Hub Site Update – SRUC Ayrshire – June 2023

June 2023 – Hub Site Update

• The Willow variety trial was planted on 13th & 14th June by the Rothamsted Research team and team members from SRUC. Conditions were hot and sunny with the ground quite hard as there had been little to no rainfall of late.
• The Eucalyptus plots are OK. They hadn’t really grown much and a couple of the Denticulata looked dead so we were concerned, but then green leaves appeared out of nowhere at the top. So they are now looking OK.
• The SRC poplar in Auchincruive is a bit overgrown with fat hen (despite having had pre-ems) and there is some worry that they are being strangled by it (they’re quite small). This will be tackled ASAP, possibly by hand-roguing and then inter-row spraying.
• The A4A Poplar variety is looking a little sad. There is no sign of animal damage but they aren’t doing very well.
• The Black Locust Obelisk is very slow to start growing. Hopefully, they are just late bloomers and will pop up now that they’ve had a good drink!

Read more about the Biomass Connect SRUC Ayrshire Hub Site