Potato blight - is my compost ok to use again?

Mojisola

Zazen999 wrote: »

I grow potatoes in the ground; if I had to dispose of all my soil after growing the potatoes I'd have no allotment left after 4 years.

You can use it for anything except growing potatoes or tomatoes in next year.

And you can happily use it for mulching.

That's why we rotate plants around the veg garden. If you kept on growing potatoes in the same spot, you would see an increase in disease.

I use old compost or growbags around shrubs in the flower garden. Otherwise you have to keep records not only of where you planted the different veg but where you spread contaminated compost so that you don't put the same plants back in an area too soon.

lbt - don't use your chicken pellets at this time of year. All the nutrients will be leached out of the soil by the rain over the winter.

NeverInDebt

Can you eat the potatoes still? I got two plants in pot both got blight and I put the dead potato plant minus the potatoes into the bin

I seem to recall on GW the other week that even resident potato plants are getting infected

Zazen999

Mojisola wrote: »

That's why we rotate plants around the veg garden. If you kept on growing potatoes in the same spot, you would see an increase in disease.

Yes I know.....but the point is about throwing away compost and not about crop rotation....

Lotus-eater

NeverInDebt wrote: »

Can you eat the potatoes still? I got two plants in pot both got blight and I put the dead potato plant minus the potatoes into the bin

I seem to recall on GW the other week that even resident potato plants are getting infected

You're supposed to cut off the affected haulms and leave the tubers in the ground for a week or two. If when you dig them up they are ok, then they are ok to eat.

What's a resident potato plant? I thought all potato plants were resident, or are some "just visiting"

NeverInDebt

Sorry I meant resistant I misspelled the original word and it came up with resident and I clicked without thinking. I think I have a Irish spell checker

Mojisola

Zazen999 wrote: »

Yes I know.....but the point is about throwing away compost and not about crop rotation....

What I meant was that if you spread the infected compost on an area of the garden that is used next year to grow potatoes in, you will increase the risk of disease. Use the compost somewhere in the garden where you won't be growing potatoes for several years.

NeverInDebt

I got some potatoes out of a pot and the skin is very light looks normal but it does have some pink blotches on the skin, are they safe to eat?

NeverInDebt

Could you use compost in compost bin. I tend to throw old compost into there this time of year when plants are dying down. I got some lovely compost from there this year bag up and ready to use, free compost

Zazen999

Mojisola wrote: »

What I meant was that if you spread the infected compost on an area of the garden that is used next year to grow potatoes in, you will increase the risk of disease. Use the compost somewhere in the garden where you won't be growing potatoes for several years.

Again, I know that - which is why in my original response were the words in bold below:

Zazen999 wrote: »

I grow potatoes in the ground; if I had to dispose of all my soil after growing the potatoes I'd have no allotment left after 4 years.

You can use it for anything except growing potatoes or tomatoes in next year.

And you can happily use it for mulching.

I love it when people quote you and say exactly the same thing as you already said.....as if they are actually disagreeing with you.

Mojisola

Zazen999 wrote: »

I love it when people quote you and say exactly the same thing as you already said.....as if they are actually disagreeing with you.

Well, I was disagreeing with you a bit.

"I grow potatoes in the ground; if I had to dispose of all my soil after growing the potatoes I'd have no allotment left after 4 years."

"You can use it for anything except growing potatoes or tomatoes in next year."

This could be taken by a novice gardener to mean that you can use the same ground each year to grow potatoes in. I was just pointing out that you don't have to dispose of the soil on your allotment because you move the crops around. Ideally, you wouldn't plant potatoes in the same patch without giving the soil a two year break. The first year lets any missed potatoes grow and act as a potential host for diseases. The second year should see the ground clear of potatoes with nothing for the disease to grow on.

I wouldn't reuse the compost in pots next year, even to grow things other than potatoes and tomatoes, because other diseases can build up. You would also have to add fertilizer as this year's growth would have used up everything in it. I would use it for mulching around permanent plantings to improve the humus in the soil.

It was nonsense to suggest that the compost needed to be removed from a lawn. Unfortunately not everyone who works in a garden centre is knowledgeable about gardening.