Allotments 4 All

Hi all!

were new to all this allotment buisness and were just getting our first crops in the ground.

just wondered if any of you guys out there can solve some conflicting information between our trusted lottie book and one of our neighbours?

All the books we've read seem to tell us thad patatoes and tomatoes are both in the same family and  should be in the same bed or at least in the next, however vince our friendly itallian neighbour thinks that this is a bad idea and that if the two are close together they will kill each other. is this true?  or are we okay with sticking the two side by side

any advise would be gladly taken on board!

Cheers

Steve And Clarkee

They are in the same family but I always thought that meant they should be kept apart as both are susceptible to blight - if they are next to each other, the spores don't have very far to travel.......

What does everyone else think??

Keep well apart!!

follow the three or four year rotation plan, all roots together, brassicas, legumes and then other stuff. the reason someone may have said they shoud go together is because they are both susceptible to blight and they are related

Thanks For all the speedy replies!

can i ask what blight is? theres quite a steep learning curve to thislottie mullarkey! all god fun though  ???

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0803/tomato_blight.asp

Oh Corbels!  And I've laid aside land in my potato bed for toms... Never mind, other crops can go there instead like, er, beetroot and, er, swiss chard and er...

Keep apart for the reasons mentioned by the others!

Variety would play a large part in the descision; Potatoes are hardy, some tomatoes are not.

Therefore these would require some form of protection e.g. greenhouse/tunnel so this would keep them at some distance apart.

I use a four year rotation and my potatoes and tomatoes go together in that rotation.  I would think where allotments are concerned, the two extreme ends are not far enough apart to bother blight spores - or aphids which can carry them, as blight travels for miles when the conditions are right. The rotation is for soil born diseases and if I seperated potatoes and tomatoes, solanums would be in the same bed every two years - not long enough.

The first time I had blight, I had spuds at one end and toms at the other. It didn't make the slightest difference.

I have been trying to separate them because of blight but will now look at my "plan" again

Blight attacks tomatoes and potatoes later in the year especially when conditions are damp.

There is no need to keep the two separate, merely make sure that you remove the dead haulms (stalks) as soon as cropping is finished and if you do get blight the remove all growth and burn it. Do not put it on the compost heap and do not grow potatoes or tomatoes in the same spot for 3 years.

Potatoes, with a picture of blight will be my next web page.

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