Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: hiccup on July 11, 2017, 08:42
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Morning all. I have lifted all my spuds now and will start preparing the bed for next year's brassicas soon.What I was wondering is should I lime the bed or manure it. I haven't tested the ph level yet either.
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If the soil is in good heart, with plenty of organic matter (Did you add any when you planted your seed potatoes?) you will not need manure
I assume you are intending to plant out brassicas later this season to eat next year, so you can either test the pH and lime/not lime accordingly, or..... (and this would be me tbh) prepare the soil well, give it a feed of Blood, Fish & Bone, firm it well and then set out your plants, covered against insect and bird attack of course!
But I do know my soil tends towards alkaline 😏
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Interesting post guys.
Cheers
Aled
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I would say Sunshineband has it about right.I would also put a small handful of garden lime in the "planting hole" and mix it a bit by hand and plant your brassicas-can,t do any harm. John
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I would say Sunshineband has it about right.I would also put a small handful of garden lime in the "planting hole" and mix it a bit by hand and plant your brassicas-can,t do any harm. John
I follow your thinking there Gellidig.. it can help plants if they need to overcome clubroot alright
I sometimes give them chicken manure pellets in the hole if planting before the start of Autumn as that gets them off to flying start with the extra nitrogen.
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Thanks for your advice all. No, it wasn't manured sunshine, as prior to this year it was a field. My farmer mate tells me the last crop in it was spuds and that was thirty years ago, though the cattle and sheep have kept it manured since then I suppose. I'll let you know when I've tested it.
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Thanks for your advice all. No, it wasn't manured sunshine, as prior to this year it was a field. My farmer mate tells me the last crop in it was spuds and that was thirty years ago, though the cattle and sheep have kept it manured since then I suppose. I'll let you know when I've tested it.
Pasture can vary hugely in pH. Our plots were pasture previously and some areas are far more alkaline (limy) than others
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Thanks sunshine. yes i was thinking after all the cattle and sheeps contributions, that it may be acidic.
Potatoe crop was fine. though something is up with the bean bed. so taking on board what you said about
varience with the ph.
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Thanks sunshine. yes i was thinking after all the cattle and sheeps contributions, that it may be acidic.
Potatoe crop was fine. though something is up with the bean bed. so taking on board what you said about
varience with the ph.
Potatoes are often scabby in limy soil. Beans seem happy in either... is the soil thin in that area and lacking nutrients. A feed of tomato fertiliser from time to time and plenty of water might see them alright for this season
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The soil structure itself is a rich dark loam. yes maybe it is lacking in nutrients, though certainly not
lacking in water up here. the beans got up to five feet high then just discoloured, and have only
produced fruit on the lower parts of the stems. they have been fed with comfty tea.
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The soil structure itself is a rich dark loam. yes maybe it is lacking in nutrients, though certainly not
lacking in water up here. the beans got up to five feet high then just discoloured, and have only
produced fruit on the lower parts of the stems. they have been fed with comfty tea.
That discolouration is often due to the plant needed Magnesium, which can easily to given through a watering with Epsom Salts (which is Magnesium sulphate) and the plants pick up quite quickly then, as they can more easily make the chlorophyll needed for healthy growth