October on the nursery is a quieter month, we are still selling our autumn plants but have finished potting our spring flowering plants, primroses and bulbs.

Autumn viola planters with bud heathers.

Our autumn planters are full of violas, they will flower throughout the autumn and look good with autumn heathers.

The Poinsettias spaced ready for Christmas

Our poinsettias have developed a nice shape, some of the blacked-out ones are starting to show some early colour.

The first of our primrose is starting to flower.

Our autumn primrose are starting to flower, they can stand some bad weather and will flower again in the spring.

Just potted

Bellis plugs

The bellis and myosotis seeds we sowed in August are through and starting to grow.

Primrose plugs just potted

The last of our primrose plugs arrive, we try to pot them as soon as possible, they will flower next February and March.

Viola plugs

The last of our viola plugs are potted they will flower next spring If you grow them in pots, they can be used in the house, planters or hanging baskets.

Pests and diseases

Better than sticky traps

Better than sticky traps we use aubergines to attract any white fly that take up home in our poinsettias, however, they also attract everything, greenfly quickly move in followed by caterpillars. We use biological control to sort them out.

Caterpillars are still active

Caterpillars are still quite active and can be destructive eating leaves that can’t be replaced.

Don’t forget vine weevils

There is still time to prevent vine weevils they are busy laying eggs in the autumn. Use nematodes before the end of October outside. However, in a greenhouse, you can use them throughout the winter if the temperature is above 10 centigrade. Applying as early as possible is essential to reduce the overwintering numbers. check out our vine weevil blog

Tips and tricks from the Nursery

Make sure you deadhead your violas.

Keep your violas flowering, and remove the dead flowers and seed pods regularly.

Watering in the autumn, be careful

When watering in the autumn, you need to consider the weather. Use a sunny day and water early in the morning, this wet primrose leaf needs to be dry by nighttime, or disease will start. Avoid splashing lots of water about the high humidity will allow diseases to spread.

Improve your greenhouse atmosphere

Greenhouses need ventilation in the autumn even on cold wet days to reduce the humidity, also think about using fans to move the air.