As a quick fix to stop the mildew spreading further spray it with milk and rain water (10 parts water to one part milk) then in preparation for further attacks leave half a pint of milk somewhere warm so it goes off, then strain off the solids and keep the liquid whey. Mix whey with equal parts of u...

I regularly encountered BER but find adding a dusting of ground egg shell into the hole when planting out keeps it away. I rinse shells under the tap and save them until there's enough to go on a baking tray next time the oven is on. Roasted shells are then ground into a gritty powder and kept until...

I'll watch this thread with interest. I'm growing them for the first time also and have read somewhere that they tend to keep on growing if you let them but in the process the tubers become big, rock hard making them difficult to cook and tasteless. It recommended cutting the tops off at 22 weeks ma...

Good advice MW. I've got two sheds on the lottie. The tool shed has a strong padlock located in a shroud, bolted on hinges and felted wood and so far it has withstood a crow bar attack. The tea shed is much weaker but thankfully the hasp gave way before the crow bar attacker damaged the wood as he d...

The most effective way I've found to deter the urban fox is for a meat-eating man (me) to wee in a watering can and then pour it in lines to scent mark around borders. It lets the fox know the territory is already taken. For years I tried all the usual methods of electric high pitched sound box, Ren...

The white spots you mention are just the result of too much water, the potato sweats out excess moisture through those pores.

That's quite sad really. It wasn't until a friend of mine visited the allotment recently that he learned potatoes can be stored (and he's 55).

Could maybe consider liming as well, horsetail likes it acidic. Good luck with it.

Thank you for a warm welcome folks. Westi, all I can offer about couch and bindweed is we've dug over the whole plot (500 square metres of it) and removed all we could see. Now the weather's warming there are quite a few small pieces rearing their heads so it's just a case now of teasing out the bit...

Hello all, new bloke from Nottingham. I've been growing for a while and have had an allotment for a few years. Last October my wife and I moved onto a bigger plot and have now cleared it of bindweed, dandelion and couch so hoping for a good growing season. Looking forward to meeting you on the boards.