As I was in the area, went to tend to the Ducks. Gave them a top dress of some dry ferts, and trimmed dead or dying leaves from the smaller, spiky Auto Duck by the apple tree. She seems to be further on than her bigger sister next door, buds are filling out nicely. The wee bit of defoliation should help airflow. Also tried to start some LST on the Frisian Duck mum, but ended up splitting the stem at the top.
It's possible it was already split by the strong winds today, but I heard it crack. Anyway, luckily I had cable ties with me, so effected a temporary ligature. Hopefully she'll knit the split back together, then I'll remove the cable tie and bind with some wire or string, so as the stem thickens it can just grow over the binding.
This time I checked on the two Auto Ducks hidden away in mini GG plots, first time I've visited them for a while. They're doing okay, not as impressive as the two by the apple tree, but they were smaller to start with anyway. They've got taller, with a fair bit of new growth. Fair bit of insect damage to fan leaves, but they're both building buds. I think they'll be doing that for quite a while yet. I gave them some dry ferts, did a bit of weeding round about, and chopped tops from tall nettles nearby to open up the plots a bit more. Probably won't get much bud from either, but we'll see. They are certainly hardy wee girls, that's for sure.
Apple tree Ducks
Hidden Auto Ducks