to the weeds!
we've planted lots of potatoes on the plot and looks like lots of them are not going to survive!
the woman on the plot behind us said that she lost loads of her potatoes last year due to twitch (i know this is a nickname for something but not sure what!) and looks like its going to be the same for us.
did anyone else have a really rubbish year in their first year?
the only thing that seems to be doing really well is my lettuce and the stuff i've got a growing at home!!
I think twitch is couch grass not sure of the spelling LOL ;D
I have seen pics of its roots growing through a spud .
yeah thats what it'd be then as the back half of the plot was covered in it :( poor pots
Don't be too disheartened. You will still get spuds and they're the best thing to put in when the plots in a rubbish state. You can do leeks, they don't get to bothered and the "squitch" grows round them. turnips ( yeach) and beetroot will probably do ok as will a few other things. You may not get the huge crops or perfectly formed show veg, but you will get something and it will tast brill.
Twitch is definitely couch. You'll get it out when you lift the spuds.
The first year is always touch and go. If you are putting in other things right now, like beans or squash, make sure you dig that grass right out.
Why not cover around the potatoes? It will not kill the grass but a thick layer of cardboard and straw between rows will certainly weaken it.
When you say your spuds won't survive, why do you say this? are they changing colour or behaving oddly? Mine get bindweed in them, I just keep pulling it out, it doesn't seem to affect the harvest in the least.
Big problem with Twitch(couch grass) in our plots....before planting dig over, fork,
Get out as much as possible, plant, the spuds will survive, and will also slow down the growth of the "twitch"..
On my plots suffer with twitch and bind weed,there is only one way to slowly be rid of the d**n stuff...fork over a row..get down on hands and knees, search - grub out every bit of root you can.
Yeah! it is bally long winded hard work..but its the best way, my opinion,...
Four years on...still finding the stuff......now from a feild full to the odd patch... the more you put into the origional preperation...the more you will for sure gain in the long run....
Don't worry for now, keep going and have a great season... ;)
Dig it out every time you clear the ground. As the quantity diminishes, it becomes quite easy to deal with. The roots are shallow and strong, and you can hold them with one hand and dig away with a trowel with the other, until you get the whole thing. It's a lot easier to get rid of than ground elder!
We're 7/8 years on our plots and have pulled out miles of couch and bindweed,The latter lingers still around the raspberries but we plan to establish new ones in a clean area.
I agree with other posters just keep digging out where you see it ,you'll win in the end. :)
I had a lot of couch in my garden when I first started here. I have found with digging and hoeing and hoeing and digging that in the end it just gave up and disappeared.
I had an area of it on my allotment and dug it over and planted broad beans. I find these are easy to weed between, I cut it off every time it raised its ugly head. When these finished I dug it again and planted brassicas, again it got cut off every time it appeared. In the autumn I dug it again, in the spring I dug it again and now I have put in courgettes there iis very little couch still coming up. But again the courgettes are easy to weed between and do not like weeds very much.