This section of the website contains a variety of items based on local experience and comments from members. SECTION UNDER DEVELOPMENT
Potatoes - Dave’s Approach
I like a simple system with as little work as possible – so I ignore the rules. I plant tubers as soon as the weather allows - as deep as I can using a trowel or bulb planter. I divide the space I have in the beds I use by the number of tubers in the bag to get my planting distance, possibly planting two small ones together. Then I forget about them apart from removing any strong weeds. No earthing up and no watering. I leave all varieties in the ground till I need them – covering them with some plastic if the weather gets really cold or wet. It works for me.
Whatever system you use there are a couple of actions which you should include. Before you plant the tubers you should introduce some compost/soil improver in the planting trench/hole to help later should we enjoy/suffer a drought. Also adding some general fertiliser (growmore, Q4, blood/fish/bone) will help as potatoes are a hungry crop.
Peat-Free Compost
In our Shop we are in the process of moving away from the traditional peat based materials. There are many replacements in the marketplace but, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be one which is consistently reliable. The successful ones I hear about seem to be locally produced and not suitable for the Shop. At present we still have some of our long term peat compost in stock but we are currently supplying John Inness (soil-based) alternatives which seem to be working well. We now have some reduced-peat seed compost - one which is highly recommended by one of our experienced plot-holders.
We have some highly recommended coir-based compost in small bags - ideal for you to try.
You need to be aware that peat-free composts need to be treated differently to the old peat ones. There are many options and they aren't always consistent from one bag to another. Take care with watering - it's easy to over-water - don't just rely on the state of the surface. It's also the case that fertilisers will likely need to be applied at an earlier stage than you are used to.