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I'm busy burning privet and chipped wood on the advice of the local allotment guys and spreading the result where the potatoes will go next year.

What other plants need lots of potash? How much should I be putting on? Are there any alternatives to this less-than-friendly way of producing the stuff - or is potash one source of a more familiar trace element?

Lime - the book says to lime the soil. What is the relationship of this to potash, if any?

Magnesium deficiency - some broccoli leaves have markings that the book says is down t omagnesium deficiency and some potatoes seemed to have the same problem. Is there an organic solution? Can anyone recommend a soil improver besides blood fish and bone? Is BFB sufficient?

hi christine, someone told me that lime was not good for potatoes, dunno if thats right. i'm busy spreading seaweed on my future spud patch but i don't suppose you get much of that in sheffield

I know nothing about liming although I believe it helps to break down clay soil. I think! Ask Nev about it as I think he limes his soil.

Potash is good for all fruiting and flowering plants - i.e. you don't add potash to green leaved plants like salads or cabbagy things that you don't want to go to seed (flower). So fruit trees, roses, tomatoes, peppers, geraniums all need high potash feed.

Hi, no tatties dont like too much lime.dont worry about using too much wood ash as it soon washes away,use for fruiting& flowering. rock potash is an alternative,lasts longer. limeing sweetens acid soils & breaks down clay, ma be worth testing your soil to see what type u have.dolomite lime & calcified seaweed contain magnesium. fbb is v fast acting for a quick boost,but much better to build soil fertilerty with lots of compost. comfrey is good as an alternative to fbb.A.

If you live near the coast a trip to a beach and seaweed picking is a good alternative. You will get looked at in a funny way for this but the same can be said for any form of foraging!

Good as a mulch too and can help to keep those slugs away at the same time.

As for liming, a word of caution.

Potoes don't like lime as they prefer a neutral of acid soil, you will end up with potatoes that have a scabby appearance, but they taste the same.
Also before any lime is added, check your soil ph (kits are available from most gardening shops) as an excess of lime can affect the mineral uptake of plants as it has a habit of binding to such things and plants can end up looking weak and sickly.

If you do need to lime, do it AFTER you have taken your potatoes out.
Also don't forget to feed the soil before you plant your potatoes, now's a good time to get manure or such into the soil so that it's broken down nicely for planting time come spring. Make sure you dig it in though or you will lose all the goodness through leaching.

Another tip is never lime when you manure, you lose a good amount of the nitrogen if you do that.

Hope that helps!

Chris and Helen

Looks to me like everyone else has covered things pretty well!

Nev

You lime the soil if it is acidic, or if the plants yo are putting in prefer alkaline conditions. Spuds like acid soil so put leaf mould in as this is acidic as it breaks down ( or just put some leaves in with your spuds)
If you don't want to use lime you can use mushroom compost if you can get it. I get it from a local mushroom farm..we pay £5 for a large trailer load.
If you want to add lime and manure you can do it, but at different times of the year, eg add lime as soon as you lift your spuds and then add well rotted manure in the spring ( just keep it in a covered heap until spring)

The soil on our plot is clay (not worked for several years). What can we add to it over autumn & winter to improve it ready for planting in the spring? We'll be growing organically, so will be operating a 3 bed rotation system.

In the meantime I've just joined an organic veg. box scheme. My friends have been amazed at the amount I'm getting for the price, so think there'll be a few more orders in the coming weeks.

Any calcium salt with break down the clay, Ranter. If your pH is a bit low use Ag lime (Calcium Carbonate) if the pH is OK or too alkaline add Gypsum (Calcium Sulphate) as it will not affect pH.

The problem with sodium clays is the small particle size, by adding calcium the clay flocculates, creating larger particles which means it's more friable and crumbly, hence the air and water can get in!

Nev

Ranter wrote:The soil on our plot is clay (not worked for several years). What can we add to it over autumn & winter to improve it ready for planting in the spring? We'll be growing organically, so will be operating a 3 bed rotation system.

Try to get hold of some well rotted manure as the more manure or compost you can get into the soil will improve it dramatically - this goes for any kind of soil whether sandy or clay.

Another way of breaking clay is to get friendly with your local chimney sweep! High potash content but needs weathering for quite a while, having said tht the results are amazing! Watch out for cabbages the size of footballs and a BIG crop on fruiting bushes, and once again, slugs don't like it!!!!

I used this on new broken soil and mulched with black plastic, when I took the plastic off the soil was amazing, Also found that with the higher carbon content and darkness of soil that it warmed up quickly so plants are forced on.

Chris and Helen

Thank you very much indeed, folks - feel a lot better about things, now - especially about the lime issue.

Found I could buy potash at a 'proper' nursery and , while I hate to buy things for the allotment (as doing it for free is all part of the fun) it's a lot friendlier than endless burning.

I'll look into all the other possibilities, too, although seaweed might be out of the picture, as Sheffield is almost as far away from the seaside as you can get in Britain. Still, if it works to control the slugs it would definitely be worth the trip!

Have local friendly dog walker who works at a stables. She got me about 11 bags of pure droppings, which I've variously dug into the prepped rows for next year, laid on the soil under black plastic or added to the compost heap but it sounds as though 11 bags is a drop in the ocean.

Thanks for the advice,
Too wet to dig or weed this week, but we can order some well-rotted manure so I'll get on with that.

Cheers