Topic: Cucumber seeds!,

[Vinlander]

You're right that it's more polite to start a new thread if you think others may be interested, so more people can pitch in.

I may be running out of useful additions after this.

I should point out that I don't like boiled potatoes at all (except maybe Vitelotte Noire) - and that pushes me towards any substitute. If a baked potato comes in foil I'm very disappointed - don't even mention the M-word oven - those are BOILED. It's a phobia from 50's school dinners - grey lumpy mashed potato leaking water over the whole plate.

I started L.t from tubers - mine were quite expensive at the time but in this case it's entirely reasonable for catalogues to do this - once you have a stock they should never see you again... I don't think there is an improved strain, since they were popular before the potato arrived (Linnaeus regarded the potato as a backward step because its arrival made it harder to find the superior L.t in the markets).

They don't get drilled much in my soil, though ones near the surface can be chewed by slugs.

They do spread in open ground but they don't have enough vigour to become a problem (unlike chinese artichokes/crosne - which I'd thoroughly recommend - but only with a secure liner).

The tubers develop from bumps on the roots but the roots are relatively shallow and though they can develop new bumps, removing anything visible tends to kill them.

Certainly the liner makes it safer and easier if you move them, but the main reason is convenience - in soil they mostly have black skins so they are doubly hard to find (and that's also another reason for woodchip).

I haven't tried growing anything in fresh woodchip - the fact that couch grass likes it is a bonus because it tends to run through it as single pilot roots - especially easy to remove (even with bare fingers like a TV gardener with 20 diggers & mulchers out of shot) - because the pilots don't like it enough to form mats (until the rotting sets in). Maybe the bigger plants that like it get to the soil 1m below very quickly.

I've seen little evidence of "nitrogen-theft" in 100% chip. It certainly happens if you dig sawdust into the soil but the square-cube law is the key - bigger particles rot so much slower that it's barely noticeable. I'm not convinced that a layer of woodchip on top of soil can steal anything without the help of earthworms. 

Maybe I'll do a test trench & liner for Jerusalem Artichokes.

Cheers.

PS. It's easy to start a new thread by copying your old posts into it.

[JanG]

Thank you. I feel thoroughly informed and, as it seems no-one else is as curious, I won’t start a new thread but will look into the availability of L. tuberosus with interest.

[Vinlander]

I forgot one important thing - the yield per square m in garden soil is very low, but I routinely plant other stuff in the same bed because it's pretty much incapable of strangling anything bigger than a seedling. Big seeds like climbing beans are much too vigorous to worry about, transplants of anything that can exceed 30cm are more likely to suppress the L.t than vice-versa.

You can dig the tubers any time between dying off and sprouting, but (unless it's a dry year) it's better at the early end; easier and they will have less damage - OTOH if you want to keep them you'll need some kind of clamp (spent compost or woodchip in a bin) or they will dry out - because they are rarely more than 3cm x 6cm - so never use any cooking method that could dehydrate them. Microwaving them whole in clingfilm is worth a try, and so is baking in well-sealed foil. It's worth leaving the skins on (they peel off easier when cooked), especially for boiling - otherwise all the flavour leaches out, and then they will taste like potatoes.

If I had broad hectares I'd probably grow mostly sweet chestnut - but the flowers are pretty, plus 'edible ornamental' and 'food security' are always good things.

Cheers.