[sunshineband]

Before I took on my plot ans oh-so-helpful previous tenant poured masses of lime onot the soil in his futile effort to rid the plot of wireworm.

The last lime went on in Autumn 2009, and I took the plot in March 2010.

Last year's potatoes were very scabby (as were the yaer before's) and I am now wondering if this is due to alkaline soil.

I have a soil test kit, and will test the soil in the beds where I am going to grow the spuds this year BUT

How can I make the soil suitably acidic for potatoes?

I have used flowers of sulphur in the blueberry bed, which is quite small, and they seem to survive OK.

Are there any conventional ways of acidfying soil please?

[DD.]

The RHS don't mention any additive to the soil, but suggest raising the organic matter content and not letting the soil dry out:

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?PID=230

[DD.]

Garden Organic suggest pretty much the same:

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/factsheets/pc24.php

[arugula]

Its a good question, as often the problem is the other way round.

[DD.]

Look what I've found:

http://www.allotment-garden.org/articles2/Soil_PH_and_Its_Effect_on_Your_Garden.php

[sunshineband]

Now that does look helpful DD 

My worry about flowers of sulphur (apart from the wind direction meaning my clothes smell really bad on the way home  ) is it is very very slow acting.

Any other treatments might need to be applied some weeks before planting, hence my asking now.

Bearing in mind that last year I watered the spuds when it was dry, grew (amonst others) Maris Peer, which has some scab resistance, and do not have enough rotted manure to treat the whole of the spud beds, this looks like a viable option.

I am now off to find a source of aluminium sulphate

Thank you very much 

[sunshineband]

I hope it is not too expensive -- it will take 2 lb per ten sq feet to lower the pH to 6 

and each of my beds is about 5 times that area, so each bed will need 10 lb , dug into the top 6-8 inches, according to three articles I have now read 

and I have three potato beds = 30 lb  :blink:

I might have to go for a bit less than this.......

[DD.]

Looks like aluminium sulphate is something not to be messed with.

http://www.jmloveridge.com/cosh/Aluminium%20Sulphate.pdf

As yes - Mr. American Spell-checker - I spelled "sulphate" correctly!!!!

[DD.]

Only £75 for 25 kilos here:

http://www.gardendirect.co.uk/garden-care/fertilisers/fertilizer-for-specific-plants/aluminium-sulphate-hydrangea-clourant

[sunshineband]

Only £75 for 25 kilos here:

http://www.gardendirect.co.uk/garden-care/fertilisers/fertilizer-for-specific-plants/aluminium-sulphate-hydrangea-clourant

Thanks for all your help 

I'll let you know how it goes

It also appears to be something used in taxidermy, so I hope no-one thinks I am up to no good down at the plot 

[DD.]

Used a lot in water treatment from what I can see - a much more innocent use!

Oh - hang on - isn't this the stuff that contaminated the water at Camelford years ago?

[mumofstig]

My spuds were extra scabby last year and I thought it was because of the drought conditions, so things may not be as bad this year anyway.

This fertiliser has sulphur in the mix to help - could be an easier option?

[gobs]

Or just manure them heavily?

Or play with varieties?

[lacewing]

The soil on our allotment has a high chalk content. My first year potatoes were very scabby and not knowing any better,  I thought they had some awful disease and binned the lot.  I now line the potato trench with leaf mould and it seems to have done the trick.

Every autumn, I collect bags of leaves from the pavement near our local park, after the road sweeper has bagged the up.  Empty the bags into a container made up of four posts and chicken wire,  the leaves need air to rot down, and take twelve months to convert to a lovely  crumbly mixture.

[Lardman]

Not to put a dampener on your flowers of sulphur idea... but I've tried it here (bought from ebay) and it had no noticeable effect, neither did the far more expensive sulphur chips from the garden centre. I have also tried scab resistant varieties and in 4 years I haven't had 1 decent potato out of the soil.