Hail Stones In August!!!

Well Ive seen it all now. After the hottest July (in UK) for over 200 years; August, at least here in the North east of England has been an absolute disaster. Ive never seen so much rain in a single month and its supposed to be the height of summer!!! About half a hour ago I was sitting in the garden enjoying a rare bit of August sun when all of a sudden all hell broke loose - Hail stones so large I though the windows were going to go through.

Fortunately, I moved virtually all my plants indoors and into the Chilehouse yesterday to give them a bit of protection as some plants were showing signs of waterlogging. Chile plants hate standing in water logged soil. Waterlogged soil also promotes root & water borne diseases such as Phytophthora Blight and Root rot which is why soil should be free draining. Yellowing leaves, wilting, leaf curl & excess leaf drop are amongst the most obvious symptoms of excess water.

Well would you believe it. In the 2 minutes its taken me to update this blog, the clouds have cleared and the suns beating down again outside. Thats the British weather for you!