Maincrop potatoes

[Bumblingbroccoli]

So my mainctop potatoes are behaving as though they are ready. There were a few flowers and now the foliage is flopping. I've watered a lot as we have had no rain for weeks bar one half hour veg heavy shower last week. Would rather not dig up a plant to check so do you think they are ready or is it the weather making them flop?

[Penellype]

Unless I want to eat some I tend to leave my maincrop potatoes until the foliage has died down. They often go floppy when the foliage gets large, particularly if it is hot. It does depend though on whether you tend to get blight. If you do, and you want to store some potatoes, then you may be better harvesting a bit earlier before blight strikes, as once the plants get blight the potatoes won't store.

[Bumblingbroccoli]

Phew thought I'd have titchy spuds or that somehow they'd snuffed it. Luckily blight not really an issue here bar occasional late blight on tomatoes and that's usually due to my inability to remember how big they grow which means I always end up planting slightly too close together so air circulation not great when autumn damp air starting...

[monkeyboy]

I'm in a similar boat. My earlies are still reasonably upright. I think my mains are flopping over because of the weight of the foliage and exposure to wind. I thought you had to wait until the foliage had turned yellow or looked like it was dying?

[Penellype]

I'm in a similar boat. My earlies are still reasonably upright. I think my mains are flopping over because of the weight of the foliage and exposure to wind. I thought you had to wait until the foliage had turned yellow or looked like it was dying?

It depends what you want. There will usually be potatoes once the plant has finished flowering. There will be more and bigger potatoes when the plant has died down, but you risk problems with disease and possibly pests such as slugs and eelworm, in particular slugs if the weather turns wet. Like many things in gardening, it is a balancing act between optimum yield and risking problems.

[Tripmeup]

Worth remembering that with the lack of rain this year, they may die off earlier than usual..Where I am, the predictions are for a very poor crop..

[mat]

If the soil is very dry you may be able to move it delicately to one side in one or two spots to check the size of your tubers. In any case, once the foliage has died back it's always worth leaving the spuds in the ground for a couple of weeks to let the skin set on the tubers - that'll help them store. I fear that the dry weather is likely to mean smaller and earlier crops for most of us.