Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi all

The lottie is growing in a very haphazard was this year (it's my first year there saying that...) and I'm planting bits as and when I have them available and can get some of hubbies time to get him down there to dig small patches for me (it has to be a gentle process with him as it's not his cup of teas to have his hands in the muck)

Anyway, I have about 30 odd tomato plants I didn't sow (homegrown compost ) that I need to replant before they suffocate my new fruit trees and plan to get them into the lottie ground this weekend.

Last year I managed to dig over the front third of my lottie and this is the bit that's being used at the mo and I have enough dug over ground from last year for one last big bed for the toms. But..... not far away are the potatoes we planted recently and I don't know if they are going to be too close?

I know they shouldn't be planted too close together for cross polination (I'm not keeping seeds anyway so not worried about that) and more worryingly, blight can spread much easier if one crop catches it

I have no idea of the space between the beds at the mo and won't do till I get down there over the weekend, but has anyone got any guidelines I can work with when I get there so I know if I can use the easy dig bed, or get OH to work his butt off getting the couch grass out of the untouched area?

Cheers all

__________________
Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

I'd get your OH to work his butt off- twill do him good!
I have no idea about the distances apart, but you are correct in thinking they should be seperate because of blight.
Mine tend to be 15-20 feet away from each other minimum, but that's a gut feeling.
We had blight on the tomatoes a couple of years back as well as the spuds, and it was such a waste.
I understand that blight starts off in the middle of the patch and spreads outwards ( correct me if I'm wrong!)
Realistically the larger the gap the better and start spraying with copper sulphate pretty soon as this warm damp weather is ideal for blight.

Blight can affect tomatoes outdoors even if there are no potatoes nearby. The ones I planted in the back garden last year got it, and the nearest potato must be half a mile away.