Of blight and seed saving

Blight has finally hit the potatoes :-( Given the humidity and totally wet time we have had here since April I am frankly amazed that we have managed to get this far into the summer without signs of blight, but now it is there.

So Compostman has chopped off all the haulms for all three of the raised beds with spuds in them and we will wait for several weeks before lifting the potatoes. If we do this we will hopefully have usable potatoes which we can store over winter.

I have also started this season seed saving. This is HSL Asparagus Lettuce, a soft, buttery tasting cut and come again variety which I love. As this seeded inside the polytunnel before any other lettuce set flowers, I know it will be true to type, so I am saving some of the seed for my own use. I have put the stems in a paper bag, seed heads down and when it has finally dried I will gently rub the flowers to get at the seeds.







I have also got the dehydrator down from the attic :-) yep folks, it is THAT time of year ( finally!) when the harvest starts :-)

Thursday thoughts

Thursday today and I feel quite unwell..so have had a quiet day...well I only have today and tomorrow before Compostgirl is off school for the Summer hols...so I had better make the most of the oppertunity to rest!

Didn't get much chance though as Sid the kitten decided to wee and poo on Compostgirl's sofa in her bedroom....so all the covers, cushions and foam matress had to come off and be washed!

Then he did a wee AGAIN later on, in the same spot on the sofa base!

Grr.........

The hens are being tricky as well, the new girls are pecking Henny to bits and it is all very stressful for her...

And to cap a carp day, half the spuds have badly blighted foliage so Compostman cut the haulms off tonight. So not much of a crop AGAIN !


Am a bit fed up today!

Question about blight on the INEBG forum

A friend on the INEBG forum has posted up a question about possible signs of blight on her early spuds....

and I ( and others) have replied, suggesting possible reasons for what she is seeing...

I have said I don't think it IS blight and that I think it is Magnesium deficiency...

I have posted a reply with some hopefully helpful information on how to help with suspected mineral deficiencies! Suprise, suprise, the best way is to apply COMPOST!

Manganese and iron deficiencies are quite common! Yellow leaves (known as chlorosis) and browning are a good indicator that hese two are lacking. Hard water can cause this! ( thats my problem here.....) or planting acid loving plants in less acidic soil....

You can acidify soil or you can get sprays of manganese sulphate....but thats more for commercial growers I think!

I think this might be Magnesium deficiency as you get this kind of discolouration from that...and THAT can be caused by acid soils, sandy-textured soils or using lots of chemical fertilisers

BUT also lots of rain can wash out magnesium AND soil compaction can cause it to be less well taken up than normal...which we have certainly had the first one here...and I have a similar thing with the bottom leaves on some of my earlies....

A treatment could be to apply magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts), to the soil or as a foliar spray to remedy a lack of magnesium.

Not enough calcium causes blossom end rot in tomato and pepper fruit or bitter pit in apples. This is not a lack of the element more not enough in the right place so to get it moving increase ventilation ( inside) and regular watering helps here.

BUT ( surprise surprise.. .)Most element "lacks" can be solved by improving the quality of the soil structure with added compost.. ..and stuff like bonemeal/wood ash/Hoofmeal etc can help, also...( but not for you the bonemeal I guess!)

Seaweed adds back all the trace elements needed...so how about that??

You can get liquid seaweed in the OGC...use as a feed to water it on...also comfrey tea...

manure tea is good also?

I have picked off and burned the offending leaves on my earlies...and am watching them closely......