Feeding spuds

[Merry]

My potatoes have just started to break the ground and I planned to cover them with a layer of composted manure and then hoe some soil over them.
I said this to the next plot holder - he who has had an allotment since Adam were a lad - and he laughed and said - waste of compost. You can`t feed spuds once they`ve sprutted!
Is this right?

[MKG]

No, it isn't. Just be careful what kind of feed you give it. Some feeds will encourage leafy growth and fruiting at the expense of roots - not necessary with potatoes. A tomato food is one of those. It may be beneficial in the very early stages of growth, but not later. What you're looking for is anything particularly high in phosphate and potassium.

Mike

[chadspad]

Are either of those found in chicken poo? I have a lot of that.

[citizentwiglet]

Comfrey tea would do the trick, wouldn't it? (If you can bear the smell).......

[MKG]

Chicken poo is just about ideal - but you can't use it fresh (you could kill the spuds). It needs to be composted for several weeks before use.

Comfrey's a tad high on the nitrogen side, I would have thought - great for leafy plants, but not so good for root crops.

Mike

[citizentwiglet]

I did think that after I posted, to be honest. I know they recommend putting wilted comfrey leaves under your seed potatoes when you plant them out; but wasn't sure about anything more than that. That's in the soil, though where I guess the soil could be lacking in nitrogen, whereas in multipurpose compost / vegetable growbags it is 'made' more balanced.

The standard 'root crop' feeds seem to have a NPK of around 4-2-10; Fish Blood and Bone is around 5-5-6.5, so it seems that you are stuck with having more nitrogen than you probably need, if you grow in pots.

[Merry]

Oh...................thanks for that advice.

So what about the composted manure that I was going to use?
Or would my home made compost be all right?
Or should I just earth them up?

Woddya fink? please?

[citizentwiglet]

What sort of manure is it? (Which animal, I mean?). Would this help at all?

http://www.allotment.org.uk/fertilizer/ ... ompost.php

[MKG]

In the early stages of potato growth, you WANT the leafy stuff - so high nitrogen is OK. A top dressing of composted manure would be OK, and the comfrey suggested by citizentwiglet would be OK. But I'd say that a single (light) dressing would be plenty. When the tubers are forming, you need to decrease nitrogen and up the phosphate and potassium - your by-then composted chicken manure would provide that. If you continue with high-nitrogen at that stage, you'll get wonderful foliage but small potatoes.

Mike

[Rosendula]

My plan was to give them very diluted chicken poo tea in the early stages, then give them a dressing of wood ash later on which should provide the potassium (or so I believe?). I've never worked out what phosphate is though, and where it comes from. I've tried looking it up, but I always end up with a headache. Can someone explain in (very) simple terms please?

[MKG]

Yep, wood ash will give you potassium but very little phosphate. Phosphate is simply a compound of phosphorous, and it's phosphorous which is needed for healthy root growth. As far as I'm aware, the best source if you want to stay away from proprietary fertilisers is bone meal. Obviously, bone meal also introduces a lot of calcium carbonate which will tend to make soil less acidic.

Mike