Spuds

[Mad Dad]

On the subject of spuds, I've heard that you should ensure that you lift all potatos from the ground as any left behind can cause problems. How bad can it be? I'm asing because I've just found 2 from last year and I am worried that the may be more...

[Andy Hamilton]

I fond a few a couple of months ago from last year. Risk of blight and other problems if left in. But so far so good with mine.

[Wombat]

G'day Guys,

This happens to me every year, a few spuds escape my eagle (Chicken?) eye and grow up again, to date it has not proven to be a problem and I have been growing spuds like this for at least 10 years. Unless the problem does not relate here in Aus (and I don't see why it wouldn't) I suspect that it is a problem mainly for commercial growers and small scale, particularly by organic methods has reduced risk!

Nev

[Andy Hamilton]

Second that Nev, also always try to practice crop rotation also if gronwing organically. This will reduce disease. I also plant mustard seeds after my spuds for green manure and to keep wire worm at bay.

[Millymollymandy]

Andy - is that straight after the spuds i.e. the same year, then you have that plot free for the following year for something else, or you mean the mustard is grown there the following year?

How does that keep wireworms at bay? I don't know anything about wireworms - do they attack spuds/roots?

[Andy Hamilton]

aye the same year striaght after the spuds, they give precious nutrients back to the soil . Not sure exactly how mustard keeps wireworm at bay (perhaps the smell?) if you have holes in your spubs, rather like when maggots eat into apples thats wire worm damage.

[ina]

This problem of why mustard does what it does has kept me searching for an answer for at least two hours tonight! See what this website does to me? Actually makes me use my head!

Anyway, at last I've come up with some kind of answer:

"May help to control wireworms, which are fond of the decomposing plants and eat enough to reach adulthood in a single season, then fly away to find grassland in which to lay their eggs."

Mmmhh... Which means they reproduce even faster than otherwise, only they don't do it in your garden, but in neighbours' lawn? Ok with me. They don't grow veg.

Wireworms can under normal conditions take several years to "grow up". By the way, this was a quote from "The organic gardening catalogue". If I find any more, I'll let you know.

Ina

[Muddypause]

Wireworms can under normal conditions take several years to "grow up".

Some of us never manage it.

[Wombat]

Me!.....Me!.........Me!

[Andy Hamilton]

Mmmhh... Which means they reproduce even faster than otherwise, only they don't do it in your garden, but in neighbours' lawn? Ok with me. They don't grow veg.Ina

That made me laugh out loud, good one. Glad to find out why mustard gets rid of wire worm. I thought they were just repled by it, shows what I know!

[Millymollymandy]

Back to me spuds - the 2nd earlies are all covered with buds and some are flowering. However just noticed tiny flower buds on the early spuds. ??? Surely they should have been flowering first as they 'should' be ready first?

With the early spuds do I just dig em up whilst the vegetation is still lush and green? (packet said 60 - 90 days but at 60 days they weren't ready)

What about the 2nd earlies - they are "Bintje" which is a good storing spud and for chips, roasties etc. (Packet says 90 - 120 days) Should I wait until the vegetation (haulm - I know this word now!) goes brown, cut it off and wait a week like it says in my veg book for the maincrop spuds? I'll be wanting to store these ones so they need the skins to have hardened.

Questions, questions! Never mind next year I'll hopefully know what I'm doing!

[Magpie]

I usually have a bit of a rummage around under the plants, without actually pulling them up, to see what is going on under there. You can get a few early spuds this way,too, and let the plant keep growing.

With my maincrops, I have waited until the leaves go brown, and die down, then just dig them up. I hadn't heard if cutting off the tops - I wonder why you would do that.

[Millymollymandy]

I will have to go back to my veggy book on that - I may have got that mixed up as I remember reading something about if you had had blight to cut the vegetation off...... or something like that!

[couscous]

On the subject of earthing up yer tatties. I had a lot of success a few years ago putting down a layer of compost/manure. Cover this with a sheet of black plastic. Cut small crosses in the plastic and plant the tatties in the holes. The tatties are easy to harvest.
While I don't use this method now (why I can't imagine as it was very successful) I do still use black plastic in strips when I havn't got enough earthing-up earth. It does stop the tatties going green. Did you know that you have to eat 21 lbs of tatties in a sitting for them to kill you - but only 7lbs of green tatties for the same effect - being a member of the belladonna family apparently!

[shiney]

I feel like I've eaten 21lbs of spuds after eating just one helping! That is an interesting fact tho'. I like information like that. Thanks.