Do I need to feed my tatties ?
Dug them in with compost / manure when planting so is it ok to leave them be ? ;D
Don't need to be fed but might appreciate a drink!
The more you feed and water the bigger they get - too much water and chemical fertiliser can produce large but tasteless spuds
Liquid tomato/seaweed feed applied as a foliar feed goes down a treat.
I wouldn't bother about watering (unless we have a very dry summer) unitl the flowers appear, then remove the flowers (they take energy from the plant) and water well - it takes lots to get down to the roots (2 gall per root for starters or you're only moistening the surface)
Phil
Next year, put a good pot fert in when planting??
Watering? IF you have water, & IF you are willing to carry 500 galls - for which we pay - Phil is right.
Tis one of the few crops I really miss not having access to water for. We do okay though. Encorporated loads and loads of rotted manure and leaf mould into the ground before planting so hopefully that will help the moisture!
Am I right in thinking watering spuds can encourage blight ??? Unless you can give them a lot of water then I think you can do more harm than good
I think a fella on a plot further up had some drain pipe arrangement to ensure all of the water he gave them ended up on the roots.
We didn't earth up last year and I watered the potatoes. This year we're earthing up and I'm not watering...
I think watering the spuds is flippin donkey work so I'm not doing it. Mine are in manure but it does go hard like concrete (cow muck) so I'm a bit worried. Well, I say worried ... :)
I thought this topic was about feed spuds like use dto arrive on the farm(unfit for human consumption for some reason) and sprayed purple, remember bagging up tons of them to feed to the cows... Wonder if they would be ok to plant and grow spuds from them? Just curious...
No No No!!! - only use certified seed potatoes that are guarenteed free from disease - unless growing in a bin or something.
Feel I am on safe ground here and will not offend any body. :)
Up the Imps - oop it slipped out. ;)
just wondering. have all seed spuds out now and doing well. Wonder what was wrong witht those purple spuds? It was 26 yrs ago!
have done spuds out the larder before and they were nice...
Were in tubs though.
I think tubs are alright - the soil is changed yearly.
The risk with none seed potatoes is that they may carry disease from last year which gets into your soil and makes it unusable for spuds for about 8 years. Furthermore aphids will pick it up from infected potatoes and carry it to other potatoes in the area - so using non certified seed is a definite no no on lotties where you have neighbours to think of.
Good luck with your tubs :)
Thanks for that. Only got seed spuds in plot but just wanted to know. Only found a marble in tub so far!