Orto di Casa Cecconi

My first allotment, and then one thing leading to another…

L’orto di Casa Cecconi Plants Recipes Me & Kew One Year at Wisley

Tag: diseases

  • When pear shoots go black

    After coming out green and fresh, full of life, pear shoots can suddenly turn black and droopy. The sight is quite dramatic but can really signify anything from harmless to “quick, remove that and burn it!”. Below are two of the most frequent reasons, starting with the harmless one. Pear shoot sawfly (Janus compressus) Not…

  • Peach leaf curl (Taphrina deformans)

    Another plant species that is commonly known to suffer from red, curled up leaves in the spring is peach. The curling up is caused by a fungus, Taphrina deformans. The fungus, which favours cool and wet weather, causes leaves to pucker; the blisters are often red and rather showy, just before the fungus starts producing…

  • PD&D: pests, diseases and disorders

    As part of my coursework for the certificate, I had to write a Pest and Disease project. I researched 15 of the most common pests (vertebrates and invertebrates that feed, inhabit or otherwise live off plants, damaging or killing them) and diseases (caused by microorganisms such as fungi, viruses and bacteria), choosing ones that I…

  • Plum days

    I have not written for a while, busy as I was with coursework deadlines, but in the last two days I have spent some time with plum trees, which I think is worth sharing. Yesterday I helped the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI) pick leaves from the orchard to be tested for plum pox…

  • It’s because of the dry spell!

    Today I’ve been pruning Prunus (plums and cherries) for the first time since I’ve been here. To be precise, Prunus avium, or cherry trees, and P. domestica, the plums. To be even more precise, the plants I’m referring to here are P. avium ‘Sunburst’, P. domestica ‘Opal’ and ‘Blue Tit’ ; and this last was flowering…

  • A day in the veg garden

    Spring is coming so it looks like I might be spending more time in the veg garden. Today we did some clearing of spent crops (chicory and chard), covering beds so the soil warms up and new crop can be grown earlier and tidying up leeks. Chicory ‘Charlotte’ The bed after clearing The reason for…

  • Apple pruning season

    Sizeable canker on an apple tree It’s apple pruning season, and you know why? Because the fruits have gone (so no knocking about) and the leaves are down so you can see the shape of the tree more clearly! Otherwise, apples are pretty tolerant of pruning at any time between leaf fall and bud burst,…

About Me

M.Paola M.Paola, that’s me

I got my first allotment in the UK in 2007 and started gI got my first allotment in the UK in 2007 and started growing my own food. Learning as I went along was not enough, so I studied horticulture. Faced with the horticultural warfare, I became a conscientious objector: I use no chemicals and support organic principles and regulations.

Brexit gave me a new life in the Netherlands, three new plots by a nature reserve and an MSc in sustainable food systems.

I write in my personal capacity and, as a language perfectionist and a non native speaker, I keep reviewing my entries’ text for clarity.

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