Given up on potatoes.

[Ricard with an H]

I know it's early days after two crops and just one failure to blight though even the first spring crop blighted. I cut the foliage quickly and am still taking those from the ground though the recent sowing got blight within two weeks of showing greenery so they are now dug out.

RHS say it's almost Impossible to buy organic potatoes, if I need to spray then I may as well buy spuds from the grocer or supermarket.

Last year I grew PFA, a lot of those tasted weird after being blighted even though they weren't rotten. I give up.

[dan3008]

I've not had much look with potatoes either
Because of my bad luck (and blight, 2 crops succumbed this year :'( ) I'm growing oca next year... real seeds have a good range in amazing colours. And since they arnt potatoes, no blight

Yes they taste different, most people say potato with a hint of lemon, I personally think its more of a hint of lime, but either way, they are delicious

[Geoff]

You shouldn't give up on Potatoes just because of blight. Home grown are always superior like with most vegetables. Timing is the main way to beat blight. Down where you are this should be easy. Get them in early and dug at the first sign. Burn the tops. I think PFA is a particularly bad variety to choose as it is very susceptible and needs a long season.

[Westi]

I agree with Geoff, PFA are not easy - I've given up on them, & actually didn't find the few successes that tasteful!

My biggest enemy to the potatoes is not the blight but ruddy slugs! You can still buy copper mixes. Sign up to Blight watch & they e-mail & will warn you when you have a risk. It's free. It is not an amateur site but designed for potato farmers, so if you get one use the copper spray - trust them! Do the toms as well!

I know I should use those predator thingies for my slugs, but worry about them washing through my sandy soil & not being active. More research needed there!

Westi

[dan3008]

Nematodes westi? I've tried them and personally wouldn't bother. In sandy sail they tent to dehydrate, and in clay soil they tend to drown... And they don't survive winter well, so need reapplying every year. But do research yourself, that's just my tuppance worth.
Another interesting option is Decollate snails which eat the common garden snail and slugs. But I dont know much about them

[Ricard with an H]

I suppose that assuming all spraying to be toxic to some degree is as bad as assuming all food additives are toxic so thanks for the consoling comments. I suppose I'm too late now to grow any type of potato though we are much warmer here in the west than the east.

Go-on, encourage me. Copper spray ? Ok, I'll get copper spray if I can find seed potatoe to sow this late in the year.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Have you tried Sarpo Axona or any of the other blight resistant varieties? They have much stronger foliage and there's a reasonable range of varieties.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Regarding the Occa , Dan don't you find the tubers rather small and fiddly to prepare? They also seem to be slug magnets in my garden. I've been growing the bright pink ones for about five years now. They are totally hardy and come up in the same place every year if you miss any. I wouldn't say they were a potato substitute though.

[dan3008]

Plum, the tubers are small, But I dont do much perpetration either. I just wash them thoroughly, cut the bigger ones in 1/2, and roast or boil...

That said, I havent grown any for a few years (since I moved) so I might be miss remembering them... lol... I have a tendency to glamorise plants in memory, they are rarely as good as I remember...

[Westi]

Richard you might still be able to grow some spuds in pots for Xmas. I think there was a thread on here at some point, or just search it. Will need some cover though from your winds, which will probably rip the leaves apart or blow the pots over.

They may not be that big as I think it is a few weeks later than they should go in, but I've got a feeling it was one of our regulars that were growing them so hopefully one will respond.

Westi

[Ricard with an H]

Thanks Westi.

I took a quick look for seed potatoes, one site was completely out of stock. I would rather pick some up locally though that's even more remote. I could grow them under nets but all my netted beds are dealing with carrots and brassicas. The mini polytunnels seemed a good idea at the time but last year they ended up in the next field, got blown right over the banks, over barbed wire and got stuck on a hedge about 200 metres away though with very little damage other than a small puncture in the polythene.

[Geoff]

I wouldn't bother at this time of year. Have a good clean up and wait for Spring. I have planted earlies under an outside cloche the first week in March for many years and they crop at about the 21st May (my wife's birthday). Since I have had the polytunnel I have moved to planting end of first week in February, under a cloche, and they crop before mid-May. With the Pembrokeshire climate and your high tech cloches I think mid-February would be practical, as long as you have a bit of extra protection on hand when they are well though. Rocket aren't renowned for flavour but I find them OK and they are definitely quick. Swift are supposed to be a better flavour but we couldn't tell the difference and they were slower and lower yielding. So get ready to enjoy your own Potatoes on 15th May 2017!

[Ricard with an H]

Your advise is taken Geoff, now I need to find something to grow in that bed and I won't use grazing rye again. I sowed grazing rye to overwinter for two years, it grows fast but rots down very slowly then some starts growing again after I dug it in.

I still haven't started using the garlic I grew last year so I'm not growing more until spring so I'll find a way of holding those mini polytunnels down and grow some winter salads/Chinese lettuce/land cress/mooli/ and suchlike rather than leaving the bed empty.

If you could see the angle that the sea-buckthorne leans over you would immediately appreciate the wind conditions we get, the sea buckthorne is well established and doing its job very-very well but it did struggle like most other stuff growing wild round here and leaning over at 45 degrees. In the valley to the east of us it's a different climate, often warmer, less wind and often drier because we sit in low cloud. To the west of us things get more sparse with just gorse and some blackthorns surviving.

I'm still digging up Maris Piper I grew during spring, a few have been eaten away by something though it's heartening that the small crop is still proving a few spuds. And they are lovely.

Thanks for all the help.

[Westi]

Empty bed & saved cloches from the hedge row??? Richard, try some winter salads, loads of free seeds of corn salad on the magazine and article in the latest magazine for other things to try. Or get a lot sowing of Pak Choi in or the like.

This is the thing with growing, some wins, some losses. Call it experimenting, review what you did, and when, & make adjustments next year, or new varieties.

Westi

[Pawty]

Hi,

I also agree with Geoff - never give up on potatoes!

They are one of the best home grown vegetables. People who have never grown their own will say ' it's just a potato ', but there's nothing like cooking day dug potatoes! It's something money just can't buy and you get such satisfaction. Keep trying, even if it's just a few tubulars in a stack of recycled tyres!

Pawty