Allotments 4 All

After going mad last year with a large number of potatoes, although this year have only half as many seed spuds, I have only got a small bed that hasn't had potatoes in. This is not enough to take all the spuds. Do I put the earlies/seconds/mains in the virgin land, and which should I put in the beds that had spuds growing in 2003?

I really think that folk chase the ideal too much.

We often fail to meet it - without harm.

I think you'll have to do it arse about face. Decide where you're going to put potatoes next year and plant them everywhere else this year. If you didn't have blight last year you should get away with this year.

did you notice you got away with arse!! ;D

That's enough!!

Multi it does no harm to plant early potatoes where they were grown last year. Put your lates on ground that did not have them last year.

     :)

Interesting - whats the theory behind that??

Quote from: tim on April 08, 2005, 18:08:22
That's enough!!

sorry Tim it's just the swearing thingy filter makes me laugh.

Quote from: tim on April 08, 2005, 12:12:11
I really think that folk chase the ideal too much.

We often fail to meet it - without harm.

So what you're saying is chuck 'em in and hope?

Cccooooooooollllllll...........gives us all hope.

chuck 'em in and hope

thats my entire philospohy ;D

QuoteInteresting - whats the theory behind that??

I think you'll find the theory is that maincrop spuds stay in the ground longer and so are more likely to pick up or be effected by diseases left in the soil by a previous crop whereas earlies are eaten young and so the effect is limited, this is a compromise but common sense really

Quote from: tim on April 08, 2005, 12:12:11
I really think that folk chase the ideal too much.

We often fail to meet it - without harm.

Ah but Tim, you have blight and you use Bordeaux.  Bit of a waste really pouring it over your potatoes. ;D

Just in case anyone is confused - yes, we had blight last year & so I shall be spraying prophylactically in early June.

But this has nothing to do with rotation - to which my laissez faire remark applied.

You are right in what you say about planting early potatoes on the same ground Merry Tiller, although I would say not to do it every year

             ;)

If you're going to get blight you'll get it wherever you plant them, it's an air borne fungus made far worse by warm damp weather. Rotation of spuds is much better at preventing damage from eelworm & other creepy-crawlies.
Because of blight I grow only early spuds now which are "GENERALLY" less at risk but last year I lost almost my whole Tomato crop which is not at all funny :'(, this year my preventative measures will be lots of polythene (including the Lidl mini tunnel) to keep the rain off 'em, a la Bob Flowerdew

Merry  Tiller you are correct in saying you get blight due to warm damp weather, but it can be avoided by spraying, and sorry must be sprayed by using a chemical, at the end of the day we have to grow late potatoes to get us through the winter months,  you also have to be careful on how you water your potatoes, this should be done early in a morning so the foilage as time to dry out in the daytime to avoid the damp warm conditions that is ideal for potatoe blight.

                          ::)

True but I find that maincrop spuds take up far too much valuable space on my allotment for the reward and they are so cheap in the farm shops that it's just not worth the bother, I'd rather utilise the ground for stuff that's more expensive or difficult to get hold of

Quote from: Merry Tiller on April 09, 2005, 19:21:36
True but I find that maincrop spuds take up far too much valuable space on my allotment for the reward and they are so cheap in the farm shops that it's just not worth the bother, I'd rather utilise the ground for stuff that's more expensive or difficult to get hold of

That makes sense ;) but this year is a first for me and I bought main crop so I spose I'd better plant em ;D

Absolutely, plus they are useful for breaking in new ground

Quote from: Merry Tiller on April 09, 2005, 18:49:46
If you're going to get blight you'll get it wherever you plant them, it's an air borne fungus made far worse by warm damp weather. Rotation of spuds is much better at preventing damage from eelworm & other creepy-crawlies......

Oner problem with not rotating spuds is that you can't spot volunteers (the ones that stayed in the ground overwinter).
These are an excellent source of whatever diseases you had last year inlcuding blight. So what you will have is your own little source of blight in the centre of your new spuds - you then don't have to wait for the warm damp weather, aphids will spread it for you!! And to your neighbours

Phil