Some growth in the greenhouse

Things are starting to come on inside the greenhouse some quicker than others, not really fussed if I get l them late as long as we get something.

Bit more to taste.

During the week I've been taking a few bits home, still plenty to come but it's all growing quite quickly. The cucumber and courgettes we can't eat them quick enough, so will have to give some away before the greenhouse is full of it.

Pictures of the little pond.

Just a couple of pics of the pond not a lot but looking better, we took up all the weeds up then put a cover over the soul then fill with gravel. Still have more gravel to put down and other things to make it look better,but will do that over the next few days I hope fingers crossed (should say weeks).

Few little tasks

While been at the allotment this week I've been doing some other jobs apart from weeding, well the ground is a little hard to do some weeding that's my excuse anyway. Three of the things I've tried to do is do some more around the pond(bath),make a path at the bottom of the allotment and the side of the allotment. All the jobs are work in progress and trying to fit it in between other things that need doing,also people have been on and started to pinch the timber we are using for the path so that needs to be finished.

It's been a while.

Wow it's been a week since my last post it's not for not wanting to post, just that I've been busy at work then trying to find time to go to the plot. Once I've got home all i seem to do is fall asleep while trying to update the blog,woke up plenty of times with phone in my hand.

Few more snaps

Few more snaps from the allotment one of them are some plastic caps I have used as trays for plant pots,we get them on cardboard tubes at work so it doesn't cost me anything.

Few pics from the plot.

Had a quick visit to the allotment yesterday did a bit of repotting then ran out of compost,but forgot I could of used my own compost bugger I forgot.
These photos are of the netting covering some bits

Few bit picked.

Few hours done at the little plot yesterday got a little done, managed to weed an other section and raise some of my netting. For next years netting I hoping to make a frame for my netting to go on,instead of covering each section up and raising it every few weeks.

I took up some more turnips because these had started to bolt,also picked a cucumber to take home it was around 8 - 10 inches in length will taste it later oh and some small courgettes

Just a few hours done.

Wanted to spend a few hours at the plot but only could do a couple,hoping to put in a few hours over the weekend. Did a little weeding so it's looking good,the sunflower plants think about 15 are growing good and all about 3ft + tall. I dug up some more potatoes some Firsts mainly,which are Vanessa and Pentlands the Vanessa ones are not very big but other are ok. I kept the Pentlands and gave a mate the others to help him out,I like to help others out.

Quick post

Had a few more days at weeding and it's coming on fine now just have to keep up with it,or once I've dug over the soils cover up if nothing else is going in. I took up 4 plants of potatoes which was 2 tubers I had planted, I got about 10 -12 small spuds from it which was ok but supposed to be baking potatoes. I have had a few of them and seem to be ok and tasty so that's not to bad, these ones are called Vanessa's so will see how the rest are before I decide to buy them for next year.

Took another bag full of broad beans home again and these have all gone, well i had eaten them over a couple of nights think I have a secret love for them. Cucumber are getting a bit bigger now and looking good, also the tomatoes are getting bigger so looking forward to having some of them.

Cucumber plants are growing.

My cucumber plants have started to a little in the greenhouse,but I think I may of over done it by planting to many in one tub. I have put 3 plants in each tub which was fine when each one was small, now that each plant has grown a little more it's like a forest in the greenhouse. Last year I did the same 3 plants and was ok,I can't even move them because all of them are tied to each other as they have grown.

Got told yesterday the spuds which we thought had blight isn't blight just became water logged,still going to still cut them down with the plants on still dying and won't help the spuds underneath. It's not just on the allotments that are suffering with damp
Spuds the farmers are also,I thought my toms had blight so I cut the infected sections away hoping that cures it.

In other news I got a bit more weeding done so slowly getting to the end,then we can start all over again.

Blight

We seem to be losing all the battle against blight on Keith's plot he has been hit by it, now mine had got it as well as some other people's allotments. We are just hoping it doesn't find it's way into the greenhouse and attack the tomato plants,fingers crossed and legs crossed it doesn't go any further. I've copied a section on blight from the net for furtive reference.



Potato Blight

Potato blight is one of the worst disease problems for the potato grower. It can wipe out the plants almost overnight and, worse still, it can infect the tubers causing them to rot in storage. In a sack it will travel from potato to potato ruining the lot.

What Causes Potato Blight?

Potato Blight is caused by a fungus Phytophthora infestans. This can also infect other members of the potato family, Solanaceae such as tomatoes. It spreads through the air and develops when the weather conditions are warm and humid. The British summer, as we laughingly call it.

Smith Periods

Blight forecasting has often been based on the occurrence of "Smith periods". A "Smith period" is a 48 hour period in which the minimum temperature is 10°C or more and the relative humidity exceeds 90% for at least 11 hours during the first 24 hours and for at least 11 hours again during the final 24 hours. However, any period of warm, humid weather increases blight risk.

Some History of Potato Blight


Potatoes infected with late blight are shrunken on the outside, corky and rotted inside
If we look into history a little, there was a terrible famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1849. This was known as The Irish Potato Famine or The Great Hunger.

The biological cause of this was that the potato blight struck and the Irish basically grew a very limited number of varieties of potatoes, which was their staple food. If they had had more varieties, chances are that one would have been resistant to the blight and the famine’s effects would have been lessened.

Potatoes infected with late blight are shrunken on the outside, corky and rotted inside

Symptoms of Potato Blight

The first thing you may notice are brown freckles on the leaves or sections of leaves with brown patches and a sort of yellowish border spreading from the brown patch. In a severe attack you may walk onto your patch to find all the potato foliage a rotting mass.

Tubers (the actual potato) affected by potato blight can be told by dark patches on the skin. Cutting the potato in half will reveal brownish rot spreading down from the skin. Later the entire potato will turn into a soggy, foul smelling mass.

Prevention of Potato Blight

Potato blight fungus is generally killed by cold weather, although there are some rare resistant crossbred strains that overwinter. Otherwise, the disease reservoir is infected tubers in the ground or your sack. Wherever it comes from, it can travel miles on the wind and there is little you can do if the weather is right (above 10deg C and 75% humidity) and there has been recent rain leaving wet foliage.

There are a range of chemical treatments available to farmers but gardeners are more limited. The traditional spray was Bordeaux mixture. This isn’t such a good idea as it contains copper and is hardly good for your diet although it is organically approved. It is worth checking in horticultural suppliers what anti-fungals are currently available and approved for use on potatoes.

Your best preventative is to grow a resistant variety of potato like Sarpo that is less affected by the blight.

Other actions to help prevent potato blight

Try to get all the potatoes out from the ground when you harvest and so you won’t leave a reservoir on your plot.
Ensure potatoes are well earthed up to protect tubers even if you get it in the foliage
Water from the base rather than spraying potatoes. If the weather is right but no rain, your artificial rain will give it a hold. Leaky hoses are a good way to water potatoes, unless you have hosepipe restrictions
Treatment of Potato Blight

If you notice a small number of affected leaves with patches, you can try removing those and disposing of them. Burn if possible. This is a good time to make sure the potatoes are well earthed up to prevent spores getting into the tubers unless you have already done this. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture or fungicide may prevent spread if applied early enough.

If you have a more serious infection, then you need to cut off all the haulm and either compost or burn it. I think composting, especially hot heaps, will be safe but burning is 100%.

Removing the foliage prevents the disease getting into the tubers, as long as they are well covered with earth. Leave the crop alone for at least two weeks to let the blight spores on the surface die and the potatoes develop a thicker skin.

After harvest, check regularly for signs of blight and remove any suspect tubers at once from your store.

Good news

The recent development of Sarpo Hungarian varieties of potato are extremely blight resistant and these are coming onto the market now. Sarpo Mira was the first to be generally available but this is not an all round potato. I’ve tried the Sarpo Axona variety and found it not as blight resistant as the Mira and little different in taste or type. Still looking for a Sarpo that will make a good chip.

There are other varieties of potato with varying degrees of blight resistance listed below. The Sarpo types are exclusive to Thompson & Morgan.

Best Potatoes for Foliage Blight Resistance

First Earlies Orla Premiere
Second Earlies Cosmos Nadine