Potatoes Made Easy

[Rob the Radish]

Thankyou for the replies so quickly.

So that sounds great news, i have now googled the two varieties i have and they do sound pretty good so will look forward to getting them in the ground, prob not this weekend now as i am going to finish my greenhouse off and dig some more ground over.

So with first earlies it is ok to plant in the next week or so ? for some reason i thought they should have gone in already, i will start looking round to find something then as i do love new tatties.

Hazel, space really is not an issue, i have half my garden spare at the mo, about 6mx12m , and nothing in the allotment yet, about 10mx 23m so happy to try a few varieties.

The one thing that would worry me is storing them, how long will they last and how do i keep them ? farmers must store them for months with no ill effects.

I have 93 seed potatoes at the mo, and if i get some more i dont want hundreds of kilos of spuds and see them all go bad !

Rob.

[Two_Sheds]

is ok to plant in the next week or so ? for some reason i thought they should have gone in already

It depends on your weather. Mine went in this week, because my last frost is mid April

storing them, how long will they last and how do i keep them ?

You don't store the earlies: they don't grow a tough protective skin like maincrops do. Having said that, I store my own saved spuds in the salad drawer of the fridge for up to 9 months, from harvest in July until planting out in March.

Maincrops need drying in the sun for a few hours (not days!) then storing in breathable sacks in a cool, dry, dark place

If you have the space, you can leave them all in the ground and just dig them as you need them

[Rob the Radish]

[QUOTE=Two_Sheds;965519.

If you have the space, you can leave them all in the ground and just dig them as you need them[/QUOTE]

Thats an excellent bit of advice, thankyou, i thought they would rot if left in the ground, space is not an issue for me so happy days, problem sorted ! Although i am sure i will have some help eating them !

Must be the week for gifts of seed potatoes, mother called in today with a bag full of pink fir apple, just need to get some charlotte and i am sorted.

Rob.

[Tattie-muncher]

Preparing Tatties

I'm having a go at planting out King Edwards and Maris Piper tatties this year, first go at both varieties, so is there any good tips for preparing them before planting them out, and when is the best time to plant both varieties, as usual, I'll be very grateful for any and all help and advice.

[di]

Have a read of the top sticky in 'New Shoots'.

[zazen999]

I've merged your query with the thread in question - if you can't find the answer here, then you don't need to do it!

[Two_Sheds]

i thought they would rot if left in the ground

That depends on your soil type, aspect and your weather.

I'm on free-draining sandy soil, my plot doesn't flood and we don't get much rain anyway

[Cue the Toms]

Great info on here, thanks Tattieman.

I have just ordered some Kestrel seed potatoes from you to grow for crimbos roasties. I know it's a bit late but I've only just got my plot! Please post them ASAP If possible?

Being in the deep south of England I'm hoping I'll get away with the firsts frosts interfering, if not I will fleece them up.

I had some excellent success growing spuds at home this summer thanks to your advice.

[KittyColdNose]

I may have missed the answer to my question in this thread, so apologies if I am repeating something...

I know that some supermarket tatties may be treated to stop them sprouting, but is there any other reason not to use them as seed potatos? My FIL was apoplectic when I mentioned I had done this last year and would have got rid of them if I let him (two plants worth).

[Feral007]

Maybe they don't treat our potatoes to stop them shooting? I have a problems with shop bought potatoes, we want to eat some, but as soon as they shoot we keep sticking them in the garden instead!

I will need to read thru this thread as my taters are going great guns, but I've no idea when they'll be ready!

[Aberdeenplotter]

If your spuds throw sprouts under the sink as mine do, they ain't been treated and should be ok. No guarantee that shop ware(kitchen as opposed to seed) spuds will be virus free but I have often used them without problem

[Sheneval]

I may have missed the answer to my question in this thread, so apologies if I am repeating something...

I know that some supermarket tatties may be treated to stop them sprouting, but is there any other reason not to use them as seed potatos? My FIL was apoplectic when I mentioned I had done this last year and would have got rid of them if I let him (two plants worth).

I am led to believe that Morrison's Supermarket do not treat their potatoes as one of my fellow allotmenteers have been using theirs to grow from for some time back

[BrianNN5]

I grew some potatoes in Potato sacks for the first time last year, using a mix of General Purpose/Vegetable Growing compost. This was an expensive start up cost as I don't have much room and no home created compost to use.

I have this years seed potatoes in their chitting trays, but will I be able to re-use the compost again this year if I add some fertiliser (at the rate advised in earlier threads).

Is 2-years about all I will get from the compost before I start risking infection?
What do others do?

Thanks

[Aberdeenplotter]

because of the increasing costs of peat which exhibitors use as a base for the compost they use to grow spuds for the show bench, some are now sterilising used compost

[carly]

hi tattieman,
i assume you are a farmer?.......... sorry if you are not but i was wondering if you could help me with a soil question. this is my first post as i have just joined so sorry if im doing it all wrong. i have found that i can only dig about 2 inches as my soil is full of clay. will this be a problem for potatoes or vegetables in general? i have been out inspecting the feilds surround me and it sems that this clay is quite general but the farmers seem to have had no problem with it. im not sure what they intend to do with the feilds though.
thank you in advance.
carly