Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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Pigeon_Droppings2
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I've always bought seed potatoes...I did try a bag of supermarket ones but they didn't do very well. Ended up with a lot of black spots and pests. Could just have been unlucky though.
bigegg
Scream Not Working Because Space Make Deaf
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That'll work.
De-hydrated lime would soon be hydrated between the potato + the soil, anyway
TBF:
I've never used lime, the seed potato is never edible, anyway.
premmington
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We were really poor when I was a kid. No lime.
We used to leave them cuts upwards on grandads shed bench for the cut to dry out for about 5 to 7 days.
I've grown a few varieties of supermarket potatoes, most are fine disease and pest wise and always taste better than the potatoes they came from. Last year 'Balena' from Lidl were very good, planted mid June, barely chitted, 60-75 days and they were done. I got 3.5kg from 4 potatoes in a 3' x 3' raised bed, they were a little neglected, I'm sure they could have done better.
Drop some manure in quite a bit deeper than the potato planting hole cover it in a few inches of soil ..virgin ground is usually well depleted of the essential nutrients needed for good crops ..that's why weeds survive over all other crops .
And it helps to clear weedy ground if done properly .Row of free potatoes - is a gift of nature - whether you rich or poor kid.
Stolen bits of school white blackboard chalk well crushed with a milk bottle were also used
I do a lot of self grown seed harvesting , soft fruits , carrots ,celery ,dill , tomato ,sprouts , cabbage, beetroot , peas & broad beans etc.If you are "really poor" and trust me I was as a kid.
You can cut the sprouting spuds up with a knife - into bits with big sprouting new growths. You can get two or three new potato plants out of one sprouting spud.
And while not poor now - I will take sprouting spuds from the bottom of a bag or a compost heap and take a knife to them and replant them.
I also let grow and dry out end of year - runner beans/French low beans/broad beans - on news paper in the greenhouse over winter to replant.
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The humble potato "is the gift that keeps giving"
If you store the seeds in heat sealed vacuum packs with a label including the date harvested inside the pack and put them in the freezer they can keep for several years unopened .
Then once opened run for a normal opened packet shelf life . This allows you to let a few plants run to seed each year & store them .
Tis what the big seed houses do , any foil packed seeds will have been stored in bulk in dry inert gas packs in deep freezes up to seven years or more before being decanted into small purchase packs .
Here oxygen & moisture is the thing that starts the deterioration of the storage life.
If you try this always test sow an opened pack by putting 10 seeds on some small squares of well dampened kitchen towel in a lidded Pyrex dish in the airing cupboard . 3 to 6 days should let you see the viability of the seeds stored and the percentages of germinations .
Soak big seeds like peas & beans for 24 50 30 hrs. in water that is changed every 12 hours to soften them up then put them into Pyrex dish on kitchen towel in theb airing cupboard , You'll soon see tiny seed shoots breaking out again gently rinse them in clean water every 12 hrs. to prevent mould forming .
If you're careful you can transplant these newly germinated seeds into plant pots for developing into sensible seedlings . The only seeds I've found that cannot be sorted off the towel are carrots germinations as they hate being disturbed & rarely develop into sensible carrots It's ideal for getting just 12 or so sound plants for cabbage , leeks , beets , bean etc etc .
That's OK , sprinkle some over the round as well before you dig it it will reduce soil acidity if your soil is acidic.
Can you grow nettle in you land ? They are ideal indicators for being able to grow most of UK plants & veg in a balance acid & alkaline nutrient rich soil .
It also helps crumb the soil as well as release tied up nutrients " The garden expert " book by DG Hassayan is a worthwhile book to have ( get a cheap secondhand copy ) as it contains much of what you need for setting up as a beginner gardener .
The secret lies in your soil , get that righ and you can grow tits on your baby brother .
