Famine in Clare

Micks Garden · Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 5:58 pm Post subject: Famine in Clare

Following on from my disaster with carrots, the spuds were a worse blow .
I planted about eight vars in small amounts.
5 came from cert seed and 3 from the super market shelf .
The most successful were Gemson purchased at Aldi , a little bag of salad spuds for 1 yo yo (for eating not planting) .

I got black leg, early blight , late blight and every thing else that was going .
To add insult to injury when I dug up the blighted plants I found a little black thing like a small slug had burrowed in and ruined the few good spuds I had left .
I was on Hols in August when the late blight hit, so could do nothing anyway .

The yield amounted to about a bucket full of Gemsons and a bucket full of the rest , my plan was to feed myself and her indoors for a year, its now Oct and we are near the end of the second bucket already .

I did not spray for blight , took a gamble and lost .
The Blackleg was just pure bad luck the blight was my own fault.

What do people spray for blight ?.

Blowin · Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:35 am Post subject:

I won't spray, Mick. I cover my single row with fleece.

tagwex · Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 7:58 am Post subject:

I use Proxanil. Works for me. No blight this year.

Micks Garden · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 10:52 am Post subject: Compromise

If I wont spuds I might have to compromise on the spray , the organic copper sulphate mix is probably as bad as all the others .
The stuff you use Tagwex, would it be enough just to spray when blight warnings are issued or do you need to spray constantly.

On another note I found a main crop spud "Carolus" which scores 9 of 10 for blight resistance. I got two bags in Tesco last week , I'll try and over winter and if I can not get cert seed in the spring I will use those .
http://varieties.ahdb.org.uk/varieties/view/Carolus

tagwex · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 11:25 am Post subject:

In blight season i spray every 8 to 10 days. Don't see the point in risking it.

Micks Garden · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 5:55 pm Post subject: Scabby Spuds

Following on from last year.
This year I planted six vars of Spuds, Four Blight resistant and two others .Because the season was so late getting started I planted the first lot in 125 ltr compost bags in my own compost, in the poly-tunnel from mid march , these were a great success . The next lot went in to the Garden in late May, Vitta Belle , Alouette, Carolus, Marfona and Lady Balfour , these got will rotted horse manure . I did a test dig today to see how they were getting on and they are all scabbed . The first of these wont be ready til mid sept .

tagwex · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:57 pm Post subject:

Might feed yourself and herself past October this year huh?

Micks Garden · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:14 pm Post subject: Christmas

Christmas at least , if we spare them Very Happy

.

tagwex · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:30 pm Post subject:

Believe it or not I'm digging last year's crop at the moment.

Micks Garden · Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 12:33 pm Post subject:

Just a follow up to the Spuds, had a good crop, scab not as bad as I thought.
Spud of the year for ease of growing, yield and eating quality has to be the Carolus .
Marfona and Lady Balfour , got blight whilst I was on Hols in Aug, lost them all .
The four blight resistant vars produced a bumper crop.
Famine averted for another year . Laughing

tagwex · Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 8:16 pm Post subject:

You will have to stop going on holidays Mick.