Yesterday I went to collect my spuds from Exhibition Seed Potatoes (ESP) in Ockbrook, Derby. I shall be growing 5kg of Winston (white), 5kg of Kestrel (purple splashes) and 3 kg each of Maxine (red) and Camelot (pink splashes). That's not a huge amount of spuds compared to the top growers but I only have room for 60 or so bags and I do like to have a few varieties to cover the different classes I enter at various shows.....such as white/coloured/coloured kidney/white kidney/round as well as collections for a plate of coloured and white spuds. I shall be illustrating my growing methods in a later posting nearer sowing time (mid April for me) but until then my spuds are chitting in trays in my garage eye end uppermost. All I will say for now is that you need to make sure you have shed loads of Vitax Q4 and calcified seaweed in store.I was also persuaded by the proprietor of ESP, Dave Thornton to have a go with some Blue Belle which has lilac splashes. Some of the guys on the NVS forum reckon it could be a good one so I shall give it a go on a small scale......I only bought a kilo......9 tubers.
Not much is happening in the garden, and my shallots seem to be on a go-slow. I haven't got a single green top showing on any of them which I can only put down the recent cold weather. I know they have rooted and the bulbs appear solid so it's just a case of waiting for them to start into growth.....I hope!!!
8 comments:
Are you sure about Calcified Seaweed ?
Seaweed Meal for sure for the trace elements humus etc.but surely any calciferous substance will add Lime,raise the PH and cause Scab.
I thought you avoided any Lime or Calcium products like the Plague with spuds.
I just can't see what benefit Calcified Seaweed would have over Seaweed Meal.
Or am I wrong ?
Is lime good for Spuds ?
Hi Simon. Your seed poatoes look a good size I was always thought seed poatoes needed to be no bigger than a decent hen egg or do big ones grow better for showing.
Whooahh !!,this spud topic's certainly turning into a hot potato....LOL !!,I'm saying 'nowt.
P.S I don't want to p@ss you off but the shallots you gave me are doing brilliantly.
Cheers.
Dan.
Anonymous....who art thou?
Now then this subject has had me re-checking and cross-referencing for an hour.
What I do know is that Sherie Plumb uses calcified seaweed and we all know how good she is. I think scab is only really a major problem when grown in soil and as show spuds are grown in peat it's less of a problem.
I would however advocate that you sieve the living daylights out of the calcified seaweed so that you are getting rid of any large lumps that could indeed cause problems. I believe it may be possible for the the calcified seaweed particles to mark the skin of the developing potatoes, which is why I only add it to the bottom couple of inches in the bag....the 'bottom' mix as it were, where only the feeder roots will come into contact with it. Having said that, Sherie incorporates her Vitax Q4 and calcified seaweed into the whole mix where the tubers are going to be growing and she seems to have no adverse effect. Peat is acidic so I suppose the two components may counteract each other's effect.
To add to the confusion, I've just realised that last year I did indeed use seaweed meal and not calcified, thinking it as the same thing , and the result was my best ever spuds, so that is what I shall be using this coming season. In some of Medwyn's articles before 2006 he was recommending calcified seaweed, but his recent articles have changed to the use of seaweed meal.
I hope that has helped clarify the situation but I doubt it. I've tried to find the NPK concentration of each but to no avail....can anyone else oblige?
James.....I plant all sizes to be honest. I have a real mixed bag but I've not noticed that bigger seed produces bigger show spuds. It's all down to the amount of feed, how they're grown and the amount of shoots you leave on.
Dan....you bastard!
Yep,I am definately a Bastard.
I'm turning 40 later this week...OOOOOHHHH SHHHIIIITTT !!! and my parents will be celebrating their Ruby Wedding Anniversary in March.
Does this make me a "Love Child" ? LOL !!!
I couldn't give a flying F@ck !
P.S.I was the Anonymous 1st poster.
Honestly.
I just wanted to wind you up.
Cheers,Bastard...I mean Dan.
But seriously...for once...,do you think use Calcified with Peat to raise the P.H of the acidic peat a bit and use normal seaweed Meal if you use Multipurpose which usually already has some Lime added to it ?
And the same with the Carrot Mixes ?
Oops now it's going to be Carrot Mix paranoia !! LOL.
Dan.
Dear Dan,
Like I've said before all the top growers (and me and you aint one of 'em!) use calcified seaweed in their spud mixes, so I'm sure it's not an issue.
Just make sure it's well sieved and that all the big lumps are removed. I'm convinced big lumps can scorch the skins.
This is even more important when growing carrots. I went to a talk by Mark Roberts and he reckons the tiny reddish marks you sometimes get on carrot skins are caused by lumps of calcified seaweed. I intend to use a cement mixer this season to make sure my root mixes are well and truly mixed!
p.s. 40?!? Hehehehehe.
My shallots have sprouted! But they have been in the ground under a closh and straw since November.
My Nan definitely uses Calcified seaweed because I have to take it off the back of a the truck for her. And she stopped showing about five years ago, swears by it tho.
Post a Comment