Kitchen Garden Forum

Just done a severe pruning job on the leaf stems of two tomato plants in the garden. Will give them a good feed later and keep fingers crossed but not hopeful.

Didn't see any blight signs when on the plot yesterday

Daft question alert ..... Can you cut some greenery off potatoes plants to make them put more energy in to the potatoes?

I've been harvesting the charlottes for a few weeks and are a good size. However I had a poke around in the pink firs..... Didn't find many potatoes under the masses of very tall leaves.

Thanks

Pawty

Err, the leaves feed the plant.

I've now cut a lot of leaves from my tomato plants (the ones i planted a bit too tight together), so they look like ostrich. If anything, it looks original. I've also trimmed the unruly growth to try to stem the outbreak of blight, create good ventilation and also re-did my irrigation system (cutting my finger in the process - unintended consequence) to only water the roots and not touch the bottom leaves.
Speaking with my family in France, I've heard that an old wife's tale is to put some bits of copper around the tomato plants and this should keep the blight away... So I bought some copper and am putting it all around in the beds. Who knows. I also found that in Germany, France and the US they sell copper based sprays to use as preventing measures, but not too sure about the idea of eating copper sprayed vegetables after taking the care of growing them naturally here...

Oh dear just realised this was a longish speech making me sound slightly panicking... Think I'll have another glass of wine and forget the blight and the slugs for a moment...

Bordeaux mixture used to be available to the UK gardener, but has been ceased, although some proprietary copper based stuff is still available.
Bordeaux from the wine, it was widely used in the wine growing regions against moulds, even over used to the extent of poisoning the soil in some places. It is used as a surface coating that inhibits mould germination and/or kills moulds. Gets washed off by rain and had to be reapplied.
Widely used in amateur and professional potato growing, my dad used to mix it in a bucket and apply with a victorian brass gardeners syringe about 2" diameter and about 2' long closed.

Pawty wrote: However I had a poke around in the pink firs..... Didn't find many potatoes under the masses of very tall leaves.
Thanks

Pawty

Pink Fir Apple not a particularly big potato. Have you been using chicken manure or pellets by any chance?

Local weather station observed 87% humidity at 0600 this morning.

Removed a number of blighted leaves last night from tumbler tomatoes that are in hanging baskets in front garden.
Gave the plants a high nitrogen feed, will alternate that with BFB.

Hi, just compost added to the ground this year pa snip - I've been a bit lazy.

I've grown pink fir a few times with great success. Normally get masses of the things - enough to supply the harvest meal for the pickers at the vineyard from just a few plants. To be fare, that's not until end sept/October so it may just be they need more time in the ground.

Pawty

lol patience is a virtue Pawty

A few years back I used to use chicken pellets when our only growing space was the back garden. That is until one year the haulms got huge but there was very little in the way of harvestable crop.

Spoke to a gardener at RHS Wisley and before I even mentioned it she said "bet you used chicken pellets"
Apparently great for top growth but not good for root crop

Pa Snip wrote:lol patience is a virtue Pawty

A few years back I used to use chicken pellets when our only growing space was the back garden. That is until one year the haulms got huge but there was very little in the way of harvestable crop.

Spoke to a gardener at RHS Wisley and before I even mentioned it she said "bet you used chicken pellets"
Apparently great for top growth but not good for root crop

That's interesting Pa, because I use the manure pellets a lot in the absence of being able to get the bulk stuff. I will have to go easy with them on my root crops then. I've just bought some bags of composted manure. I wonder whether this stuff has a similar effect.

Hi Primrose
Is it chicken manure ? if so just don't go overboard with it. But then that advice even applies to liquid and granular feeds of all types

One of my plot neighbours uses chicken manure in moderation and has brilliant crops

Many on our site have lost tomatoes from the blight, it seems to happen over night and will only be a matter of time before mine go to I think.

Today I checked my main crop potatoes, Picasso and Desiree they were still looking very healthy and having dug around to see what sort of crop I had, decided to do as OH and cut the haulms down to be on the safe side, I won't have huge potatoes but they seem to be a good size and I have given them a good earthing up to to protect them.

Beryl.

Spraying with the copper solution seems to have saved my main crop potatoes but not letting my guard down.

My self sown cherry tomatoes were sprayed as I had some left, but they didn't need it - not a blemish! It's been about 5 years now that they have popped up. How many years to you think I can let them self sow before I just collect my own seeds with an honest belief that they are blight resistant? They do get very late blight but have cropped themselves out by then. It's a small bite size cherry tomato but haven't a clue about it's heritage as originally planted too long ago! (But likely had an unusual name knowing me)!

When the time is considered right I can send you all seeds to trial it before I start negotiations with the seed companies!
Mind watch even them succumb this awful year!

Westi

It's odd, self-set tomatoes seem to be much more resistant to blight than conventionally sown ones. I wonder why that is?

Signs of blight on my maincrop Picasso last week so I sprayed with a couple of sachets of Dithane I found on the shelf. I know you are supposed to spray before it shows but it didn't seem to be stopping it spreading so yesterday I dispatched all the tops to the bonfire then dug the lot up. There are plenty of Potatoes, I'll weigh them when they are dry and I bag and grade them, but it is obvious the skins aren't mature. The question is, when this happens do you do as I have done or just remove all the top growth and leave them in the ground for a bit to toughen up as I have sometimes read? I was worried that the showery weather could still wash spores off the surface down onto the Potatoes. I never got a blight warning but there are dots on the map not too far away.