2014 Potato planting

[SlugLobber]

Mine are still chitting in the conservatory, playing kitty roulette. I'll be aiming for the 3rd week of March onwards (weather dependent), covering with straw to protect foliage from late frosts. This worked super well last year!

[TrialAndError]

Batman, that sounds spot on for the Birmingham area - further south maybe a week or two earlier and further north maybe a week or two later. Thanks for the link. It also automatically calculates a crop rotation plan at the end of the page if you enter several veg selections.

[WendyC]

Seems accurate for me too, although there wasn't a town very near me.

[batman]

Good, I'm really glad it's helpful to others too!

If there is no town near you on it, you can also manually enter your last frost dates, or look at their maps and take a guess.

It's good for me because I get really eager around this time of year, and need the reminder that while I'd love to see more green on the plot, I'll do better if I can make myself wait a little bit.


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[TrialAndError]

I'll do better if I can make myself wait a little bit.

Ha! There are more than one or two on this forum who might agree with that! I've never seen runner beans growing well through an April snow fall, but hope always springs eternal in a hasty gardener.

[noviceveggrower]

I have three raised beds at home so I usually plant my spuds when they are ready. Last year though my ground was that frozen I had two layers of fleece to try and warm it up enough. If I remember right I ended up planting both lots on the same day. Did have quite a good crop considering.
Am thinking of the day after St Patricks Day. Main reason its my wedding anniversary.
Hubby could be in for a nasty shock when I tell him I have a special surprise for him lol.
Am thinking of doing spuds over winter. Well actually reviving a family tradition my Grandad did which was plant some new potatoes he'd kept back on Boxing Day.

[greenfingers2014]

I wonder if I could ask some advice about growing potatoes in bags on the patio.

Most of the information I can find tells you to fill the bag about a third full of compost...pop in 3/4 tubers...and add another layer of compost. This same advice says to keep adding compost over the weeks as the follage appears.

However, on Thompson & Morgan's website they advice you to fill the potato bags by one third with compost, and place your seed potatoes on top of the compost. Add another layer of compost and plant 2 more seed potatoes on top before filling the rest of the bag with compost.

Are there any advantages of using one method over another?

[Potstubsdustbins]

I have tried T & Ms method no improvement in yield. IMO you are much better off using extra bags, dustbins.

I start with about 8" of compost in my bins, wait till the haulms 4 or 5 inch's high and then add compost until just the topmost leaves are showing.

My haulms have just burst through on my first earlies but they are in pots in the green house. Very quick germination this year, just 12 days last year it was 28 days.

Potty

[Penellype]

I wonder if I could ask some advice about growing potatoes in bags on the patio.

Most of the information I can find tells you to fill the bag about a third full of compost...pop in 3/4 tubers...and add another layer of compost. This same advice says to keep adding compost over the weeks as the follage appears.

However, on Thompson & Morgan's website they advice you to fill the potato bags by one third with compost, and place your seed potatoes on top of the compost. Add another layer of compost and plant 2 more seed potatoes on top before filling the rest of the bag with compost.

Are there any advantages of using one method over another?

I've tried both methods and agree that there is no difference in yield. What I did find was that the yield improved when I put the potatoes onto just a few inches of compost (nowhere near 1/3 of the bag), as potatoes will only produce tubers from the stems which go upwards from the seed potato, not from roots which go down. Filling the bag 1/3 full first is a waste of compost in my opinion, and placing some of the potatoes higher up still will probably result in a smaller crop.

Personally I find it easiest to fill the bags as far as you are going to right at the start. If you leave topping them up until the leaves break through it is more fiddly to fill the bags and you risk breaking the stems in the limited space available to work in.