Grow Your Own Magazine

I've read all the threads about planting Xmas potatoes and I'm confused!
(Bear with me, I'm in a constant state of confusion!)

1. Do I just get my supermarket bought potatoes and keep them until they sprout (I have Maris Peer)
2. Once sprouted - I plant them (shoots uppermost) in my tubs/buckets?
3. I don't understand about "dressing" them/putting soil etc on them...what's all this about?
4. Can I grow them in the greenhouse, or should they be outside until its frosty?
5. Do they need feeding (like tomatoes), or are they best off left alone except for watering and making sure pests don't get them?

Help! I'm all of a dither!

Hi OWG
From what I have recently learnt, here goes: yes you can buy supermarket potatoes (charlotte, anya, pink fir) and plant them directly into your pot/bucket/sack whatever. You dont need to get them to "chit" or sprout first (hey! I'm beginning to learn the lingo!). (This is for Xmas tatties only - proper seed potatoes need to sprout first before you plant them.)
Keep watering them on a regular basis and they'll soon begin to show their leaves. "dressing" them - in potato terms (another techno word coming up!) means "earthing up". When there are plenty of leaves and growth on top, just top up the soil around the plants so that any potatoes growing at near the surface are covered up. This stops them from going green. If you dig up green spuds dont eat them because they will give you a tummy upset.
As far as feeding goes, I'm not aware that you need to feed them with anything. Potatoes are pretty easy going really and just get on with it.
Hope this makes sense! I planted a few Charlotte around 3 weeks ago into some garden tubs I had spare - I've been watering them regularly in the hot weather and they have begun to grow already!
Let me know how you get on.
dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Wow dexterdog, your learning fast!!
Just a thing that you forgot, you can also buy special cold stored potatoes which are kept from the spring and are raring (i don't think i can spell that) to go when they are planted
A little better than shop bought ones, but they are obveosly more expensive

dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

One other comment I would make (no expert here but have been growing spuds in buckets this year) - don't forget to put a bit of horse manure or chicken manure (pellets) in the bottom of the bucket - this will provide enough feed for the spuds.

Good luck everyone trying for new spuds at Christmas (yummy)

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Hi Shirley - this is the first time I've heard of this. Could I sprinkle a few on top of the soil? dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Not sure, I just planted them on top of the manure - remember my mum always planting spuds in the garden on top of some steaming £"$% and thought it was probably a good idea to give them something to feed on. My spuds have been very good and plentiful so I guess it did no harm.

Maybe if you sort of fork it into the top couple of inches of soil the goodness could wash down as you water them. Maybe just plant another couple buckets as backup

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Thanks Shirley - will give it a go. It wont do any harm will it? thanx dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Dexterdog - I have grown maincrop potatoes actually in manure this year. The famed no dig method, and everything seems to be coming up ok, alhtough I haven't had a dig around to see if any potatoes are growing.

Can anybody answer the question about where you keep them? I was thinking of keeping the pots outside until the first frost and then putting them in the polytunnel, but perhaps the greenhouse might be better? Any thoughts anyone? I wimped out and bought some cold store potatoes, not sure how long some of our potatoes have been in transit.

Thanks.

You can keep your xmas potatoes outside and the when the first frost is expected you can either put in a polytunnel or greenhouse, both would be ok.
It's best to go for the cold store potatoes.
Hope that helps

how about the shed? would they do well in there?

Might be a bit dark in the shed for them Silverfox unless it's got one those enormous panoramic windows.They need a bit of light to help them grow. I'm going to leave mine outside because I don't have a greenhouse & wrap the pot & tops up with fleece when it's gets frosty & hope for the best. Should be alright as long as it's not as cold as last year!

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

Ha ha ha ha, you haven't seen how many holes are in my shed letting light in. OH job to repair 2 years ago!!!!

I have one of those greenhouse things with the plastic tent over the top, so I planned to keep it in there up until Xmas, but if for any reason they go over this time I might have to think of something else because by that time I will need my greenhouse to start sowing my peppers, toms, and chilli's.

Hi Jennie - I'm sorry I dont understand what you mean by "no dig" method. Am I right in thinking you had a big pile of manure and just stuck the tatties in? I've got a friend who has 3 horses - I need to ask her for some free supplies (if its rotted down enough!).
As for storing tatties - I read in a catalogue somewhere that you can buy hessian type sacks for storage. Has anyone tried these? At the moment (and because of my plot size) I'm digging them up and then eating them straight away. Yum yum!
Gotta go now - Septembers GYO arrived in the post today! Happiness! :-)
Guess who's going to have a long soak in the bath, GYO in one hand, wine in the other! Now thats what I call making good use of my time, especially as the weather is that bad I can't go outside and have a play in my plot. ha ha!
dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

I grew Christmas potato's last year for the first time and I did put some well rotted manure in the bottom, not sure if it helped but they grew well and we had new pots for Christmas dinner. I have already planted some for this Christmas again with manure.
Enjoy your bath Dexter.

Thanks! :-) dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Hi Dexter - the no dig method

• cut the grass
• lay cardboard over it
• heap well rotted manure on top of that
• cover with membrane
• cut holes in membrane and plant potatoes
• cover with cut grass

Read about it in a book and so far so good - potato leaves flourishing. I will report further when I get to dig them up. They were maincrops so got another month to go yet.

I used the hessian bags last year. They worked quite well, but I didn't know enough about the different types of potatoes and think I stored first earlies. They kept ok until Christmas, but after that got a bit dodgy. I am eating my Charlottes at the moment - delicious! Well not this minute, like for tea!

Good source of bags is your local chippy, Ours gave me a paper sack full for nothing!!

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

i brought some hessian sacks on ebay, 2 for £2.20, and they seem okay.

Hi Jennie - that sounds different! All my back garden is now dug over in the traditional style, but do let me know how you get on! dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things