The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Gardens => Topic started by: northfifeduckling on January 10, 2013, 09:47:26 pm
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I checked them today and everything is covered in grey....I suppose the blight and mould spores are taking over. I was thinking of digging up a good layer of soil and replacing it with new sterilised compost from the council. I am worried about flying spores and all the work will have been for nothing....any ideas? I hear mares tail soak may be good sprayed on but it won't be coming into growth for some months yet and that will be too late. ??? :&>
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Sulphor candles
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sounds good - can't find them on your website. do you seel them? :&>
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https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/sulphur-candle-225g-p-766.html (https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/sulphur-candle-225g-p-766.html)
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whilst we're at it, do you sell blight resistant tatties (Sarpo or similar)? Can't seem to see those either but it's the only ones that have a chance here....tired a lot of others
what's your delivery cost for either? Must be blind today...
Cheers, mate :&>
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Hi,
No we dont stock Sarpo.
What do you suffer from? leaf blight or Tuber blight?
A good resistant Main Crop Variety is Cara which scors roughly the same on blight resistance as Sarpo and can be seen here : http://varieties.potato.org.uk/display_description.php?variety_name=Cara (http://varieties.potato.org.uk/display_description.php?variety_name=Cara) The British potato council database is a fantastic resource for looking at the charateristics of potatoes - like a spud who's who. Delivery costs are shown at checkout and depends how remote you are in the country - but as you can imagine, transporting a 25Kg sack of seed potatoes costs more than £1.00 :bunny:
Thanks
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I think quite a few seed potato varieties won't be available after the disastrous season last year...
I've been thinking - can you use sulphur candles for human habitation, too? (Probably not, but I thought it might be an easier way of getting rid of mould in my kitchen... ::) )
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I certainly would NOT use a sulphur candle in your home - they give off very nasty fumes and are meant for greenhouses and tunnels only.
Quite a few Potato varieties are available this year - but quantities are limited and they are selling out fast - as supermarket potato prices are set to rise this year....
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Any suggestions for mould in homes then SfS? My conservatory radiator isn't keeping it at bay.
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Well Im no expert - but mold / mildew inside a building is usually caused by condensation - so either open some windows to ventilate or maybe a de-humidifier?
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Well Im no expert - but mold / mildew inside a building is usually caused by condensation - so either open some windows to ventilate or maybe a de-humidifier?
I keep hearing that about open the windows - well, the humidity out there is constantly around 90%; in my house it is (with the de-humidifier going) around 70-75%. My mathematics tell me that opening the window would make conditions worse - yes? If I open the window I'll never get my washing dry - and I'll never get even the semblance of warmth...
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we had the same problem with it in the kitchen, even in the bedroom on the window (it doesn't open). We washed all the walls after taking any paper off with sugarsoap first and then with standard house fungicide treatment. It lasts about 6 months and I can just see it starting off again although we now have windows that open in the kitchen. I fear that it harbours between plasterboard and walls....nightmare! At least the greenhouse and tunnel can be treated properly!
Re tatties - I had a blight variety that affected the leaves. We did cut the foliage off early so before digging up any rogues I won't be able to tell if it affected the tubers as well. It's likely though. :&>
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If I open the window I'll never get my washing dry - and I'll never get even the semblance of warmth...
With the windows closed where do you imagine the water from your washing is going ? into the air - condensing on the walls / windows and creating an ideal environment for mold / mildew.....
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My conservatory is quite new, double glazed, there is a radiator connected to the central heating system, but the main stat is in the hall, so I think my problem is the periforal rads go off before they should as the heat builds up in the hallway. If I turn the valve down on the hall rad and fully open the conservatory one would that help?
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SfS we had serious blight both on the tomatoes in the poly and the potatoes outside both crops devastated we currently have grey mould showing on one of the brassica varieties in the poly......my question is is it likely to be linked to the previous years blight and how to treat i read about sulphur candles but the poly is pretty full with winter cabbage broccoli sprouts carrots and cauli and as far as i can make out you can't use them with crops in there any advice would be much appreciated :thumbsup:
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If I open the window I'll never get my washing dry - and I'll never get even the semblance of warmth...
With the windows closed where do you imagine the water from your washing is going ? into the air - condensing on the walls / windows and creating an ideal environment for mold / mildew.....
No - I have the clothes hanging above the dehumidifer, in front of the heater... That room is actually the driest in the house - it's the kitchen where I have the problem - and yes, I do have the extractor fan on when I'm cooking, and outside door and window is open a lot of the time... (As they say around here - I didn't come up the Clyde on a banana boat, you know!) Part of the problem is that the kitchen is north facing, with two outside walls. Nothing I can do about that.
And if not in the house - where would you in your infinite wisdom dry the clothes? With humidity close to 100%, if not actually raining outside at all times? And no, I can't have a tumble drier - neither money nor space to put it anywhere! (The council doesn't even provide space for a fridge in the kitchen, let alone any other luxury...)
To stop ranting (sorry!) and get back to the original problem - I'm just trying to find something that would keep mould to a minimum. I wash walls etc down with bleach quite regularly; just thought that there might be something that works to prevent dampness turning to mould quite so quickly. But I realise that what works in a greenhouse might not be very healthy for (relatively) human beings like me!
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I use regular fungicidal wash applied liberally and undiluted to the walls and all other infected surfaces - every 6 months. Obviously not on stuff I use directly for food preparation. It keeps it under cotrol but doesn't solve the problem as such. Tell me when you find a solution.... :&>
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Actually - I think I might have to invest in another dehumidifier, specially for the kitchen. Not that there is room for one... Just one additional item to stumble over. Just been looking at some online; seems there are some that work better in colder temperatures, so that might be the way to go. In the long run, it might even be cheaper than repeatedly having to wash down walls and repainting... Definitely cheaper than a tumble drier! And I'm quite used to the noise by now. Have been listening to it for years. (There was that article on BBC online not long ago, about how houses/flats in Britain are all too damp - because those pesky folk who live in them dare dry their washing indoors .... But where are you supposed to dry it? No room for that provided, neither in private nor council housing! That's different on the continent, where you tend to have a special room for laundry (often shared), even in "affordable" housing.)
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We dry our washing in the room that holds the boiler, on one of these old-fashioned pulley things. Like you I never had an issue with mould in there, Ina, and also never owned a tumble dryer in my life. The kitchen is the room I spend most hours in the day in so the fungicide's the only option for me. If you already have the spores a dehumidifier might slow the growth but will not kill them. I would at least give it one treatment and then use the humidifier. :&>
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Yeah, that's what I thought. I've ordered another dehumidifier now - it'll probably be spring before I can get the walls treated; want to do a proper job this time - it needs painting again - and then, hopefully, it'll stay clear for a while!
Whichever way you look at it, it costs money. :-\
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health as well, Ina. My breathing was really suffering before, I only noticed that the mould must have been the cause when I felt so much better after the wall treatment.... :&>
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So far that's not been a problem - touch wood! But you are right, of course. At least the mould's not in the bedroom...
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Hi Padge,
No the sulphur candles can't be used while there are plants in the tunnel.
Blight is occurrs when the temp and humidity are above certain levels for a set period of time - you can register at the potato blight watch service using your postcode to get alerts when conditions are right in your area for blight - obviously its different in a tunnel, but the same applies temp and humidity so ventilation is essential.
I dont know if the mold is linked to the blight, but I would again suggest ventilating and perhaps researching for products that can be used to spray off mold on your plants.
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Thanks for that sfs :sunshine:
It is only on one variety of cabbage so far so will remove and destroy those and see how we go the tunnel has net doors at either end but may have to look at putting side ventilation in :thumbsup:
Padge
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it might just wash off, Padge :&>
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the affected leaves appear to be rotting so have removed them.....the hearts were only just forming........have other varieties that appear to be unaffected tho :fc: