Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: Yampybird on June 11, 2008, 23:45:33
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Hiya
Been digging, and I now have a plot on my lottie big enough to put some spuds in. I'm aiming to try and get some plug plants. What am I looking for?
When I plant do I have to do anything special to the soil? The soil is quite a heavy clay, but strangely well drained (I know the two shouldn't go hand in hand - but I have a sloping site so the water doesn't sit), its quite rocky and has never been worked before - not in living memory of our longest standing allotmenteer - 23 years.
This earthing up thing, what does it involve, at what stage do I do it?
Sorry for the list of questions, just want to try and get it right. ???
Thanks in advance
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Potatoes start from seed potatoes, not from plug plants. Seed potatoes are special potatoes grown specifically to grow for a crop rather than eat. It's pretty late now to plant seed potatoes but if you can find any, not much to lose by trying, they're not hugely expensive and are likely to be reduced by now. Places to try Wilko's, B&Q, Homebase, Woolworths, Pound shops etc are usually cheaper than garden centres. You won't get much choice of variety at this stage so just take what you can get, but make sure they haven't gone soft and shrunken. If they have shoots (chits) on that's OK.
Earthing up is done when the plants reach around 8". You draw the soil up from the sides of the plant to cover most of the leaves. This encourages more tubers to form and it excludes light from the developing potatoes so you don't get green potatoes.
Can't help with your clay soil, I'm on free-draining sandy loam where the challenge is to hold onto moisture!
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If you're planting them now, look for early varieties which can still give you a crop.