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| Potatoes and Alfalfa, oh my! https://www.dirtdoctor.com/efl/dirtDoctor/potatoes-and-alfalfa-oh-my-t11029.html |
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| Author: | grdngrl [ Fri Apr 30, 2010 11:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Potatoes and Alfalfa, oh my! |
I planted potatoes for only the second time ever, this year. When I started mulching them, I used alfalfa (for the first time ever) Well, when I went to buy it from the feed store, all they had was a premium product (Purina) It is a well ground alfalfa, about like lawn clippings. I knew when I was putting it down that it might mat because it is so fine, but it never occurred to me that it would heat up like compost. When I went out today, (just in time, I might add) two of my plants (out of 10) were badly wilted, and when I felt them, the mulch was steaming. I mean it felt as warm as good bath water! I started pulling the mulch away from them. Their poor stems are slimy and broken. Some of the plants just flopped over with rotten stems. Some of the plants still looked good and I just loosened the mulch so that they would not lose the support and flop also-but, when you turn compost, it cools down and then heats back up, so loosening may not do anything but buy me a bit of time. I wonder of any of it will be saved or if I just need to pull t up and give the space to a summer crop. I've been reading Jeff Gillman's book, 'The Truth about Organic Gardening' He talks about diseased plants not being worth the effort to save, as they don't recover and only spread their badness to your healthy plants. Should I just pull my potatoes up and be done with it, or give them some time and see if they can still produce? |
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| Author: | sandih [ Sat May 01, 2010 7:03 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Potatoes and Alfalfa, oh my! |
Well you are not going to lose anything by seeing if they can recover. I ususally use loose leaves and mulch around my potatoes. |
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| Author: | grdngrl [ Sat May 01, 2010 8:02 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Potatoes and Alfalfa, oh my! |
The main thing I might lose will be the space in my beds that I could put another crop in. They look good this morning, so I will see how they do the next few days |
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