Full Blight Warning

I have just received notice of a full smith period which means that blight is now a real possibility. The best thing you can now do is spray your haulms with Dithane or Bordeux mix to protect your crops. Once you have blight there is no cure so prevention is the key. Try and spray at a time when the mixtures can be absorbed into the haulms and not be washed off by rain.

Potatoes growing well

Well the potatoes are growing well. We have now sprayed them twice for blight and the haulms are nice and healthy. We are in desperate need of water because the potatoes are now beginning to form and too much heat will damage the skins and produce potatoes with scabs on. This will nit effect how the potatoes grow but spoils the look of them and leads to more waste.

Grow potatoes in compost bags

Testing for blight

Potatoes need water

More Potato Growth updates

What a difference a couple of weeks can make to your potatoes. A wet spell followed by a few days of heat and things have doubled in size.

My exhibition potatoes are doing well in their 17 litre polypots. They were just starting to dry out so I had to water them last week just to keep them ticking over.

The potatoes in the compost bags are doing really well and they tend to retain more moisture in the bigger bags.

Best of all though are the ones in the potato planter bags. They are steaming ahead of anything else and I think the increased ventilation all the way around the bag is certainly helping growth.

As an experiment I have now planted 3 Swift, 3 Rocket and 3 Charlotte in the potato planter bags to compare the crop size of the bags that contain 5 seed potatoes.

Jamieson Brothers Potato Planter Barrels

Here is how well the 5 potatoes i planted in a potato planter have got on last week and this week. I have only topped the bag up twice. I think the secret is to only water once when the shoots pop through and then add 6" of dry compost on top. When the shoots appear again add more water and top up with dry compost.

Potatoes Growing Nicely

Here is an update on the potatoes that I planted in polypots for exhibition use this year. They have grown really fast and now the roots are established into the ground through the holes in the bottom of the bag. A simple and effective system of growing potatoes.

World Champion potato grower uses JBA seed potatoes

Yet more good news for us here at Jamieson Brothers as world champion exhibition potato grower is now using our highest quality seed potatoes. We would like to wish the Plumb family all the best in their bid for success on the showbench this year.
If you would like to see the type of potatoes chosen by exhibition growers click on the link exhibition potatoes

Sponsorship

Jamieson Brothers are to sponsor many of the potato classes at the NVS shows this year. For more information on the NVS have a look here NVS

Rained Off

Well yet more rain today has stopped planting but we will be back out next week and soon make up for lost time.
It is immpossible to plant potatoes in the rain as all the soil sticks to the machines and does not make a proper bed for the potatoes. Compaction is also another problem with working on wet ground.

JBA In Garden News

Well I just bought the April 28th issue of Garden News and Medwyn Williams who is one of the greatest vegetable growers in the world has written a whole article on me and my family run company.
I had better not tell you all what the article says but it is very good and I hope you all get a chance to read it.

Back out in the garden

Back out into the garden today and decided I should plant some left over Pixie in a small area of ground in the corner of the garden. It was so simple to do. I simply dug a trench 10 feet long and popped a potato in every 12 inches apart and covered with soil.

Delivery updates

In the next week or so we hope to have a flat rate postage system for upto 20kg in place for N.Ireland and all other areas that are normally much costlier to post to.

Planting Potatoes update

Well we have got off to a good start this year with our commercial seed planting. We are over halfway and have 100 acres planted so far. This time last year we hadn't even started so we are very happy with the progress this year. So far we have planted Arran Pilot, Home Guard, Pentland Javelin, Duke of York, Sharpes Express, Maris Bard, Catriona, Nicola, Wilja, Ulster Classic, Ulster Sovereign, Ulster Prince, Ulster Sceptre, Lord Rosebery, Edgecote Purple, Ryecroft Purple, Gladstone, Pentland Lustre, Peach Bloom, Dark Red Norland, Beauty of Bute, Tuskar, Dobbies Asset, Doon Pearl, Flourball and a few more special ones this year.

In my own Garden I have today planted Highland Burgandy Red, Congo, Purple King Edward(Mr Littles Yetholm Gypsey) Salad Blue, Shetland Black, Witchill, British Queen and some Bonnie for showing.

Growing potatoes in containers is so easy to do. Give it a try and use my videos to help you have a successful crop.