Having sort of finished a stressful project yesterday I was in an indulgent mood. My ramblings, as they often do, took me into Wilkinsons (the shop in the Merrywalks centre). They have lots of exciting and cheap plants in. I KNOW that cheap plants, like everything else, usually means that the environment or even human rights are being trashed somewhere, and in this case I guess the source will be polluting heated dutch greenhouses. Caveat emptor.
However, they have lots of fruit bushes in little boxes for about £2, and TREES in little boxes for about £4. As they have only recently arrived in the shop the new season bushes and trees (and onion sets, shallots, potatoes, asparagus roots etc) are in OK condition and not yet dead, which does tend to happen to plants in such shops.
So I bought myself an olive tree (I’d yearned for one for ages) and a lemon tree.
I also bought a packet of mushroom spore from the seed department – I don’t recall having seen that for sale before in a shop, and had been meaning for years to have a go at mushroom cultivation.
Just thought I’d share this in case anyone else is a sucker for bushes and trees in little boxes (it sort of feels like ‘saving’ them when you give them a home). Incidentally, my fruit bushes normally come from my own cuttings, and if anyone has patience I’m glad to take some for you in the autumn.
Does anyone have any experience with growing olive trees or lemon trees? Obviously I’m planning to pot them up and keep them in a sheltered place, but I would SO love one day to be able to pick some home grown olives or lemons. And any hints or experience with mushroom cultivation?
Peter
Thanks for the tip off Peter – I’m a sucker for buying plants but have been trying to avoid it recently for financial reasons. But these looked like a bargain so I’ve now acquired an olive, calamondin (mini orange type thing), chardonnay vine and cranberry. Will see how they do, but all that for about £10 can’t be missed!
I grew a lemon tree from pips I had sown at school aged 5. The tree died last year – 38 years old….died of frost bite.. when someone chucked a stone through the greenhouse window it was in during a cold spell over winter grrrr. They need a good bit of warmth and lots of sun…didnt flower every year….the ones you buy in shops are a lot more reliable for fruit.
Also have some mushroom spores….and tips on what to do with these?
Hi Arun, sorry to hear about the demise of your lemon tree but keeping it alive for 38 years was very good going, I hope I am as successful as that. So far my little olive tree and lemon tree from Wilkinsons have been growing madly and have already doubled in size. I’ll keep them indoors during the winter until they get too big, then… not sure!
My mushroom growing was a total failure, so no tips available from me. I followed the instructions on the packet and mixed them with well rotted manure, then covered with an inch of soil, then kept damp in a coolish place (bathroom) for a couple of months, but nothing grew. Anybody else had better luck?? — Peter