and avoid infection from silver leaf or canker).

Grease bands, nematodes, winter tree wash: this is the time to protect next year’s fruit crop from

maggots (see article on ‘maggoty apples)

Saving seed: bean, pea and other seeds can be collected now. Put them in a paper bag to help

them dry off, and don’t leave them in your shed over winter- the mice will eat them. You’ll not

only save money on buying seeds, you’ll have seeds from plants that like your plot, and are more

likely to do well again next year.

Compost and manure: the more plants (including weeds) you have in your soil over winter, the

less the winter rain will wash away both actual soil, and nutrients. Too late now, but next Sept

plant some green manure. Phacelia is good, so are ‘winter tares’. Mustard may work but isn’t very

winter hardy. Enrich your soil for next year by spreading your own compost or getting a ‘muck’

delivery over the winter. The MAHS web site has some suppliers.

https://moulsecoomballotments.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/manure-where-to-get-manure-

locally.pdf . If you don’t have a compost heap, winter is a great time to build one.

A few messages from your Site Reps by Maureen Winder

Keeping paths clear and safe

Please make sure the paths around your plot are looked after. If the grass gets very overgrown or

stones and lumps of earth are thrown onto the paths, they can quickly become inaccessible and

dangerously slippery. It is hard to show new tenants around when sections of paths are badly

maintained and plot boundaries can become confused.

Numbering your plot

Just a reminder to make sure you number your plot. Numbers can easily be mounted on your shed

or painted on a block of wood. If your plot isn't numbered it is possible for mistakes to arise during

the inspection process and you could get a notice letter intended for someone else.

A chance to meet us

If you need to ask us any questions or raise a concern about your plot, we will be available for a

chat at the shop on the last Saturday of each month. We will bring all the relevant forms in case

you want to register a co-worker or make changes to your tenancy agreement. Please do get in

touch by email at any time if you need help or advice on any allotment issue. (Contact details for

your Site Reps are available here )

The Nature Site gets bigger!

We have cleared the brambles from another patch of

ground and are about to make a second, larger, pond on

the Nature Site. The existing small pond has been a real

success, immediately inhabited by frogs and visited by

bees and birds for a drink. We hope that a larger pond will

attract dragonflies and damselflies to lay their eggs among

the plants - their larvae live and feed in the pond before

emerging as adults. We shall also be planting another

short hedge of native trees and shrubs, providing a source

of food for the caterpillars of several species of butterflies which visit the site.

If you haven’t visited the site, come and have a look. The entrance is from the car park by the

shop. Several plot-holders already go and sit there to watch and listen. In fact lots of people really

like the site - we’re very pleased to get help from time to time from volunteers from Sussex

Wildlife Trust and one of the City Council’s Rangers groups, and they all ask to come back! Indeed

3 of them are now regulars at our monthly work sessions. If you think you might like to join us, just

email me (Dave) or Liz to find out when the next session is.

How did your crops fare in the drought?

Like everyone else, we had to water much more this summer.

Despite that, yields were considerably lower especially our

soft fruit. For the past 2 years I’ve been recording the weight

of our crops as part of the Team Pollinate citizen science

project. Strawberries and blackcurrants were particularly hit,

weighing under half of 2107 crop. Gooseberries, raspberries,

tomatoes also suffered. Pumpkins weighed less than a third. But beans did well and courgettes

just kept coming – enough for lunch, dinner, breakfast and more!

Potatoes: to water or not?

Like most people we’ve always kept our spuds well watered during their growing period. But

earlier this year we went to a talk at Seedy Sunday by Chris Pennard from Pennard Plants, a

specialist potato grower. He said ‘No need to water potatoes’ so we didn’t!

We gave them NO water at all and they had very little rain.

But our crop averaged 1.5 kilos (just over 3lbs) per root. And

little or no scab! We grew Lady Balfour and Golden Wonder,

with a few Epicure as earlies.

Seedy Sunday: a date for your diary If you don’t know Seedy Sunday, it’s a great event

where you can swap seeds, buy plants and seeds and hear interesting talks by expert speakers.

You can find out more and sign up to their mailing list at http://seedysunday.org/

The next Seedy Sunday is on February 3rd 2019, 10:30-4:00.

Caroline’s radish!

Yes, it really is a radish - not a mis-shapen beetroot!

The Autumn Show by Heidi Green

It was wonderful to see so many allotmenteers at our first

Autumn show in a few decades. It was a lovely way for us all

to meet each other and talk about what we have grown. It

was lovely to have one of our plot holders, Nicola, to judge

along with Heather and Hannah who both have plots

elsewhere in Brighton and also the volunteers who helped

on the day like Joe, a co worker, and Maureen and Richard.

There were some fantastic

entries and huge

congratulations to Sally for her Blackberry Jam which won best in

show. She will be holding on to the silver trophy until our summer

show when it will be handed out again. We also wanted to give

thanks again to Brighton Community compost for donating some

wonderful compost and manure that were wheelbarrowed to the

winning plots.

There will be a Summer show sometime in June and a date and

location will go out in January next year. The categories for the

Summer show are now out and available in the shop or on the website so do have a look and find

something interesting you can grow for our next show. Remember there is something for

everyone in the show even if things don't do well - as Alyson can certainly vouch for after her first

prize of her bottom-looking squash.

Footnote from Dave

Lots of people who took part in the Autumn Show have told me how well run it was and how

much they enjoyed it. Clearly a big success – congratulations to Heidi!

________________________________________________________________________________

Waiting list fee

When you apply for an allotment you have to pay a one-off fee unless you are

over 60, a student, or receiving certain benefits. The fee is currently £16 but is

set to rise each year. The MAHS committee feels that this is a lot of money to

people on low incomes who don’t qualify for the concession. The fee does

seem to be having a deterrent effect as numbers applying to our site have

dropped. This came up at the AGM in April and the Council’s Allotment officer, Bruce Riach, told

us that the fee would be reviewed. The committee has recently written to Bruce asking for the

review to be carried out soon and proposing a fee of £5 or at most £10.

Do you know of anyone who has been put off by the waiting list fee? Please let us know at

mahsnews16@gmail.com – this could help us persuade the Council to reduce the fee.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Sharron Davis of the Roundhill Society has produced a short but very detailed guide to recycling.

Although it is aimed at her community area it is relevant to the whole city and is useful guide to

recycling plastic and other waste from your allotment plot (and of course from your home). The

guide is available here on the website.

This newsletter was compiled by Liz Yeats & Dave Witts

on 15th October 2018

You can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time by contacting us at mahsnews16@gmail.com

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https://moulsecoomballotments.wordpress.com/