WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THIS PLANT?? / ALLOTMENT GARDENING UK

[Music] Wow, look how beautiful my trees look from here. So lucky that that's my plot. [Music] Good morning. Good morning. [Music] [Music] Good morning guys. Welcome back to my a lotment diaries. My name is Emma. These are the a lotment diaries. Um where I vlog all about my a lotment plot here in South London. I've got two a lotment plots joined together and I just vlog about my dayto-day goings on here. What I'm getting up to, what I'm doing, what I'm planting, what what's dying, what's living. Weather isn't looking great this week. It's looking like it's going to rain quite a lot, be quite windy. Today the morning is going to be quite settled. So, we've come down. We've got about an hour here, maybe just over an hour, just to do a few little jobs, bits and bobs. So, I'm just going to see what I can get done in an hour. It is always amazing what you can get done in a short amount of time at your a lotment plot or in your garden. I think it's just about choosing a few beds or few areas, working on it, um, and then stepping back and just, you know, sort of looking at what you've done. I mean, the progress that you can make in a short amount of time is amazing and it all adds up. So even if you just do one bed one day, when you come back to the plot the next time, that's one bed down. You can move on and that's how you kind of keep it under control because it can be a lot an a lotment plot and weeds grow very quickly here and it's not your home garden, is it? So you always have this kind of thing in your mind where you want to keep it nice, but you also want to bear in mind it's not your home garden. There's a squirrel running over my beds. I'm worried he's going to start digging up the tulips. We might need to protect the tulips today. I was trying to show you him, but we've just missed him. Oh, you know what? There's a little bit of blue sky coming out. Just up there. I can see a little bit of blue sky. Oh, we might get lucky, guys. We might have a bit of sun. Right. Okay. Protect the tulips on my list of things to do today. I also want to sort out the raspberries. And I want to gather up some more of those leaves cuz quite a few leaves have fallen onto the pathways. So, I'm going to whack those into my compost. These doing really well. My little Calibres. Keep going, guys. You're doing fantastic. Got my umbrella just in case. Okay, we will start by sweeping up the leaves. Oh, no. Let's feed the bird cuz we did just see Einstein, didn't we? Let's go. Let's go feed Einstein. [Music] Come on. Yeah. [Music] [Music] You going to eat any? Hey, see some then. Come on then. [Music] Right. I was just having a look at this bed. This is my flower bed. These are cosmos which sort of grew but didn't ever flower. I think I've got maybe one flower, but they've sort of um got some kind of problem with them. And it's um I mean it doesn't matter at this time of year because all the cosmos is imminently going to die when we get frost. Um though it is all flowering very late this year, but it would be interesting to know what this is for future reference. So the plants themselves have grown very big and tall. I didn't um pinch them out and so that's why they've sort of got very tall and not bushy. But this is the problem with these cosmos. They're sort of hardening over and going brown. And then all of the leaves and buds coming off are all going brown. Is that cold? Is that a frost problem? Because my other cosmos isn't doing this. You see all the tops? All the tops where they should be flowering are not. And all the buds coming off or having this problem. It's going really hard and it's going brown. It's the same with this one here, which is a shame because this is a really big plant. And I should stress that none of these have flowered. I haven't had any flowers. So, though we've got lots of shoots coming off with what should be flowers, this has happened instead. So, if you know what this is or what's happened, please let me know. I've never seen it before. And it would be good to know for future reference because if this is some kind of infection, I don't want to plant Cosmos here again. [Music] Oh, look what I've just found hidden underneath here. Another cosmos. Another cosmos right next to it. So maybe it's not an infection like a disease infection disease. Maybe it's a bug problem. Maybe it was a bug problem. I don't know. The fact that there is one here that's flowering, albeit not very well, but it was hidden. Um makes me think maybe not disease but bugs. This sort of stuff really fascinates me. I don't know if it's interesting to you, but I find it really fascinating. And also I feel really sorry for the plant. It's like I really want to rescue it. I feel the urge to look after it and like get rid of whatever it is. But fascinating. Ders are still going. I mean, if I kept if I deadheaded them, they probably would still go. I'll start cutting off the dead ones now. But yeah, they're still going strong. Got a couple of buds. [Music] [Music] Right, there we go. So, I've laid some garden mesh, just basically like softer chicken wire or like wire. Wire, I don't know. Garden mesh is what it is. um just over the top of the bed. It's quite an easy thing to protect from really from squirrels because it's just about stopping them from being able to dig in your bed. So, you don't have to worry about all the hoops and you know making it higher or anything like that. You can just lay it over the surface of the soil because they can't dig and then pull your bulbs up. That's the point. So, imagine I'm a squirrel right now and I'm coming along here and I can sniff a bulb in there. I can't dig. I can't get to it. You know, I don't know why I'm doing a physical like representation of this, but I don't know. Yeah, you can't dig. You can't get through the wire. So, just put it down and then just stick some sticks in it or something and make sure it can't fly away and that's it. Unless they go underneath it. Unless they go underneath it. I don't know if squirrels are that intelligent. Maybe they are. Maybe it could just go underneath it. Then what we need is an actual squirrel to ask him or to like for him to show us what you can do. That's a really good point that you've made, guys. He could just go underneath it. So maybe just like stick it down more. Is that Einstein laughing at me? I feel like he's laughing at me now. Are you laughing at me? He just came to show me. He just came to show me how the school can get underneath it. He knows. You see, he can hear everything I'm saying. Yeah, I know. [Music] Remember [Music] [Music] how I was saying if the le if any of the leaves that have fallen have fallen onto my beds, I'm going to leave them in the bed because they'll sort of rot down and do what they're doing. I've changed my mind in regards to beds where I've got things growing. If I've got something growing in a bed, I'm going to have to take the leaves out because they are making an excellent habitat for slugs and snails. So, they're going to have to go. I've found quite a few slugs and snails hiding underneath the leaves waiting to come out and get their breakfast. So, I'm going to have to remove the leaves in beds where things are growing. And I'd advise you to as well. Morning. No, nothing. No, it's not like Rocky, is he? Rocky would come and say hello to us. He just skulks off. Bit like the fox. Actually, the fox is more friendly than he is. Cats say hit and miss. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] There we go. Big old pile of leaves over the top. That should uh sort it out, I think. Loads of leaves in there. Now, somebody said that my compost was looking a bit dry, so maybe I should give it a water. Let's do that. [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] Right, not the biggest, most productive day in the world at the aotment plot, but we got down here, we got some sun, we got some fresh air, we enjoyed ourselves, we fed the birds, we got out and about this morning, and um I feel energized. I feel ready for the day. I feel slightly knackered from all the bending over and picking up, but you know what? It's got to be good for you somewhere, right? Yeah, it is nice on the days where you can get down to your a lotment plot to get down and just get some fresh air. It definitely makes me feel better. It definitely helps to improve my mental health. Um I always find that if I spend too much time indoors, it does affect my mental well-being, my mental health. I feel down, I feel sluggish, I don't feel myself. I don't feel upbeat and jolly and happy. So, just coming down in the morning, just I've been I've been here an hour. Have I been here an hour? Is that a lie? An hour and 10 minutes I've been here and um I've just done a few little bits and bobs. Fed the bird, had a look around, spent some time outside in nature. Feel great. Feel great for it. I'm going to keep trying to get down here as much as I can. Um but until then, I'll be back on Sunday with a home gardening vlog. Look at that sun. That is glorious. Yeah, I'll be back on Sunday with a home gardening vlog at 9:00 a.m. Um showing you what I'm planting into my new vegetable garden at home. doing some baking other bits as well. And I'll be back at the a lotment plot on Monday, fingers crossed. So, I'll see you then. Thank you so much for watching, guys. Have a lovely weekend. Bye.