"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 29 Aug 2005 22:10:38 +0100, "Rod Craddock"
wrote:

"Neil Tonks" wrote in message
...

"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 29 Aug 2005 08:06:12 GMT, "Alan Holmes"
wrote:


I wonder why?

I manured the ground before planting, but although the earlies
are fairly good the maincrop are quite poor, relatively speaking.

Possibly the dry weather. My soil is so dry I cannot easily dig my
potatoes.

Lucky you! Here in Leicestershire the ground is soaking and has been
almost all summer.

My potato crop is down too, but in my case it's due to them being
riddled with keel slugs, which seem to have reproduced in vast
numbers in the wet soil!

Neil.

Ours look OK but the few I've lifted have a very strange texture,
floury on the outside and falling apart on cooking (a new variety -
waiting to see what the more familiar ones are like). The dry season
has made blight control possible. The dry weather and Nemaslug seem to
have minimised slug damage.
Last August 6.8 inches of rain, this August 2 inches.

Is there something in the growing that makes them fall apart on
cooking? I have had it happen with newly dug Charlotte, Desiree and
another. Does it happen just when they are very new? Most
frustrating.

Pam in Bristol

It's at least partlially to do with the variety. Of those I've dug so far,
Arran Pilot and Nadine produced average crops but cooked brilliantly, with
no disintegration. On the other hand the free 5 tubers of 'pixie' supplied
by Marshalls this year, grown in exactly the same conditions, produced a big
crop but they totally disintegrated on boiling (the rest made great chips,
though!)

Neil.