One major problem with growing peas beyond mid-August of course is that mildew strikes and takes hold of the plants very quickly which will ruin all your preparations and hard work. A remedy offered up by John Trim on the NVS forum is to make a spray from a concoction of a pernicious wasteland weed called mare's tail. This is supposed to combat mildew so I've been on the lookout for some plants for the past few weeks. Normally finding some mare's tail is as easy as finding a teacher with his head up his own arse, they really are ten-a-penny. But could I spot any this year? Could I heck!
Then yesterday I was at my step mum's birthday party in my dad's back garden which backs onto the Midland Mainline. I'd picked a few small shoots out of his lawn but then I noticed some larger plants growing over the wall on the railway embankment. Everyone was agog as I straddled the wall precariously trying to pluck the precious weeds, but I was happy to end up with a plastic bag full.
The method?
Pick & allow to dry until brown & crisp. Take 2oz & add to 4 pints of water. Bring to the boil in a saucepan & simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the brew & add enough water to make the mix up to 2 gallons. You are now ready to spray. The brew will keep for up to 2 weeks. Preventative spray every 10 to 14 days at half strength.
If you are in a rush because you have an outbreak of mildew, you can use fresh mares tail but double the amount, i.e 4oz fresh in 4 pints of water, then proceed as above.
Let's hope it works after all the effort!
Like most parts of the country we haven't had any rain to speak of for months (I think it went on f***ing strike for having to work outside at all times with no cold weather bonuses) so getting enough water to my spuds is one heck of a chore. I'm only growing 4 varieties this year, about 15 bags of each, my thinking being that watering such a relatively small amount would be easier. But you can't skimp on the water so each watering can will only do about 3 bags and you need to be keeping them moist at all times in this weather, so that's a lot of trips back and forth to the water butts for my little dwarf legs.
A lack of or deluge of water at specific times can lead to a number of problems so it really is critical to growing good shaped spuds with no blemishes. Frequent shallow watering is best in the long run. An early season deficit will reduce your ultimate yield. A late season deficit will reduce quality. Infrequent watering will give you tuber malformation rendering them no good for showing and a deluge after a deficit will cause your spuds to crack.
My spud foliage this season is very healthy looking but quite small and squat which i'm assuming is the plants' reaction to the exceptionally hot weather we've been having. NVS Amour and NVS Sherine in particular are very puny compared to other varieties growing next to them. In the photo NVS Sherine is on the right. The bed on the left is Casablanca and these bags have been in for nine weeks now.
I reckon I need to give Casablanca at least 12 weeks so i'll continue watering for another couple of weeks then stop watering and let them dry out if possible and the haulms die back naturally. If rain is forecast I'll cover them over with some polythene. This allows the skin lenticels to shut down and should prevent the little black dots you often get on your potatoes that just won't wash out. The Casablanca I exhibited at the weekend were allowed to dry out in their pots in the sun and they really did clean up a dream.
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