Hi, all -- I know that that combination is a bad one, but I don't know why. Anyone?
I have a patch of cauliflowers that should be producing mature heads now, but all they have on them are a few pathetic little sprouts of cauli, no heads at all. There is also some unplanted potato plants next to their bed, potatoes that come back year after year, all of their own accord, no matter how carefully I dig out the potatoes. The brassicas don't have club foot (dug up one plant anyway), but these particular sad caulis have bumpy leaves (like pimples, but green!), and are starting to yellow on the edges.
We have had a very poor summer so far, with most days being overcast and about 10C below normal (don't know how much difference that would make).
Cheers
Andrea
NZ
Companion planting: Potatoes vs Brassicas
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farmerdrea
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supersprout
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Like spuds, the cauliflower are greedy feeders - are they getting enough? You might just have had an unlucky batch - try sowing cauli 'all year round' every two to three weeks, just a few, so that you get a succession of caulis and if you get one bad batch it's not so critical.
Brassica and spuds don't mix? Can't find that in any of my companion books (I went and looked
). According to Louise Riotte, cauli apparently like celery nearby, but not tomatoes or strawberries. Both caulis and spuds are greedy feeders - maybe there's a thought that they could compete for nutrients? Or perhaps it's that people used to automatically lime the ground for brassicas, to get the slightly preferred alkaline environment which deters clubroot, and lime makes potatoes scabby 
If your caulis aren't heading up, it's possible that lime, phosphorus or potash deficiency might be present. A good all-round feed should sort that out!
Happy growing
Brassica and spuds don't mix? Can't find that in any of my companion books (I went and looked
). According to Louise Riotte, cauli apparently like celery nearby, but not tomatoes or strawberries. Both caulis and spuds are greedy feeders - maybe there's a thought that they could compete for nutrients? Or perhaps it's that people used to automatically lime the ground for brassicas, to get the slightly preferred alkaline environment which deters clubroot, and lime makes potatoes scabby If your caulis aren't heading up, it's possible that lime, phosphorus or potash deficiency might be present. A good all-round feed should sort that out!
Happy growing
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farmerdrea
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Thanks, Supersprout. It was an NZ companion planting book in which I'd read about potatoes and brassicas...
It's really weird, this patch of ours. The farmhouse is 101 years old, and some of the land near it (which was lawn when we moved in 3 years ago, and which we have put into vege patch and soft fruit) has obviously been worked before, as anything we plant in it grows really well. The soil is black and rich, and very friable. Then in sections it's dry and stony without much organic matter at all. The first year we planted rows of various things, sunflowers and example. One end of the row reached over 8 feet in height, the other end of the row was barely above knee high, with the whole row getting shorter and shorter as it got towards the shorter end. Same thing with the leeks and lots of other things. The poor patches have slowly been improved with lots of mulching with manure and compost, but it all takes time. Where the caulis are doing so poorly, 2 feet away the sprouts and cabbages are doing really well!
Cheers!
Andrea
NZ
It's really weird, this patch of ours. The farmhouse is 101 years old, and some of the land near it (which was lawn when we moved in 3 years ago, and which we have put into vege patch and soft fruit) has obviously been worked before, as anything we plant in it grows really well. The soil is black and rich, and very friable. Then in sections it's dry and stony without much organic matter at all. The first year we planted rows of various things, sunflowers and example. One end of the row reached over 8 feet in height, the other end of the row was barely above knee high, with the whole row getting shorter and shorter as it got towards the shorter end. Same thing with the leeks and lots of other things. The poor patches have slowly been improved with lots of mulching with manure and compost, but it all takes time. Where the caulis are doing so poorly, 2 feet away the sprouts and cabbages are doing really well!
Cheers!
Andrea
NZ