This is the place to discuss not just allotments but all general gardening problems and queries which don't fit into the specific categories below.
(formerly allotments and tips, hints and problems)
What if you can't pile up the soil around the plants?
Silly question I know, but our potato plants are in a very funny place. We have a strip of soil between a picket fence and a wall, about 1 and half wide by about 12 ft long. We thought we would plonk some spud plants in there because it was otherwise a dead peice of ground. But now the plants are going for it big stylie, there is no way we can pile any soil up, there's simply no room!
What will happen, will we get many potatos or is it a wait and see scenario?
I guess it depends on what your soil is like to start with.
I have always planted my spuds too close together to hill up the soil (that little spud I planted can't get THAT big, can it!?!) and I have always had good crops.
I think the theory behind hilling is that the spuds grow more roots (then tubers) from the buried leaf joints. I definately haven't found it essential though.
I think it's also to stop the tatties going green. The theory being that as the potatoes swell those near the surface may break through and see sunlight which will turn them green and make them inedible.
(Yay! I'm Jerry! I can no longer quote Margo: "That's the last time I play the tart for you Jerry!")
Yes, there is money in flogging worms - there must be, why else would there be worm farms! Maybe you should offer them in the swap shop, or for anglers. I know of an organic farm in the area that at least used to get some of their income from selling worms. (Pity nobody wants slugs, though...)
I've earthed my spuds up several times and now they are about a foot above where they were planted and there's no more earth left to do any more.
I dug one up the other day to see what was going on as it's the first time I've grown them and I've got far too many anyway; also the instructions with the seed spuds said 60 days for the earlies and the 60 days was up.
What struck me as wierd is that there was only about 2 - 3" of stem beneath the soil surface and the roots from them weren't very long, and yes there were spuds, about 10 little ones which we ate but they are not ready yet. What I can't understand is that it seems like the spud plant has just risen up with the earthing. It doesn't 'start' where I planted it. It seems like I might as well have not bothered.
Plants are very healthy looking and about 15" high and 18" wide above the soil.
Hmmmm, well some of them (but not the row where I dug this one up from) are shaded for a small part of the day by a plum tree.
Anyway I have now mulched them with straw (read that somewhere) as the soil is very free draining and dries very quickly and I never had any compost/manure to dig in as it's our first year here - tons of compost being made now for next year though.
I planted so many that if I get a reduced crop it is probably a good thing anyway! I won't plant so many next year as they take up too much room.
Free draining soil might not be the worst for your potatoes - no potatoes ever tasted better than those out of my father's garden, and that soil still classifies as sandy after 40 years of constant addition of compost! Lighter soils are actually supposed to keep the plants healthier, at least, we never had any problems with diseases (partly I suppose choice of variety). But free draining is, in any case, better than water logged - they easily start rotting in the ground.
In my garden, I seem to have the best results with volunteer potatoes... They come up everywhere, although I dug it over twice, and those plants look much healthier than the ones I stuck in neat rows!!! Why do I bother?
That's good news - and my spuds do look remarkably healthy. I was expecting an invasion of Colorado beetles as all the people discussing spuds on French forums seem to have them!
I too have spuds coming up here and there from the previous owners spuds - like you we dug the whole thing over and removed a lot of little spuds, but like the bindweed, some seem to have slipped through our meticulous clearing of roots, weeds etc. I just hoe them off, bindweed too as there is not a lot I can do about that at the moment.
I know of an organic farm in the area that at least used to get some of their income from selling worms. (Pity nobody wants slugs, though...)
