Looking good Dan and glad you got a bit better weather. Pouring rain here now and slugs are quite appt about that 🤬🤬. Have a fab weekend and happy gardening, Ali 🌧️🌧️🌧️🇨🇦
I have always wished they sold the same fertilizer in the USA. They finally have some of the potatoes you grow here in US I was so excited Charlotte and sarpo mira
Sarpos are a really good pest and blight free variety and Nicola or Charlotte taste amazing. You just need to look for a specialised potato fertiliser I'm sure you'll find one. Cheers Dan 😊
@@Allotment-diaryUkI didnt save any Sarpo Mira seed potatoes from my harvest last autumn as pretty much every spud was badly affected by scab. Not sure what caused it to be so bad for me last year - can only think that there may have been some on the seeds I saved at the end of 2022. Anyway, will start afresh.
I wreckon you will have the same fertiliser just by mixing potash in with blood fish & bone, than buying a specialist fertiliser like spuds galore. I bought some once having seen Dan use it but it didn't give me any better results than normal. I use the potash from my bbq's instead.
The Spud King is back 👍Great idea using sand, never thought of that before as it'll be helpful in high summer. Is it bog standard sand Dan or Builders Sand? Look forward to the results. All the best mate, Andy and Karen 👍😎
It's my old sharp sand from when I used to grow the big long carrots so it's well drained. Mixed 50 50 with soil it makes a really good mixture. Cheers Dan 😊
Hi I planted my potatoes about 2 weeks ago Asda jacket potatoes chitting from Christmas hoping to get a good return good luck with your potatoes I've made some banana water for when they come out
I've a question - where do you stand on ATACMS? Oh, I mean Nicola are indeterminate and grow on several layers? What if you have spuds that just grow on one level, is it best to plant thema third from the top? Apart from earthing up against frost damage there's no other point to planting them far down the pot, if you get what I mean.
I suppose determinate varieties only grow in a single layer and close to the surface so you are correct that they don't need planting as deep as indeterminate ones that produce tubers throughout the pot. But to be honest I used to grow Kestrel which are determinate in bags and planted them deep and got tubers throughout the compost and not just in a single layer so who knows? Cheers Dan 😊
Hi Dan. Unfortunately both Nicola and Jazzy get bad late blight on both foliage and tuber. Blue Danube is moderately resistant to blight in foliage but tubers are highly resistant so even if blight gets the foliage the tubers are ok. I agree about the roasting quality of Blue Danube being the best you can get. But I value them by microwaving then mashing or ricing the flesh. The dry, fluffy product can take lots of milk, butter or cream!!!
Why not just fill the bucket to the top with soil to begin with ? I know it's a traditional farming method when growing in the ground to earth up, but does it really make any difference to the amount harvested? I suspect not. Its one of those things like how some people like to remove all the flower heads so that the energy goes back into the roots, however that doesn't seem to make any difference to the harvest having seen a comparison. Farmers wouldn't have time for that. Same with chitting seed potatoes, they may sprout a little earlier but I suspect the end result is the same. Nature will do its thing & catch up. What does make a difference is nutrients in the soil, sun & water.
Farmers no longer earth up. In ridges in the field, the seed is buried about 6 inches under top of ridge. Farmers now often grow in beds and not in ridges and earthing up is not done. Dan says he leaves the final fill of soil until risk of frost is over then fills up. ie he can top up if frost due to protect the young growth. I always fill my pots to top before planting seed as Dan usually does.
Jazzy are a great potato variety one of my favs
Looking good Dan and glad you got a bit better weather. Pouring rain here now and slugs are quite appt about that 🤬🤬. Have a fab weekend and happy gardening, Ali 🌧️🌧️🌧️🇨🇦
It's finally stopped raining but for how long..
Supposed to be a frost tonight too..
Cheers Dan 😊
I have always wished they sold the same fertilizer in the USA. They finally have some of the potatoes you grow here in US I was so excited Charlotte and sarpo mira
Sarpos are a really good pest and blight free variety and Nicola or Charlotte taste amazing.
You just need to look for a specialised potato fertiliser I'm sure you'll find one.
Cheers Dan 😊
@@Allotment-diaryUkI didnt save any Sarpo Mira seed potatoes from my harvest last autumn as pretty much every spud was badly affected by scab. Not sure what caused it to be so bad for me last year - can only think that there may have been some on the seeds I saved at the end of 2022. Anyway, will start afresh.
The main culprit of scab is dry soil when the tubers are forming.
If you keep them well watered it shouldn't be a problem 😊
I wreckon you will have the same fertiliser just by mixing potash in with blood fish & bone, than buying a specialist fertiliser like spuds galore. I bought some once having seen Dan use it but it didn't give me any better results than normal. I use the potash from my bbq's instead.
Sarpo Blue Danube, Sarpo Kifli and Sarpo Axona will be available in USA next year. I rate Axona above Mira for flavour.
Goodluck, now the wait for growth and a great harvest😊
Fingers crossed!
Cheers Dan
The Spud King is back 👍Great idea using sand, never thought of that before as it'll be helpful in high summer. Is it bog standard sand Dan or Builders Sand? Look forward to the results. All the best mate, Andy and Karen 👍😎
It's my old sharp sand from when I used to grow the big long carrots so it's well drained.
Mixed 50 50 with soil it makes a really good mixture.
Cheers Dan 😊
Cheers Dan 👍👍
Love jazzy and another nice one very similar to jazzy is Gwenne 👍
It's my first time growing it so we'll see how they get on.
Cheers Dan 😊
Hi I planted my potatoes about 2 weeks ago Asda jacket potatoes chitting from Christmas hoping to get a good return good luck with your potatoes I've made some banana water for when they come out
You'll have to explain what banana water is .
Is it some kind of homemade feed ?
Cheers Dan 😊
I've a question - where do you stand on ATACMS? Oh, I mean Nicola are indeterminate and grow on several layers? What if you have spuds that just grow on one level, is it best to plant thema third from the top? Apart from earthing up against frost damage there's no other point to planting them far down the pot, if you get what I mean.
I suppose determinate varieties only grow in a single layer and close to the surface so you are correct that they don't need planting as deep as indeterminate ones that produce tubers throughout the pot.
But to be honest I used to grow Kestrel which are determinate in bags and planted them deep and got tubers throughout the compost and not just in a single layer so who knows?
Cheers Dan 😊
Dan
Will washed sand do the trick or am I better to go with horticultural sand Cheers
Sharp sand is best.
Don't even consider horticultural sand coz it's just a rip off.
Cheers Dan 😊
Hi Dan. Unfortunately both Nicola and Jazzy get bad late blight on both foliage and tuber. Blue Danube is moderately resistant to blight in foliage but tubers are highly resistant so even if blight gets the foliage the tubers are ok. I agree about the roasting quality of Blue Danube being the best you can get. But I value them by microwaving then mashing or ricing the flesh. The dry, fluffy product can take lots of milk, butter or cream!!!
I know David but its a risk I am willing to take.
If I ever get blight on the earlies they're always harvestable if that's even a word.
Cheers Dan 😊
Why not just fill the bucket to the top with soil to begin with ? I know it's a traditional farming method when growing in the ground to earth up, but does it really make any difference to the amount harvested? I suspect not. Its one of those things like how some people like to remove all the flower heads so that the energy goes back into the roots, however that doesn't seem to make any difference to the harvest having seen a comparison. Farmers wouldn't have time for that. Same with chitting seed potatoes, they may sprout a little earlier but I suspect the end result is the same. Nature will do its thing & catch up. What does make a difference is nutrients in the soil, sun & water.
Farmers no longer earth up. In ridges in the field, the seed is buried about 6 inches under top of ridge. Farmers now often grow in beds and not in ridges and earthing up is not done. Dan says he leaves the final fill of soil until risk of frost is over then fills up. ie he can top up if frost due to protect the young growth. I always fill my pots to top before planting seed as Dan usually does.
What kind of soil?
The soil Is the field soil that the moles have brought to the surface in their mole hills.
Cheers Dan 😊
Grow some potatoes in organic soil…
Can't get more organic than field soil.
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