[pauly58]

hi all ive just cleared a patch of nettles and digging over for next year im putting spuds in will the soil be ok or do i need to lime as nettles are acid . ps the soil is black as coal and really good ie not too sandy just retains moisture and goodness its a good 2 and half foot deep of good soil .

thanks in advance

[RJR_38]

My whole plot was a nettle jungle and everything I have put in there this year has thrived without liming (just the usual manure and pellets etc)

[Annen]

I think potatoes don't like limey soil, something to do with scabby skins.

[Sparkyrog]

Never lime before potatoes it encourages scab ! They prefer a slightly acid soil 

[pigguns]

  Yay that's good news.  I've just planned spuds near the conifer for next year.

[carlrmj]

Be careful the roots of the conifer don't take all the moisture from the soil where the spuds are.

The soil around my conifers is very dry,and the roots spread out quite far, fairly close to the surface.

[Sweetpea C]

My whole plot was a nettle jungle and everything I have put in there this year has thrived without liming (just the usual manure and pellets etc)

And mine!

[pigguns]

Be careful the roots of the conifer don't take all the moisture from the soil where the spuds are.

The soil around my conifers is very dry,and the roots spread out quite far, fairly close to the surface.

Good point and thanks, but when I say 'conifer' I mean... ex seasonal-type fir tree that was planted after a festive season by a former plot ower

[Salmo]

Be careful the roots of the conifer don't take all the moisture from the soil where the spuds are.

The soil around my conifers is very dry,and the roots spread out quite far, fairly close to the surface.

Good point and thanks, but when I say 'conifer' I mean... ex seasonal-type fir tree that was planted after a festive season by a former plot ower

Best thing to do is cut it down in December. Problem solved.

[Kristen]

Good point and thanks, but when I say 'conifer' I mean... ex seasonal-type fir tree that was planted after a festive season by a former plot ower

That, on its own and for a relative few years, won't have made the soil significantly more acid.

Best to buy one of those little test tube kits for testing pH (they often have additional tubes for the other macro nutrients too).  My advice would be not to get a pH meter as calibration is an issue, and cheap ones are often not accurate enough.  Test tubes can be a bit tricky to see the "colour", but they tend to be plenty accurate enough . Worth finding out what your pH is though I think