So first things first , a load of washing and another and then to hang out on the line ....we woke up to a glorious sunny morning ... so I like to get my washing done and out on the line good and early . I also scrubbed the kitchen floor and polished my Cornish Piskie bellows that I found in a wondeful bric-a-brac shop in Charmouth .
We,ve been pretty much relaxing for the rest of the day and I,ve just been pottering about .
I bought a nice Woodlodge terracotta pot , handmade and which is supposed to be frost free from Trevena Cross Nursery in Breage and a bag of compost in readiness to plant my Colocasia esculenta corm .
I have grown one of these before but lost it over winter because I had tried to keep it ticking over in it's pot in the greenhouse . Actually I,ve now been told that you treat these like Dahlias in the late Autumn you dig them up cut off the leaves and roots and let them dry out . Store them in a box of perlite or dry compost and start them off again in the Spring .
Anyway the first thing one has to decide is ...which is the top and which is the bottom ?
With my one, it is very difficult to tell ..but the smooth side with the concentric rings is the top ....see picture above .......
This is the bottom side up .
It usually has little holes or is pitted and some hair like roots. Mine was the last corm in the box and is a bit on the small side and it is very difficult to tell which side is top from bottom . You can plant it on it's side if you are not sure .
So I lined the bottom of my pot with newspaper and put some of the chippings from the drive on the bottom . I usually get told off for doing this , but he didn't notice me doing it this time ...he he he !
I pretty sure that this is the top , if you look closely you can see little "eyes" which I think are where the shoots/new leaves will grow out from . The one in the right hand bottom corner is even slightly green .
Here it is all nicely nestled into the compost ... mmm .....I love the fragrance of the earth .
Beautiful thing . I will be coming along to check on you often , waiting excitedly for those first new shoots .
So then I thought I,d give it a drink of water and the rose fell off the watering can ...compost went everywhere and the corm turned upside down ....
I had to re-settle it with some more compost ....laughing at myself ..I wheeled it up to the greenhouse . The greenhouse is really quite warm after all the sunshine today , but I think it will be cold tonight if the sky stays clear .
I put the pot on a large block of polystyrene and will cover it with newspaper over night .
Blue sky here in Mullion today ,such a lovely day !
Primroses .
Cowslips .
I,m keeping everything under fleece again tonight .
