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Post by owdboggy on Nov 17, 2013 10:58:03 GMT
The short answer is Yes. If you cut back the tops too soon then you reduce the size of the crop. We tend to remove the tops when the plants have flowered, and hopefully before any Blight spores arrive.
So if the tops flop over why not support them? After all you do that for your Dahlias etc. Put a few canes round the outside of the tub and Voila!
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Post by Rosefriend on Nov 17, 2013 11:15:05 GMT
The short answer is Yes. If you cut back the tops too soon then you reduce the size of the crop. We tend to remove the tops when the plants have flowered, and hopefully before any Blight spores arrive. So if the tops flop over why not support them? After all you do that for your Dahlias etc. Put a few canes round the outside of the tub and Voila! For the most part I have tried to support them with all sorts of weird and wonderful things, but daft as it sounds never using canes...why I haven't a clue, as that is the first thing that comes into my head with plants...put it down to my increasing dotage!! Thanks owdboggy. RF |
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Post by owdboggy on Nov 17, 2013 12:16:56 GMT
Years ago when I worked for a Chrysanth and Dahlia professional grower, he used to use the same system for spuds as he did for them. This was basically a cylinder of chicken wire which he put round the plant and then it was hidden by the leaves.
He supported spuds because the Blight spores bounce up from the soil on to the lower leaves. No leaves touching the soil, less chance of infection.
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Post by Ladygardener on Nov 17, 2013 13:04:04 GMT
That's very interesting owdboggy. Thanks from me too. Rosefriend will you give them another go? |
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Post by Rosefriend on Nov 17, 2013 14:28:14 GMT
That's very interesting owdboggy. Thanks from me too. Rosefriend will you give them another go? Just been thinking about it actually and if I just had 5/6 tubs then I am sure that if I stake them properly I would have enough room!! It would be such a shame not to have some lovely new spuds!! RF |
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Post by Chuckles on Nov 17, 2013 14:43:04 GMT
The last time I grew spuds in my raised beds I had to put canes with netting fixed to them around the edge to hold the growth in, they do take a lot of space up when they flop don't they Rosefriend and they look a mess  I'm definately going to grow a few new spuds next year. Thats useful to know about the leaves touching the ground and blight owdboggy |
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Post by owdboggy on Nov 17, 2013 14:49:21 GMT
Same for tomatoes as well, which is why we tend to strip the lower leaves off the vines as they get older.
There was a suggestion to grow Tomatoes through white plastic sheeting for a similar effect. Never tried that one though.
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Post by Ladygardener on Nov 17, 2013 15:06:36 GMT
That's very interesting owdboggy. Thanks from me too. Rosefriend will you give them another go? Just been thinking about it actually and if I just had 5/6 tubs then I am sure that if I stake them properly I would have enough room!! It would be such a shame not to have some lovely new spuds!! RF Yes even to have a few dinners worth makes it worth while Rosefriend. I don't grow main crop but do grow some Charlotte to have and the taste is wonderful. I've been buying them since as M&S have a constant supply of them and although they're tasty they're not as tasty as the self grown ones.  |
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Post by Barbara on Sept 23, 2015 6:15:07 GMT
We have had lots of slug damage this year, lots of small black slugs are in the potatoes even as we are peeling them  , not nice at all, we planted Maris Peer this year as our earlies, they just fall to pieces as they are being boiled, has anyone else grown these ?. |
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Post by Ladygardener on Sept 23, 2015 10:02:42 GMT
We have had lots of slug damage this year, lots of small black slugs are in the potatoes even as we are peeling them , not nice at all, we planted Maris Peer this year as our earlies, they just fall to pieces as they are being boiled, has anyone else grown these ?. I grew them one year if I remember correctly Barbara and I think I had to cook them in the steamer. I do that with all my potatoes now and it's so much easier, keeps them from falling apart and even if a bit breaks off it's not laying in water. Slugs are a pain, I've heard of people putting pellets around where they're planting their potatoes in the hole. I've put down a couple of small potatoes, charlotte I think, into a large container. I can bring them under cover if we get frost later but it might mean I have a few new potatoes to eat in Dec/Jan. I just thought I'd give it a go. Has anyone else done this at any time and how did you get on? |
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Post by Barbara on Sept 23, 2015 10:15:02 GMT
I've put a tub of spuds against the back wall, a tub against the side wall, of the house of course, and a box in the GH at the lotty, fingers crossed we'll be eating them at Christmas Ladygardener,. |
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Post by Ladygardener on Sept 24, 2015 6:45:02 GMT
I've put a tub of spuds against the back wall, a tub against the side wall, of the house of course, and a box in the GH at the lotty, fingers crossed we'll be eating them at Christmas Ladygardener,. Oh good Barbara, means it's not just me. It'll be interesting to see how they do won't it. |
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Post by hugowilliams on Oct 29, 2016 10:36:51 GMT
I have also planted potatos.
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Post by Ron on Oct 31, 2016 18:45:43 GMT
Barbara, There is a product getting a lot of marketing at the moment as a natural and organic method of slug control. Follow the link and hear Alan Tichmarsh's views on it. owdboggy , your netting advice seems a great idea. Going to combine that with the above for my potatoes in bags for next year.
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Post by Ron on Oct 31, 2016 19:09:10 GMT
By the way, one more tip. Potato viruses can devastate susceptible potato crops. The most common means of infection is from aphids. They pick up the virus from infected plants and pass it on when they feed. Keep aphids off your potatoes!
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Post by Ron on Oct 31, 2016 19:28:47 GMT
I've decided to grow Charlotte as a second early and Cara as a main crop. Charlotte are quite disease resistant but susceptible to virus and eelworms. Eelworms (or potato cyst nematodes) are soil born so if you've not had trouble with them before you shouldn't need to worry. Remove aphids to avoid viral infection. Cara have an all round resistance to disease and are great for boiling, baking and roasting, they also make good chips. They don't fall apart in water but not so good for mashing.
Cara aren't available in Northern Ireland.
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Post by Ron on Nov 5, 2016 15:10:13 GMT
owdboggy , Rosefriend , Ladygardener , Chuckles , Barbara , hugowilliams , I have heard that potatoes benefit from a low Nitrogen fertilizer. It seems that Bonemeal has a N-P-K ratio of 3-15-0 and Kelp 1-0.5-2.5 as in seaweed fertilizer. Am I right in thinking that using 6 x Kelp to 1 x Bonemeal by volume would produce an N-P-K ratio of 9-18-15 (6 x 1-0.5-2.5 plus 1 x 3-15-0)? Would this be suitable for potatoes in bags?
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Post by Ron on Nov 5, 2016 16:19:23 GMT
I think I might have found the answer. Although too much Nitrogen encourages top growth at the expense of tuber production, it seems it gets washed out of the compost when growing in containers. The NPK ratio I ought to aim for seems to be equal Nitrogen (nitrate) and Phosphorus (phosphate), half as much again of Potassium (potash). Using blood and bone instead of bone meal will do it. Equal parts blood and bone and kelp give 6-5.5-9 NPK, near enough. Hope this doesn't sound too over the top but after mediocre performance from potato bags in the past, I decided to do some research. Potatoes grow best in quite acidic conditions. A ph of between 5 and 6 is best, but at 5 nutrients aren't taken up well. So I've aimed for a ph of 5.75 by mixing equal parts ericaceous compost (ph = 5) and John Innes (ph = 6.5). Of course I'm not planting yet, this is planning as usual  |
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Post by Ron on Nov 9, 2016 15:31:29 GMT
I did get some proprietary potato fertilizer a couple of years ago by the way. It was rubbish, mainly filler, it even said on the box 'low nutrient'. They don't tell you that before you buy it.
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Post by Ron on Nov 9, 2016 17:25:38 GMT
Sorry if I've taken over this thread  Will leave it alone now until the appropriate time!  |
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Post by Rosefriend on Nov 9, 2016 17:35:29 GMT
Sorry if I've taken over this thread Will leave it alone now until the appropriate time! Why Ron, - I am more than happy that you carry on - I enjoy reading it... |
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Post by Ron on Nov 9, 2016 21:34:25 GMT
Nice to know, Rosefriend , I will mention one more thing then  I received a marketing email about Sarpo potatoes which are very blight resistant. Even though I've got 4kg of seed potatoes ordered for the Spring I decided to get another lot! One and a half kg each of Sarpo Kifli, an early main crop, Sarpo Blue Danube (main) and Sarpo Axona (main). I may be giving some away  There are two drain covers in the garden with concrete edges which don't look attractive. The wooden boards I originally made for the GH (now having slabs instead) will cover one, and I'll do the same for the other. Potatoes in bags will be the ideal thing to put there. |
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Post by Rosefriend on Nov 10, 2016 16:42:07 GMT
I have to say that I have stopped growing potatoes for two reasons...a) they get blight far too quickly and are often responsible for the tomatoes starting with blight and tomatoes are far more important to me that spuds...b) I eat so few spuds these days I see little point in growing them... Good to hear there are some good blight resistant varieties around these days Ron, ... |
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Post by Ron on Nov 10, 2016 18:19:38 GMT
I have to say that I have stopped growing potatoes for two reasons...a) they get blight far too quickly and are often responsible for the tomatoes starting with blight and tomatoes are far more important to me that spuds...b) I eat so few spuds these days I see little point in growing them... Good to hear there are some good blight resistant varieties around these days Ron , ... I've read reports from people who've grown them (the Sarpo family) that even when they have caught blight on the tops it hasn't spread to the tubers. |
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Post by Rosefriend on Nov 10, 2016 18:47:08 GMT
I have to say that I have stopped growing potatoes for two reasons...a) they get blight far too quickly and are often responsible for the tomatoes starting with blight and tomatoes are far more important to me that spuds...b) I eat so few spuds these days I see little point in growing them... Good to hear there are some good blight resistant varieties around these days Ron , ... I've read reports from people who've grown them (the Sarpo family) that even when they have caught blight on the tops it hasn't spread to the tubers. That really is good to hear - the only thing is that it will still, or would normally spread to any other members of the Nightshade family....well, logically so Ron,. For a potato farmer great news, for a cottage garden - not so sure - yes you get spuds but what about other crops? |
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Post by Ron on Nov 10, 2016 19:09:26 GMT
Yes, Rosefriend , not good for plants related to the potato - like your tomatoes. Only affects plants in the Solanum family though, including tomatoes, eggplants, winter cherry and paradise flower. In fact there are three variations of blight that affect this family, early and late and Septoria (leaf spot), all caused by a different fungus. I think if I grow tomatoes I'll keep them in the greenhouse out of the way! |
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Post by maglonian on Nov 11, 2016 9:49:00 GMT
After reading through this and learning a lot, a few questions pop into my head ... in place of buying bagged ericaceous compost, would MP compost mixed with peat moss be as acidic as the ericaceous ? Or not worth the hassle of mixing it all up ?
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Post by Ron on Nov 11, 2016 10:13:37 GMT
After reading through this and learning a lot, a few questions pop into my head ... in place of buying bagged ericaceous compost, would MP compost mixed with peat moss be as acidic as the ericaceous ? Or not worth the hassle of mixing it all up ? Peat moss would be fine maglonian, something else to consider (along with the ideas from the other thread). |
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Post by Ron on Nov 11, 2016 19:11:28 GMT
I think what will clinch it is a visit to the local garden centre. A check on the prices will persuade me one way or the other.
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Post by Ron on Nov 13, 2016 16:11:27 GMT
maglonian , I seem to have spent ages on this, finding information is quite difficult. Anyway I got what I needed in the end. Hydroponics is expensive, the mix of growing media just costs too much. Pete Moss has a ph of 4.4 which is so acidic I would need to add lime which is no good for potatoes, it encourages scab. Luckily though, I found data sheets relating to various composts so was able to find out their ph. Levington's Original multipurpose and Gro-Sure ericaceous at a ratio of 3 to 1 gives me a ph of 5.8 which is fine. The Levington's is on offer at the local garden centre so I bought it all today and will store it until needed. Cost me £51 for 600 litres, delivered, which isn't too bad. Prices online with delivery were dearer and I can't collect as I don't drive. An advantage as well is that the nutrients already in the compost will give the potatoes a boost of nitrogen to get them going which I can then reduce when I start fertilizing.
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, not nice at all, we planted Maris Peer this year as our earlies, they just fall to pieces as they are being boiled, has anyone else grown these ?.
Will leave it alone now until the appropriate time! 
