spuds and toms.

[sam 51]

hi all, I want to grow potatoes and tomatoes on my plot next year.
im hoping to put up a green house,

1st potatoes, want to start asap with new potatoes, what sort are the best.
2nd tomatoes, want to grow them nice big beef steak tomatoes,
what sort are best, had a good lot of those cherry tomatoes this year, but not to keen on them.
too small for my liking.
thanks sam.

[Dorothy rouse]

Sam, I grew Swift Earlies, and they were great, had my first ones, first week in June, I was the first on our plots
to harvest.

DottyR

[Bren In Pots]

Sam the other year I grew Super Marmande they're very big and juicy. They need to be started of early though like Jan/Feb time because I found they needed a long season to ripen.

[Vince G]

Tomato wise, I'd recommend Fantasio and Giulietta which both claim to be blight-resistant. There wasn't much blight in my neck of the woods this year, but last year my potatoes got bad blight and the toms were almost untouched. Fantasio is a normal sized tom about the size of a snooker ball and very tasty, and Giulietta is an Italian plum tom which has very few seeds and is great for cooking.

[Tripmeup]

I would recommend Paul Robeson and Black Russian for the toms

[Bill HH]

You can buy a selection of first early potatoes from the seed people online, maybe 5 varieties, then you can grow them all and decide which you like best for next year. I am planting rocket this year. Dont forget to keep them all labelled. If you want to grow main crop then you can do the same.

[sam 51]

thanks guys, will look into this.
so much to learn.
also this blight thing,can you avoid it,
or do you give up with the spuds.

[rustylady]

Don't give up with spuds Sam - loads of us grow them and get a good harvest with no problems.

[Dorothy rouse]

Sam, we were issued with a 'warning' re blight, so were able to check the potatoes and cut back if it looked as though it was about to strike. It's all to do with temperature and weather conditions. I chopped down some of the foliage as it was dying back anyway, all my potatoes were fine. Think Earlies, are less likely to be affected, cos they're early!

DottyR

[Bren In Pots]

Sam sign up to Blightwatch.co.uk and you get email updates if there's a chance of blight in your area.

[Bill HH]

Sam sign up to Blightwatch.co.uk and you get email updates if there's a chance of blight in your area.

I have a mental picture of loads of old men in sandbagged bunkers scanning the skies with binoculars whilst sipping mugs of tea.

[taff]

There'll be an early sowing tomato thread before long, have a look there, or search for the ones that happen every year. You'd have to keep them in your house to start with so if you do sow some, don't sow too many
I'd go for Brads Black Heart [ mine did surprisingly well considering the cold this year ] or costoluto type.

[Dorothy rouse]

Bill, Could be old women, scanning the skies with binoculars also, they definitely wouldn't be wearing anything 'saggy' , they'd be looking great in either shorts or skinny jeans!

DottyR

[Bill HH]

There are no old women, they stop ageing at thirtynine. (Or so my wife tells me)

[Dorothy rouse]

There are no old women, they stop ageing at thirtynine. (Or so my wife tells me)

Haha, I love your wife Bill, wise lady!