TopVeg - growing veg,fruit&herbs

Cutting Seed Potatoes

TopVeg — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:17:48 +0000

Cutting seed potatoes is a way to increase the number of potato plants grown from one seed & is used when the seed of a particular variety is scarce or very expensive.

Large seed potatoes may be cut into several pieces, as long as each piece contains at least one eye. The ideal seed potato is the size of a hen’s egg.
The eye of the potato is a leaf scar with a depressed lateral bud. This bud will grow into the shoot, which appears above ground, and also produces the new tubers below ground. When the eye first starts to grow the new shoot is called a chit.

How to Divide, Cut or Split Seed Potatoes:

divide potatoes a day or two before planting, so they have time to heal
use a clean knife, to prevent spreading disease from one potato to another
cut when sprouts/chits are 1/4″ long pieces should be about the size of a small egg.
cut pieces should be block shaped, with at least one eye or sprout, but two are preferred. Thin slices of potato are no good.
cut lengthwise, across the top, to divide the chits that usually group there.

potato-chit-day20

part of the center core of the potato should be in each piece.
cover the cut potatoes with powdered limestone, to dry the cut up. Or sprinkle with flowers of sulphur, to stop any disease entering the cuts.
let the potatoes “heal” by storing them at 65-70 degrees with fairly high humidity. The humidity is important to stop the potatoes dehydrating. The cut surface will develop a protective coat that can help prevent seed decay. Covering the box with clear plastic film will also stop dehydration.

There are pros and cons to cutting seed potatoes into several pieces before they are planted.
The advantages of splitting seed potatoes are:

large seed potatoes are utilised to the full
less tubers are produced per seed, so each tuber harvested is bigger
apical dominance is broken, releasing more eyes to sprout
expensive seed potatoes go further in the vegetable garden
saves buying another packet, if just need one more seed to finish the row

Disadvantages of dividing seed potatoes are:

bacteria & pathogens may be spread between the potatoes on the cutting knife.
Large seed potatoes may be divided up into several pieces, as long as each piece contains at least one eye, to achieve the ideal seed potato size, equivalent toa hen’s egg.

Larger seed potatoes:

have more vigour
grow quicker
emerge sooner
will be ready for harvest earlier
for more information click size of seed potatoes

Cutting seed potatoes is an old technique which has been practised by vegetable gardeners for years.

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How To Grow Carrots

TopVeg — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:05:13 +0000

Farming Friends & TopVeg have collaborated to create some FREE How To Grow Vegetables Cards, including this How to Grow Carrots card.

If you would like a pdf of this carrot card or any of the How to Grow cards, please complete the contact form asking for the grow card you would like and we will email it to you.

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How to Grow Carrots

TopVeg — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:17:10 +0000

How to grow carrots in the vegetable garden:

fresh-carrots

carrots like a sunny spot
dig soil in autumn & break soil down to fine, crumbly seedbed before sowing

carrot-bed

sow outdoors from March to August – if in March cover with cloche
sow every 3 weeks for a continuous suppy
sow thinly – mix seed with sand to make it easier
sow in rows 1.5cm deep with 30cm between rows

thinning-carrot-row

thin seedlings, when large enough to handle, so 6 cm apart

pulling-carrot-seedlings-out

keep well watered
pull weeds as they appear
pull carrots when they are large enough, as required

nandor-carrot

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Check planted shallots

TopVeg — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:57:48 +0000

Checking the planted shallots revealed that some had jumped out of their bed.

shallots-feb2010

This often happens, particularly just after planting the shallots, before they have had time to push out some roots which will anchor them down.

shallot-out-of-bed

Shallots tend to jump out of bed because either:

worms in the soil push them out from below
or, birds pull them out.

We always blamed the sparrows who investigate anything new in the vegetable garden. But these shallots have been covered with a cloche to protect them from the frost, so birds would not get to the shallots easily. So fingers seem to be pointing at the worms for displacing the shallots.

pushing-shallot-in-ground

We just push the shallots back into the bed, and will continue checking them until they are rooted firmly into the ground.

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How to Harvest Leeks

TopVeg — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:05:32 +0000

How to harvest leeks depends on which end of the season they are at.

Early season leeks are lifted by placing a fork under the roots. The roots hold
on tightly and the stem easily snaps off, if a fork is not used to loosen the roots.

Late leeks have a stronger stem and can be pulled, giving a slight twist to break the roots, so most of the root clump & soil stay in the ground.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-04

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:04:00 +0000

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-25 http://ff.im/-gxwce #
Comment on Hessian Sacks for Potato Storage by Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-25 « TopVeg – growing veg,fruit&herbs http://ff.im/-gxwch #
Jobs in the vegetable garden in March http://ff.im/-gPEHw #
February Rainfall http://ff.im/-gR9uk #
Comment on Jobs in the vegetable garden in March by TopVeg http://ff.im/-gRdA5 #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-04 Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-25 http://ff.im/-gxwce # Comment on...
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-04

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:04:00 +0000

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-25 http://ff.im/-gxwce #
Comment on Hessian Sacks for Potato Storage by Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-25 « TopVeg – growing veg,fruit&herbs http://ff.im/-gxwch #
Jobs in the vegetable garden in March http://ff.im/-gPEHw #
February Rainfall http://ff.im/-gR9uk #
Comment on Jobs in the vegetable garden in March by TopVeg http://ff.im/-gRdA5 #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-04 Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-25 http://ff.im/-gxwce # Comment on...
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-04 Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-28 http://ff.im/-eZaqq # RT @...
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-25 Vote for this recipe in The Foodista Best of...

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February Rainfall

TopVeg — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:15:49 +0000

Rainfall in the TopVeg garden in February 2010 was 59.5ml

January 2010 was 57 ml
Rainfall in the TopVeg garden in 2009 was 518.75

Month	Rainfall ml
January	32
February	45.5
March	17
April	7
May	41.5
June	13
July	111
August	40
September	11.5
October	63.75
November	69.5
December	67

The annual rainfall in the TopVeg Garden:

Year	Rain ml
206	631
207	795
208	571
209	519

The rainfall in Febuary 2010 in the TopVeg garden (59.5) was higher than last year (45.5), what was yours?

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Jobs in the vegetable garden in March

TopVeg — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:51:20 +0000

Everyone wants to crack on in the vegetable garden in March, as the birds begin to sing and the days get longer – but the ground is still cold, and will be until it dries up. So don’t go mad and sow all your seeds – just put a few in and leave the rest until the soil has dried out.

Sow:

early beetroot, carrots, lettuce, radish,spring onions, perpetual spinach directly into the ground
peas & broad beans in pots
celery in trays on warm window sill & keep moist
leeks in a tray to thin later and leave under glass
plant onion sets, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes & shallots if not already in
plant early potatoes as soon as the ground is dry enough

Crop: Finish harvesting cabbages, leeks, parsnips, kale and sprouting broccoli.

Other jobs:

mulch soft fruits with organic matter
lift mint every 2 years & divide
hoe weeds regularly before they get too big
be on constant alert for slugs

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-25

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:04:00 +0000

Vote for this recipe in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest http://www.foodista.com/6JM8Z2FS #
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-18 http://ff.im/-g8OsI #
using up the leeks – everyone likes the leek soup!http://topveg.com/2010/02/leek-soup-recipe/ #
RT @yorkslavender Job Vacancies at Yorkshire Lavender for the 2010 season – http://www.yorkshirelavender.com/news – tempting! #
Anyone know what has sparked a sudden interest in pea shoots?? http://topveg.com/2009/03/how-to-grow-pea-shoots/ #
posted some Hessian sacks to Cambridge Uni today….http://topveg.com/2009/08/hessian-bags-or-sacks-for-potatoes/ #
Comment on Butternut Squash Seeds. by TopVeg http://ff.im/-gerEi #
Comment on How to Grow Vegetables Cards: by TopVeg http://ff.im/-gfJwO #
Potato Growing Project for Schools http://ff.im/-ghtot #
The Moruno Tomato http://ff.im/-giCmt #
Time to Plant Fruit Trees http://ff.im/-giOeT #
@plantmad let me know which veg or herb grow cards you are after in reply to plantmad #
Vegetable Planting dates http://ff.im/-glpkm #
RT@plantmad @TopVeg its a pity you didn't include ideal soil temp. Very helpful PDF otherwise- temps coming soon! #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-04 Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-25 http://ff.im/-gxwce # Comment on...
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-18 Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-11 http://ff.im/-fLBr7 # RT @yorkslavender...

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