Talkback: Frost and potatoes - Talkback

15/01/2009 at 20:05

Hi there on the suject of potatoes,suggestions please earlies mids or lates with slug resistance,ive found personal experiance/advice goes a lot further than seed merchants patter.

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15/01/2009 at 20:23

Can potatoes/peelings go on a compost heep, someone told me (a novice) not to put them

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15/01/2009 at 21:40

My nieghbour has an umbrella plant, he has just moved here from a flat into a bunglaow, he has the plant by the front door, the plant is 7ft high, and is beautiful but it seems to be dropping its leaves, I think its because its to near the front door and is getting blasts of cold air, can you tell what it may be, some of the leaves are withering too. please help him he loves this plant thank you

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16/01/2009 at 10:17

Can someone advise me as to which poatoes are best for a supposed blighth infected plot. I was allocated this plot in November 08 following it being unworked for 3 years - but was told that it had had "blight" on it in previous years. How long does blight last? Is it a permanent thing ? I am totally "green" on this topic. Heeeeeeeeelp PLEASE!

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16/01/2009 at 16:43

We're always being told how we can grow potatoes in plastic bags/large pots on the patio but how can you buy two or three seed potatoes without buying a large bag of them?

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17/01/2009 at 17:52

hi i dont understand the big hipe about this winter, this is what winter used to be like in the uk its only in the last few years we have had warm winters, we need to remember that this is what the uk winters where like

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18/01/2009 at 00:05

Best slug resistant potatoes are Kestrel which are secound early, Romano and harmony are maincrops and are good aswell. Best blight resistant potatoes Sarpo Mira,Cara,Valor,Markies.

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19/01/2009 at 09:39

Mags A plot doesn't get blight. It's not soil borne. Blight happens in August only when the weather conditions are correct - warm and wet. Hence the problems the last two years. If you don't want to spray - try the Sarpo types of potatoes that have some resistance. BUt if you plant earlies you can avoid the main period when blight attacks. Grow your tomatoes in the greenhouse too or just risk it as I did last year.

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20/01/2009 at 15:31

I must agree with Chiswickian - the best thing to do if you're worried about blight is to plant early varieties so you've got them lifted and safely tucked away before the blight strikes. I have tried the Sarpo varieties - but not in a year when blight was bad on my plot so I can't vouch for their resistance!

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21/01/2009 at 21:30

Pippa - putting rotting potatoes on your compost heap won't do the heap any favours unless you like an unholy smell. Put them in a black bin liner, tie securely and put it in your wheelie bin just before they come to collect. You will also prevent any disease from being put back into the soil which is why peelings are also not recommended especially bought ones. When persistant daytime frost dropping to below -5degC at night is forecast, the average shed doesn't provide adequate protection if the potatoes are just in a hessian or paper sack. Being mainly water, potatoes attract the frost and need a lot of airy thermal protection.

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23/01/2009 at 13:05

Aah but you see I have more than one composting area and there are places I canout things that produce horrendous smells, never fear! As to blight the Sarpo Mira and Axona potatoes are extraordinarily blight resistant and I have grown them surrounded by rows of blight-hit spuds of other varieties, no problem. As well as earlier lifting, just keep the shears at hand - if our crops are hit we promptly remove all the haulms that are hit or suspect and then burn them. Little risk of the spores having been washed down in to the soil to infect the tubers - it works a treat.The crop can then be lifted asap with great results, you can even afford to allow a little delay before lifting as long as you do not irrigate and there is no rain. PG

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24/01/2009 at 20:30

Umm Pippa, I don't see the point in putting frosted spuds on a comheap as they don't add any worthwhile bulk to it. I did that once many moons ago in the days when we had proper frosts, 40 - 50 years back. We had sorted out a load of iffy potatoes that weren't fit even to cook up for the hens, so being a helpful little lad, put them on the heap. Along came the rats, mother blew a fuse but the family German Shepherd loved the 'sport'. A few days of frosts followed, cold enough to cap the river with ice and completely sorted out the old spuds. The compost was turned into a smelly sloppy mushy mess...........ugh! I recall the main worry dad had with growing spuds was with late frosts, eelworm and very occasionally, blight. Don't seem to hear much about eelworm these days. KE

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10/02/2009 at 14:10

Luckily there were not that many spuds to go in the compost....and my compost ehap is more of a mountain, so there is no prob putting spuds in it. And yes blight can be in a plot, Mags, as the spores may be washed down off the haulms and into the soil where they can persist on volunteer spuds etc.

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19/02/2009 at 13:37

I started gardening last year and am still new to it, when is the best itme to plant my spud? I have two types, salad and King edwards?

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25/02/2009 at 22:27

INTERESTING YOU LOST YOUR STORED POTATOES. I WOULD LIKE YOU TO KNOW THAT IF A NUMBER OF THEM HAD BEEN WHAT IS CALLED HERE IN CORNWALL ONTARIO - THE BLUE RUSSIAN POTATO, CONDITIONS AS THEY WERE, THAT DESTROYED PROBABLY ALL OF YOUR SEED, MAY WELL NOT HAVE DONE IN THIS BLUE POTATO. I HAVE LOST ALL RED'S, YUKON GOLDS, KENNEBECS WHENSTORED IMPROPERLY WITH BLUE POTATOES AND MOST OF THE BLUES SURVIVED. I LOVE THE BLUE FRENCH FRIES IT MAKES. SERVE THEM IN A WHITE CHIP BOX AND OFFER KETCHUP. YOU BRITISH SHOULD LOVE THE RED WHITE AND BLUE FEAST FOR THE EYE AND PALATE. DON'T FORGET TO OFFER MAYO. FOR AN EXTRA HEALTH TREAT TO THESE ANTIOXIDANT POTATES IS BRAGG'S CIDER VINEGAR.

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12/05/2010 at 10:15

i have been heaping up my potatoes for weeks they were tall today they are limp as the the frost got to them i was away from home and was unable to sheet them up can anyone tell me will they die or is there a chance of them surviving i am a novice at gardening,or should i dig them up and replant some more main crop

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13/05/2010 at 08:56

The same thing happened to me. Do we have to cut all the foliage off? will they send out more shoots?

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14/05/2010 at 12:37

The same thing happened to me. The foliage is only a couple of inches (50mm) high but the frost has wilted it and turned it black. Anwser eagerly awaited.

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14/05/2010 at 16:09

Me too....panicked first of all thinking my potatoes had some sort of disease but it seems that it may just be the frost! Im keeping my fingers crossed that they will rally round!

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14/05/2010 at 16:22

Ahh have managed to find some more information from other blog sites....the potatoes will be fine after frost damage and no alteration to taste...the foliage will take a battering and die back but apparantly they will rally round, maturity of the plant may be set back a bit. Yay!