new allotment need advice chicken pellets

[Liney]

Every season I buy a tub of chicken pellets which I use on everything: veggies, flowers, shrubs and trees

Me too! Have used 2 huge tubs already this year.
My dogs like it too! lol yuk!

[snohare]

I wouldn't use chicken pellets with potatoes at this time of year

Ah ha, now funnily enough I thought I had got it wrong last year, and expected a dire kind of outcome, particularly since the foliage on my Lady Balfours and Nicolas was so lush. But what I had done was give just a wee sprinkling of pellets with the first earthing up, and then when earthing up the second time I used very well rotted chicken poo that had been sitting in a back yard for donkey's years (I dug it out of a bank). So I'm guessing that I either missed what would have been a huge harvest and got only a big one, or struck lucky in having enough of the other nutrients and adding nitrogen meant that the shaws did well at the same time as the tatties.
The other weird thing about my tatties last season was, that everyone else in the site (only five plots, all small ones in an enclosed garden) got blight; in the case of my nearest neighbour's tatties just ten yards away, the shaws were absolutely brown and rotted, a classic worst case scenario. Mine were barely touched - I did chop them off, but to judge by the few spots they had, I would have had days to get around to it. None of the tubers were affected, so I was well pleased. Does the extra lush foliage come with some kind of improved immunity to blight, or is it just the way Lady Balfours and Nicolas are ?

[crichmond]

fruit trees love a sprinkling of chicken manure pellets around their bases at thisw time of year.

[Alice]

B & Q have chicken manure pellets on BOGOF at the moment. Got my supply bought in.

[HayleyB]

Oh well my Swifts got a handful of pellets when they went in today maybe ericaceous compost is a better idea for tatties do you think? I'll leave off the chook pellets for my others that are chitting.

[sewer rat]

The other weird thing about my tatties last season was, that everyone else in the site (only five plots, all small ones in an enclosed garden) got blight; in the case of my nearest neighbour's tatties just ten yards away, the shaws were absolutely brown and rotted, a classic worst case scenario. Mine were barely touched - I did chop them off, but to judge by the few spots they had, I would have had days to get around to it. None of the tubers were affected, so I was well pleased. Does the extra lush foliage come with some kind of improved immunity to blight, or is it just the way Lady Balfours and Nicolas are ?

Not sure about Nicola, but Lady Balfour has a high resistance to both foliar and tuber blight - which is why it is so popular with organic growers.

[Saraheliz]

Chrichmond- I will put some at base of fruit trees, although already put some well rotted manure there so maybe I have done enough, thanks

don't know now what to try with my first potatoes never grown them before, might do grass clippings so not to turn the soil alkaline,

from
SArah

[Two_Sheds]

Spuds like slightly acidic soil. Alkaline soil makes them go scabby, which is why they shouldn't follow brassicas in a crop rotation (brassicas tend to get limed).

Chicken pellets are alkaline
Grass clippings are acidic (and free)

for the record, I've never used chicken pellets or manure, just well-rotted compost and I get more veg than I can eat.

[Eyren]

Not sure about Nicola, but Lady Balfour has a high resistance to both foliar and tuber blight - which is why it is so popular with organic growers.

Nicola's main claim to fame is that it has a significantly lower GI value than other potatoes, but I don't remember it being particularly blight-resistant. Will have to look out for Lady Balfour next year - we were late in ordering our seed potatoes this year and ended up grabbing a small selection of whatever looked decent at the Ryton Potato Day!

[Saraheliz]

thanks two sheds, that helps a lot
from
Sarahx

[timemellowed]

Compost for potatoes

So Ericaceous compost would be good... as I don't have free compost at present and I only have poultry or ericaceous compost to hand?