Potato advice

[nuttycyclist]

Last year I thought I'd grow some, and had a good crop of leaves.    One day mid summer I think I had a mass slug attack as all leaves vanished overnight.      I ignored that, dug the potatoes up when hungry, and they tasted ok.   I did notice a few "worm holes" in some, but just cut those out before cooking.

Decided to try again this year.   Yes I know it's late but the frost has only just stopped creeping up under my shorts and it's not raining today.   

Got some seed spuds with good shoots to go in.  Digging plot over now.


Where I planted last year I've just dug up some random ones I missed last year.   Most seem hollow and eaten from the inside, but do have white roots going down.


Questions:
Are the symptoms of last year disease related as opposed to crawling pests?
Should I plant the new crop in a different area or the same area?
Should I re-plant last years ones as a laugh and see if they reproduce?
Any other advice?

[Bledlow]

Are the symptoms of last year disease related as opposed to crawling pests? - Dunno
Should I plant the new crop in a different area or the same area? - New area, definitely
Should I re-plant last years ones as a laugh and see if they reproduce? - Why not? Perhaps not with the new ones, in case it's disease
Any other advice? - it may be late according to the calendar, but I think the cold weather in March & early April means you're probably better off planting late.

[madcow]

Are the symptoms of last year disease related as opposed to crawling pests? Definitely slugs, they go inside the tuber and hollow it out
Should I plant the new crop in a different area or the same area?  Different area
 Should I re-plant last years ones as a laugh and see if they reproduce? No , use fresh certified seed from a garden centre.

Any other advice? Unless you have a big garden, just grow one or two rows of early potatoes. Encourage the eyes to open and grow short shoots, cover up  with polythene to warm the soil.
You can get organic slug pellets, based on ferric phosphate , if you dont like the normal chemical metaldehyde.

[Bledlow]

Note: the argument against re-using your old potatoes (& against planting leftover eating potatoes which have started sprouting) is the risk of propagating or introducing disease. I've done it a few times, & never had a problem - but I always plant them separately from the new seed potatoes, just in case. That complicates crop rotation.

Up to you whether you think the risk is worth it. Commercial growers don't, & they're right not to - but your circumstances are different.

[Pickled Onion]

There was a grower on farming today the other week moaning about diseases spreading to commercial crops from allotments because the allotment holders weren't so worried about a bit of scab or blight, and they should be banned from growing potatoes (or something, it's on quite early in the morning  ).

[nuttycyclist]

Note: the argument against re-using your old potatoes (& against planting leftover eating potatoes which have started sprouting) is the risk of propagating or introducing disease....

My question was more - "I bought proper seed from t'nursery last year, didn't dig them all up at harvest and have just found some when prepping t'plot.  Should I leave them in t'ground and see if they comes up this year?"


Answers.   I have.   I have also planted new seed from nursery at other end of the plot.

[Wowbagger]

There was a grower on farming today the other week moaning about diseases spreading to commercial crops from allotments because the allotment holders weren't so worried about a bit of scab or blight, and they should be banned from growing potatoes (or something, it's on quite early in the morning  ).

I've heard that sort of nonsense before.

The day people are banned from growing their own food is the final acknowledgement that as a species we are in terminal decline.

[Kathy]

There was a grower on farming today the other week moaning about diseases spreading to commercial crops from allotments because the allotment holders weren't so worried about a bit of scab or blight, and they should be banned from growing potatoes (or something, it's on quite early in the morning  ).

I've heard that sort of nonsense before.

The day people are banned from growing their own food is the final acknowledgement that as a species we are in terminal decline.

From the point of view of the farmers, people with untreated crops and livestock are a bit like parents who refuse to get the MMR jab: not wiping out the disease in your apples/chickens means that there's a reservoir of pathogens which could infect your crops. Which, since some crops are less resistant to disease, means that you can lose an entire year's worth of effort.

It's not banning people from growing crops: it's asking them to be responsible members of society.

[David Martin]

Blight is the big one - reservoirs of blight on potatoes or tomatoes can be devastating to farmers. We just shrug our shoulders and take the hit - a bit of hobby growing doesn't work. To them it is a years investment down the pan.

Even 'organic' potatoes are heavily sprayed and treated as they are so susceptible to disease.

[Bledlow]

Yes. I use barrier methods against butterflies, take the hit to some extent, rotate crops or just don't grow something for a while to avoid diseases (I've done this with tomatoes), & use organic means (e.g. garlic water to reduce allium white rot in preparation for later planting) where I can.

But I also use chemicals to a limited extent, e.g. against blight. Fingers crossed for this year.

One has a duty to the rest of the world to try to keep infection down.

[longers]

I didn't know butterflies were problematic. Where can I find out more info about this?

We've not long planted out the buddleia cuttings we took earlier in the year.

[Bledlow]

I was talking in general terms, not just about potatoes. Hence the mention of allium white rot.

To the best of my knowledge your potatoes have nothing to fear from any variety of butterfly, & any butterfly that breeds on buddleia won't bother your cabbages. Those off-white ones, however . . .

[Wobbly John]

I just thought I'd post a photo of the potatoes I dug for Sunday lunch - 2.5 kg of mostly fist-sized new potatoes from one root. 



 

[nuttycyclist]

So far I've only dug up the spuds from the crop I bought this year...





I'm so glad I've persevered with growing my own... so much better than shop bought....

[Bledlow]

Do you want some of mine? I have plenty. 

[hellymedic]

Your potatoes are much more successful than your tomatoes; Well Done!

[Trull]

Last year I thought I'd grow some, and had a good crop of leaves.    One day mid summer I think I had a mass slug attack as all leaves vanished overnight.     
Any other advice?

If you would like to reduce slugs - simply leave a plastic sheet out overnight and turn it over in the morning. This attracts Mr Slug to the underside during darkness and then you offer the tasty morsels to your local birds, no chemicals needed, very low cost, and you get a warm feeling by feeding the hardpressed birds!
Scab is caused by a microbe which lives in all soil - you can encourage it to attack well rotted manure/compost rather than your spuds by simply planting through that.
Blight is an airborne fungus which spreads in damp conditions - please be a responsible tattie farmer and cut the shaws immediately if you see any (your taters will be perfectly fine in the earth meantimes), if you leave the shaws then the fungus drips into the ground and will turn your spuds into black mush. Not nice! Also don't compost any diseased plants, either burn or landfill.
Have fun!

[Quint]

What does blight look like, I shall be trying to grow some veg this coming year and if I avoid some of the pitfalls twould be good

[Bledlow]

Lots of pictures on the interwebs, begging to be googled.

[David Martin]

Techically blight is an oomycete, not a fungus.