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I have a few questions and wondered if anyone could answer them?

Is there are term for this process?  If i grow lettuce just now and pick them can i plant more seed in the space left over?  Not sure if this is bad for the soil as it could build up pests. Is it called catch cropping?  I'm a bit confused  ???

Also when do I need to start using slug pellets on mt potatoes? I have planted them just now so should i start to scatter some pellets?

Anyway thanks in advance.

PS hope this weather stays good for everone!   ;)

Chris - avoid slug pellets mate - in any case the spuds should be fine without  them. Pellets cause untold damage to wildlife that inadvertently eat a dying slug or snail full of nasty chemicals.

As for the lettuce, you should be ok with replanting a few times. next year grow something else in its place. If you grew the lettuce year after year yo would start to see the same pests appearing.

The biggest problem can be where you replant in the same area, and the new plant struggles because the 1st crop took the minerals from the soil. The key is to manure well each year.

I remember Geoff Hamilton (my childhood hero) in hit kitchen garden, or cottage garden series doing something similar.  He would always have a few plants or seeds on standby, so if he pulled a little gem lettuce, couple of radish and a spring onion, he could replace them immediately.  He did however always put a generous splosh of well rotted manure/compost in the are to be replanted because like David said, you are expecting a lot from the ground, so you need to keep the ground well fed.  As I work down a row of lettuce on the plot, I sow with a hardier variety for later in the year.

As for slugs, I maybe wrong, but I think the ones that do the damage live under the ground - little horrible black buggers, and I believe that scattering pellets on the surface doesn't help with those.  You could, if it is only a small patch of spuds, buy the slug eating nematodes which you water in.  This should do the trick and give you slug free spuddies.  I hate slug pellets and am trying lots and lots of beer traps this year - problem is, if I don't do something, I end up with no lettuces at all!

Your right about the pellets. I should be more careful about wildlife. Wonder if i could take them back as they are unopened, dont have the receipt tho.

Beer traps it is then.

When you say compost, can i just use the shop bought stuff to replenish the soil?

You could, but I would probably sling a few chicken manure pellets in the ground, or a sprinkle of whatever fertiliser you use, but only a slight touch.  You can buy sacks of rotted manure in most garden centres and DIY shops, I would favour that for topping up rather than shop bought compost.

Slugs? Yes - as said. And even if you put them in with the tubers (as I do) they'll mostly have gone before they can do any good.

There are long term sub-soil ones available, but it's all to complicated for me!!

Oh, & wild or tame life? So long as they are netted or otherwise protected, they can do no harm?

Chris - forgot - catch cropping is where you grow a quick maturing crop such as salad leaves or radish in the same space or next to a slower growing one.

for instance, you might grow a few radish along your parsnip row, both sowed at the same time, as the snips take so long to get going.

Choose whether you use pellets or not I think using slug pellets around potatoes a bit of a waste of time.

I think the type of slug you are after( the one that burrows into potatoes)is ; 'the black keeled slug' spends most of its time underground so any pellets laid on the surface are a bit superfluous.

They are difficult to control, because they spend much of their time below soil level, only coming to the surface in warm weather, and after heavy rain, so pellets could be a bit of a hit & miss affair.

I have heard of people burying a few pellets along side the seed tuber but even this (in my opinion) is a bit of a waste of time simply because the slug doesn't go near the seed tuber it waits until the new tubers have formed and by this time the buried pellets are past their best.

Save your money don't use any and this way you can consider yourself in both the organic & non organic camps.

Hope that answers your query.

ps I haven't discussed the lettuce issue as I think this was well covered by the others who have replied to your query.

I only use slug pellets in my raised beds that I cover with either polythene or netting which I use to protect them from birds. The dead slugs cannot be eaten by anything.

I have only had slug attacks on potatoes that have been left in the ground after harvest time.

http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments2_my_allotment_in_liverpool.html

Thanks everyone for the great replys, as always you have helped me out.

Cheers