Potato bargains and the credit crunch

All you gardeners who are growing potatoes next season, can get a real bargain.

Get your seed potatoes chitted, look carefully at them, if there are more than four chits they can be cut with the same number on each half. Rub the cut surface in ash to seal the cut and you have as many seed potatoes again FREE.

 

My dear old Dad used to do that only he dipped them in soot then he left the tuber to heal before he planted it. I'd forgotten all about that 'till you mentioned it - Thanks.

Richard

 

Very interesting bu tI dont have ash need to go to a friend who does have a coal fire.

A very good tip full marks.

 

I thought that only wood ash was good for use in the garden? Something about there being some bad substance in the coal.

But if your Dad used soot, cauliflower ears .....................

 

That`s that stuff you can acidify your soil with isn`t it John?

 

Thanks John, I thought it was. I won`t waste money on that then.

 

Claire, you are right. Flowers of Sulphur is what you use to acidify the soil, and, as far as I am aware, is NOT available in garden centres. What THEY sell is green or yellow sulphur dust, Which are fungicides. Also, when splitting seed potatoes you don`t need to treat them with anything, just put them on a windowsill cut side up.:thumb:

 

what an apt thread, I took delivery of my seed potatoes yesterday

 

Hi folks. I seem to remember seeing some guy (probably on tv) just wiping the cut in soil, reckoned it worked fine. I don't advocate it myself, but seems like a 'natural' way of doing things

 

If I remember my school days correctly, when coal (burned or unburnt) mixes with water you get sulphuric acid, which is, if I'm not mistaken, similar (but milder) to the stuff that they use as the juice in car batteries.

But then I could be very wrong, my school days were a long time ago and I didn't always listen.

 

I agree with David, just dry the cut surface and let it callous over, nothing else is needed.

But having said that, are seed potatoes really THAT expensive.

 

Was there not a trial on one of the gardening programmes a year or two ago that came to the conclusion that cutting big seed spuds in half made little or no difference to final the crop produced?

 

Have just received my seed potatoes a tad early from T&M, anyone any tips on storing them between now and March, it's a bit early to start chitting them I think