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G'Day All and Greetings from Down Under!
Each Sunday I visit our local farmers market where growers from two to three hours' drive away rock up with their produce. There are three or four who offer spuds but my favourite is the one from Marulan, a two-hour drive from here.
A couple of weeks ago he told me that there is a spray that he uses on his spuds when the tubers growing below ground are a certain size and approaching maturity. The spray is non-systemic and burns off the foliage, sending a signal to the plant that it is dying, and to aid its survival it needs to fatten up its tubers really fast to have a better chance. In just two weeks the tubers are all fattened up and ready to dig. I didn't ask the name of the product, but in googling it seems to be Maleic hydrazide. Is this it?
My question is, are you home garden, allotment spud fanatics able to get this product through your local nurseries or online? I've never seen it offered for sale at our local nurseries or garden centres in Oz.
Do let me know, and also post here whether you have found the product successful, if you are able to obtain it locally that is. I would also be interested in knowing which varieties you grow in your neck of the woods. The best flavoured spuds we get here in Oz are Charlotte, Coliban, Desiree, Dutch Cream, Golden Delight, Kennebec, King Edward, Nicola, Pink Eye, Pontiac, Royal Blue and Sebago. In the next few weeks the Marulan farmer will be harvesting Saphire, a new variety he is trialling this season. I can't wait to try it!
Cheers.
Janek
Each Sunday I visit our local farmers market where growers from two to three hours' drive away rock up with their produce. There are three or four who offer spuds but my favourite is the one from Marulan, a two-hour drive from here.
A couple of weeks ago he told me that there is a spray that he uses on his spuds when the tubers growing below ground are a certain size and approaching maturity. The spray is non-systemic and burns off the foliage, sending a signal to the plant that it is dying, and to aid its survival it needs to fatten up its tubers really fast to have a better chance. In just two weeks the tubers are all fattened up and ready to dig. I didn't ask the name of the product, but in googling it seems to be Maleic hydrazide. Is this it?
My question is, are you home garden, allotment spud fanatics able to get this product through your local nurseries or online? I've never seen it offered for sale at our local nurseries or garden centres in Oz.
Do let me know, and also post here whether you have found the product successful, if you are able to obtain it locally that is. I would also be interested in knowing which varieties you grow in your neck of the woods. The best flavoured spuds we get here in Oz are Charlotte, Coliban, Desiree, Dutch Cream, Golden Delight, Kennebec, King Edward, Nicola, Pink Eye, Pontiac, Royal Blue and Sebago. In the next few weeks the Marulan farmer will be harvesting Saphire, a new variety he is trialling this season. I can't wait to try it!
Cheers.
Janek
.jacob
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