Washington Road Allotments, Emsworth PO10 7NN Click here to view the map

The Hut

News from the Hut, Summer 2019 It’s a critical time for the hut. Suzanne Holroyd is retiring from being the stock manager in September after four years, and we need to have a new person, or a small team, in place to take over from her. If this doesn’t happen then the stock in the hut won’t be replaced from the end of July and will close in early 2020. Please get in touch with Lyn at emshorticultural@gmail.com if you’d like to help or find out more at a meeting on July 10th. At this time of year the best way of perking up your plants is to give them some liquid fertiliser. Maxicrop, a concentrate which we sell in re-used plastic bottles, is a popular choice. It’s organic, made from seaweed, contains lots of trace elements as well as nitrogen, phosphate and potassium and is good for general plant health. Fertilisers for flowers and fruit, including tomatoes, are high in potassium (potash), such as Tomorite. Phostrogen and Miraclegro are general fertilisers which you dissolve in water to apply. For all these fertilisers take care to use the recommended dilution rate, and avoid using them in bright sunlight which could cause scorching of the leaves. Adapt your compost for sowing and growing. Commercially bought composts often benefit from additions which will improve water retention, drainage and aeration. Vermiculite will do all of these things and can be used to increase the volume by up to 50%. It also helps to retain nutrients and is recommended for a water retentive covering for seeds. Perlite can be used in a similar way, though it is better used for striking cuttings. It is not suitable for covering seeds. Sand and grit can be used for improving drainage and aeration but will add weight and texture – useful for some multipurpose growing media. Silver sand and horticultural sand can be used for seed growing while coarse grit and grit sand are better for larger plants. Cornish grit, coarse grit and gravel can be used to cover the compost surrounding plants to display them and to reduce drying out. For hanging baskets and containers, the fertiliser Sincrocell (aka Osmocote) is a good option. The granules are designed to break down at different rates releasing the fertiliser over a long period. They are sold in 30g, 100g and 500g packets at the Hut. Swellgel is a product which swells up when water is added to it so will help increase water retention. This is sold in small quantities too, The Distribution Hut is at Washington Road allotment site and is open on Sundays mornings from 10 – 12midday. We will be closed on August 25 th , the day before the Show, and all of December. Can you help us out? We are in the process of recruiting a new team to take over the running of the hut from autumn onwards. We need a stock manager to order, check and price stock and people who can contribute by doing various tasks. I have a little list of jobs - do get in touch if you’re interested and we can look at what might suit you. Lyn Davies (Chair of the Distribution Hut sub-committee emshorticultural@gmail.com