solutions to potato scab

its the only way to keep scab at bay is to keep your ph down dont lime your ground you will only make it worse scab is a viris in the ground and will always be there and it will over winter on the potato sorry to disapoint you petitebabe i lifted 2 ton of potatos today maris piper and they have scab i have 4 kind of potato growing piper charlotte records king edward and out of the 4 king edward and chartotte were nearly scab free you could try them piper was the worse

I've heard seaweed is good for puting with potatoes. My uncle lived by the sea and always did it. However I don't know if the seaweed should be rotted down or not. It might be worth a try if you can get some.

Thanx hywel as i live pretty much the furthest point anywhere in britain from the coast i might have trouble there! Good suggestion it's worth a try! Has anyone else tried this? Will have to get my relatives to send me some in post it might stink by the time it get's to me though!

Thanx speedy10 you look like an expert! i must of read it wrong rhs website says DON'T lime definately read it wrong! Trouble is king edward more floury than maris piper we don't like floury potato that's why we picked maris piper we love the flavour and need it to be versatile for boiling, chips, mash and roast. Also maris piper gives you nice sized potatoes. might try desiree next year

My marip piper that i grew in pots were perfect no scab on at all!

My understanding is that Cauliflower, like cabbage, prefer a neutral to slightly alkaline soil, to stave off club root, which only lives in acid soils.

sorry, I didn't realise where you lived ......lol

hi speedy10 i tracked down the website i looked at for the ph of my potatoes
http://www.allotment.org.uk/articles2/Soil_PH_and_Its_Effect_on_Your_Garden.php
This recomends adding lime to increase ph as my ph levels are at 2 and potatoes like a ph of 5 that why i thought i might add a little lime to bring it up a little. Is this wrong then?

well i'm having fun! i have a probe type ph tester and it gives me different readings according to how far you push it into the soil! So i think that the ph of my soil is actually 5 (makes more sense) after pushing it right down into the soil! i do remember doing one of those paper ph tests at the beggining of the year and it was definately green.

pb, did you grow any Desirees?
How have you coped with cooking them - I ask because ours tended to explode - see my previous questions on GOY on this subject.
It's lovely to see someone else so enthusiastic about potatoes. This year has been an eye-opener for us too.
Well done on your successes. I've never dared test the soil here but it wouldn't be a bad idea. On his return I'll ask husband about PH results, he has a gd science brain so may shed some light on all this for me.

no sorry weeding i was thinking about growing desirees next year as they are not too floury like maris piper that i grew this year. What i didn't know then was that maris piper are susceptable to scab and it was really bad on my crop. As most of it can be cut off i shall still have a lot of potatoes! If i get distracted by the children when cooking my potatoes and they get left in the water too long mine disintergrate no matter what type of potato they are! Wilkinsons sell a ph and moist probe tester for about 4 pounds i think thats where i bought mine. Simple to use just make sure you put it in the ground far enough! Hope that helps we live and we learn by trail and error!