[welsh boyo]

Hello all its been a while since ive had the chance to post on here ,had a run of familly members in hospital,so havnt had much time to do anything and the plot has been negleted as well for a fair few months.
Anyway ive put this weekend aside to crack on it with it.
Ive allready got a plan of whats going to go where,also as i picked the last of last seasons crops and cleared the ground i had the hindsight to cover the ground with tarp/carpet etc ,so it shouldnt be to bad as far as the dreaded weeds are concerned.

As i only took on the plot last year it was in a right mess due to the 3yrs+ neglet from the prevoius owner i covered half of it with a black tarp,on lifting it last week i was very happy to find lots of clean earth underneath (ok theres one or two small brambles which i intend to dig out) but this is where i am thinking of putting my potatoes this year.
So my mission is to fork over this entire area.
QUESTIONS
1st  once turned do i just leave it for the frost to get at or do i break it up and rake to fine soil.
2nd do i need to add anything to the soil ie fertiliser or such.
3rd do i need to define areas for earlies ,main crop etc
4th when do i need to plant the seed spuds..

Also i think  need to give my GH a bit of a clean. I sadly didnt have time to get up there  at the end of the season and ive still got cucumber plants in there as well as a few toms (all dead now) im thinking of just bagging these and throwing up the tip due to the blight probem the whole lotte had last year.
Once ive emptied it out i was thinking of washing the entire thing out and seem to remember that jeyes fluid is the stuff to use.
could some one give my some advise on how to do this please.
oh and ive got some garlic that was giving to me by a fellow lottee holder last year and notice that some of the bulbs? have green shoots coming from them
Is it ok to plant them now or not ,do you plant the whole bulb or break them into individual cloves then plant?

i think thats enough for now but im sure Ill have more questions as the weeks go on..
thanks in advance for any replies and best wishes for the new year to all.

[Sally A]

Welsh boyo - you may have noticed that WG has a brand new topic called wysiwyggy, he's outlining the nitty gritty for all veg, and he may have done potatoes already, so do a search for WYSIWYGGY AND POTATOES and it might be the answer to all you seek.

PS Garlic bulbs need to be split into individual cloves.

PPS, just checked the search, it does work, but there's nothing on there yet.

[gobs]

QUESTIONS
1st  once turned do i just leave it for the frost to get at or do i break it up and rake to fine soil.
2nd do i need to add anything to the soil ie fertiliser or such.
3rd do i need to define areas for earlies ,main crop etc
4th when do i need to plant the seed spuds..

1 - I'd leave it unbroken
2 - I'd manure for pots
3 - unless you wanna have a game of sorting them, yes
4 - depends on your local weather, gen, earlies March-April, mains: May, thi is only a rough guide, also look in Glossary, potatoes. Welcome Forum.

[cawdor2001]

Welcome back Welsh Boyo,

Good advice given already but to add; for the greenhouse yes spray it all with Jeyes that will take care of a lot of overwintering nasties.  On the advice of Munty i have also got a sulphur candle for my potting shed but waiting for a good day to use it, looking forward to that day     Already done with Jeyes and the place is littered with dead spiders, a pity as they eat pests but can't be helped as i had a massive problem with red spider mites last year so drastic measures called for, hopefully lots of dead pests that i cannot see qwith the naked eye  :twisted: .


Cawdor

[splodger]

if you d blight in the greenhouse - clean it inside and out - and nooks and crannies - i do a bleach wash then a jeyes wash - then keep it clean

i'm in the south - which was mild last year - so my first lot of spuds went in in feb

re your ground - i would dig - and leave in clumps - if you have not dug it in the last month or so - but have you manured?

i have beds that have been dug since end season - and have been covered in carpet - these are non dig beds and the carpet stays there till planting time

i am not going to offer tips on garlic - wiggy can do that  

you really ought to try and work out your growing plan for the next 3 seasons - so that you can rotate fully - but for this season - you need to know what goes where so that you can manure, lime etc - depending on the crops

[welsh boyo]

thanks for the replys
spoldger,
i havent dug the area where i intend to place my spuds at all and i from what i can gather it has been untouched for 3 yrs before i placed the tarp on there which has been down for 12mnths.
and no manure or fertilzer used any where on the plot.since ive had it.
so i reckon it hasnt been done for 4yrs
allthough other lotte holders have told me they are jealous of the condition of my soil??
just looks like normal soil to me.

also the gh when you say bleach do i wash by hand ie bucket,cloth and gloves .and i take it aill have to get a spray thingy for the jeyes then..

cawdor
thanks for the advice of a sulphar candle, have to get my hands on one of them and use it once its clean as did have a few bug problems last year esp on the cucumbers.

gobs
is it to late to manure for the spuds

sally
thanks for the reply   i thought id have to split the bulbs but wasnt sure, can i  still plant then now or is it to late..

[DD.]

is it to late to manure for the spuds

Mine'll go in the trenches when the spuds go in. I've go a free supply of horse manure, but the other folk on our site who order from a local farmer don't get it delivered until late February, so it HAS to go in then.

(PS sorry I've answered the query directed at gobs!)

[Sally A]

Yep, pop yer garlic in now, lots of people do spring planting, in fact some of the garden outlets have just started stocking it after clearing off their Christmas stuff.

[madforveg]

is it to late to manure for the spuds

(PS sorry I've answered the query directed at gobs!)

help add manure to the evergrowing list of stuff i have to get   .Can i put fresh manure in with the potatoes when i plant them or does it have to be well rotted?

[DD.]

Something's gone wrong with the above quote!!

Answer is - well rotted!

[DD.]

Something's gone wrong with the above quote!!

Answer is - well rotted!

(Tidied quote up a bit, but there's a bit missing! - We get the idea though!)

[Sally A]

DD, I think madforveg was having a go at "quoting" and it all got a bit muddled.

Welcome madforveg, nip to the Welcome Forum and give us the gossip on yourself.

Once you get into this gardening lark you could spend thousands on doing it all the right way, which is why there are loads of tips on here how to do it the cheap or free way.

Stables will give away horse poop, and I bet loads of your mates have half bags of builders sand hanging around they'd be glad to get rid of, also look in skips, some people will sling when the job's done.

[gobs]

is it to late to manure for the spuds

Mine'll go in the trenches when the spuds go in. I've go a free supply of horse manure, but the other folk on our site who order from a local farmer don't get it delivered until late February, so it HAS to go in then.

(PS sorry I've answered the query directed at gobs!)

Don't you worry I do the same and referring to a further post, if it's not well rotted it's still better than none!!!!!!!!

[DD.]

Don't you worry I do the same and referring to a further post, if it's not well rotted it's still better than none!!!!!!!!

Personally - I would never use fresh manure as it could scorch the plant. Think of the poor old spud tuber sat on top of it!!

[gobs]

You put soil in between, I suppose. It won't scorch other then young shoots.
Cow and horse manure is not too strong either, it is rather a health concern depending on origin, if hormones were used, etc.