Allotment Stuff > The Basics

A point to ponder on?

<< < (6/7) > >>

Hugh_Jones:
No, Ceri. I can vouch for the fact that they were born and bred in Oswaldtwistle, which, for most southerners, is somewhere between Watford and the Scottish Border.

Mrs Ava:
;D  nutters!  Actually, sounds sowf london to me! hehehe.

campanula:
hugh,
reg, who had my plot for years before me says he always had his first tatties in by the end of feb. so, i am going to do so and all. The soil is lovely, friable and loamy but never gets claggy or overdry (we are on the site of an old pig farm) so i have my patch ready. I guess temperature is affected by types of soil - i used to have clay and it was impossible to plant anything till the end of march. Like you, i have also come across last years potatoes which look fine and healthy to me.  So, why not.

john_miller:
 I was simply thinking about the provenance of potatoes, Hugh, when I mentioned the possibility of the light possibly being too low to provoke  (I've read too much Darwin to believe they are invoked, Hugh!) tuber formation.
 I remember reading an article about early potato production in the most favoured parts of the British Isles (Cornwall and Pembrokeshire) in The Grower magazine in the '70's where it was mentioned that they were indeed planted in February. I do wonder if January isn't just too early. Given the economic gain of being first on the market commercial growers would also do whatever is possible to advance their crop two weeks too!

Garden Manager:
All nice ideas folks,but you are forgetting the unpredictability of our climate.

Who would have thought I'd be getting bad frosts at the end of february, - in the mild southwest?

I was just getting confident that winter was over and started making plans for early plantings/sowings then BANG along comes a cold spell like this, to make one think twice.

At present I am 'holding fire' on seed sowing etc until the weather warms up a little. It may be nearly march but it feels like january at the moment!!!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page