Grow Your Own Magazine

I see that they are used in Spring for second earlies and in August for Christmas potatoes. Are the Christmas Maris Peer seed potatoes produced the previous year or the same? Or does it matter? I read that the Christmas seed potatoes were just the same seed potatoes one would use in Spring but these had been put in cold storage to slow the growing process. But, I'd like to try to use some of the potatoes that I just grew this Spring. Does anyone know if it would work, or should I just make a stew and buy some new seed?

I think they need a period of cold storage. When you think about it those potatoes that you accidentally leave in the ground when you harvest don't immediately grow and give you a second crop for Christmas, do they? No they hang about and wait until you've planted something else on top of them next spring and THEN they grow. Next year it might be an idea to buy a few extra seed potatoes in January and pop them in the fridge until late summer. For some reason those that you buy as 'Christmas' potatoes always cost four times as much as the same variety would if bought early in the year.

you are quite right the Maris Peer are put in cold storage i purchased some for planting early next month. having just pulled some gold yukon it might be a good idea to try these for Christmas potatoes as to wether they succeed is another question. if you dont try you will never know what have you got to lose good luck with the idea in fact i will try those gold yukon thanks

Good points. But, can they be "tricked" into thinking they over wintered by storing them in a brown bag in the fridge for a couple of weeks? I will get a few from Victoriana nursery as I can buy them by the potato, I think for .72p each. I will also try tricking the ones I dug up. I'd love to hear if anyone has had success with "tricking" new potatoes. (gee, wish I had a better word..) Ta, marigold.

Plant specially prepared cold-stored tubers (available from specialist seed merchants) as home-saved tubers can suffer from pests and dormancy problems.

These late-planting (second-crop, like Maris Peer) varieties are, in fact, springtime seed potatoes. It is just that the tubers have been stored at low temperatures, so that when you receive them, there won't be a shoot on them.
They are usually posted out from early July to early August, so that they can be planted straight away in the warm summer soil without the need for chitting. This means that the potatoes will be ready for lifting from late October.

A similar propagation method - although it does involve chitting - is very easy to achieve at home. Simply leave some chitted seed potatoes from your January order in the seed tray where they are chitting, right through the summer, and plant them out on the last day of August.

Personally, I grow Pink Fir Apple (salad maincrop) which stays happily in the ground from March until December.

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Oooh, thaks for that, Two Sheds. I hadn't realized that PFA could be left like that.

Having tried my PFA the other day and not finding a single potato it will take them till Xmas to form potatoes. I have some Charlotte that have been chitted but never planted, so may try them for Xmas. The shoots are about 2in long and strong looking.

Ian

I'm definitely going to grow PFA next year, thanks. You just gotta love new potatoes.

hi there

i have just planted up my maris peer ready for xmas, i have some left and will these be possible to plant in a couple of weeks?? how shall is store them until i want to plant them out?

thanks very much

SS

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