Potatoes - composting blighted foliage and tubers

jprboy

Potatoes - composting blighted foliage and tubers.

Is it ok to do this?

Did a search online and there's conflicting advice out there.

redser7

Have read that it's ok as blight only lives on living material. So it and everything else that comes out of the bin/heap wold need to be well dead and composted.
Wouldn't put the spuds in though as they can sprout and might keep the living spores.

tommy2bad

The blight spoors will be on everything anyway, their sensitive to conditions so will die off in the winter.
Yes you can compost the spud tops and as long as your rotating it'll be fine. Weather is the big thing with blight, if we get another summer(and I use the term broadly) like this one, nothing will stop it.

geordief

I have heard that rotating is a myth for small gardens as you are probably using the same spade etc around all the areas of the garden.

I know people are adamant you have to rotate but I am beginning to not bother any more.

However I am so paranoid regarding potatoes that although I do compost them it would be separately (actually I would probably not bring them back anywhwere near the actual potato plots at all if I could help it)

Anyone have an opinion regarding my point regarding rotating in small gardens?

tommy2bad

Regarding rotation, it's not the stuff that gets moved around on spades or feet or buckets, it's what the plant takes out of the soil and what it leaves behind.
Basilicas need nitrogen and will leave the soil depleted of nitrogen, replace with something that replaces the nitrogen i.e. legumes. If you continue to grow then in the same place you will also attract the same pests and diseases each year causing a build up.
Now in a small space? I duno, depends on how small. If your working in say 20 sq feet and growing small amounts, 10 spuds, 6 cabbages, and some salad, peas in a row along the edge....(yes you can get a lot into a small space) II'd still rotate for the sake of keeping things growing, you can have one crop follow another and never have fallow ground.

magicbastarder

tommy2bad wrote: »

Basilicas need nitrogen

not that common in a back garden plot!

tommy2bad

magicbastarder wrote: »

not that common in a back garden plot!

Fkng spell correction

geordief

never even noticed....I have my own internal spell checker and I corrected it back!

jprboy

Thanks for all the replies and also for raising the topic of rotation which I had also been thinking about.

I've been planting the potatoes in different ground each year for the last 3 years and have been getting good yields.

My plan is to compost the foliage and tubers (I suspect some of this year's crop got blight but not all) and use the the resultant compost on ground which will not have potatoes sown in it for a few years after the compost has been applied to it.

redser7

... ot tomatoes. the same family as spuds

Donalde

I thought we were supposed to be following the example of nature. If spuds are left to there own devices they will continue to grow in the same place and the stalks will rot down (compost) on top of the existing crop! Perhaps, though, if you use unnatural methods to force the crop beyond its natural limit, then you alter the balance?

geordief

I know .I make a lovely clear soup with my blighted tubers.

redser7

"I thought we were supposed to be following the example of nature". Why did you ever think that?
Am reading the one straw revolution. Very interesting, not sure how it would work with our sort of crops on small/garden scale but certainly there are some great ideas to use. I wonder does he have blight to deal with? Afraid I cant take on the whole natural way of living, dont think my boss, bank or wife would let me! But I'll try make it as organic and sustainable as I can.

Donalde

This thread also has reference to crop rotation and crop rotation will not cure/avoid blight. My point is that some crops rotate themselves naturally, eg some spread seed by wind, others do not, eg spuds. Perhaps there is more to be learned from observing the plants than from many of the popular books.

redser7

I think the point with rotation was in case a spud was left in the ground it could ruin your next crop. Or if some living vegetation was left if could harbour the spores. On balance nature can not be beaten and the natural way is best. But in the realm of what we call gardening there isn't much scope for the average person to just let nature take its own course unfortunately.