Gardening in England - Seed potatoes

Author

Seed potatoes

Spoons

2005-11-11, 6:21 pm

I have never grown potatoes,but would like to have a go.
I have an old compost bin,which I intend to use,it is about 3 feet
high.Should I lay the tubors on the soil,and then `earth up` as they grow?
Also,when are seed potatoes available in the garden centres?
I am a little confused by `first early` early late` etc.!!
I would like some tasty new spuds to eat in Springtime.
Any advice greatly digested.
Thanks
Colin

Dwayne

2005-12-06, 1:21 pm

Good morning. You could lay them on the soil, or you could dig a pocket,
lay the tubor in the bottom, cover it with 2 inches of dirt, and after they
have grown two or three inches, cover them again. I continue to do that
until I have 9 to 12 inches of dirt on top of the tubor.

Seed potatoes are usually available in the spring. They can be planted a
couple of weeks prior to your first frost (or your average first frost
date). Recover them at 1/2 to 1 inch increments when there is danger of
frost. If they get frosted they will come back. I sometimes find a potato
that I like better than most, and will put a few up to save for spring and
make my won tubors.

To do that, I cut the potato in half or thirds so an eye is available in
each piece. Then I put them back into storage for another day or two. That
way the cut portion has time to dry out before planting.

I cant answer your first early or early late questions. Have fun.

Dwayne

"Spoons" <assy90@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:ePCdnTv0pO-AkujeRVnyhQ@pipex.net...
>I have never grown potatoes,but would like to have a go.
> I have an old compost bin,which I intend to use,it is about 3 feet
> high.Should I lay the tubors on the soil,and then `earth up` as they grow?
> Also,when are seed potatoes available in the garden centres?
> I am a little confused by `first early` early late` etc.!!
> I would like some tasty new spuds to eat in Springtime.
> Any advice greatly digested.
> Thanks
> Colin
>
>

Bob Hobden

2005-12-06, 7:21 pm

"Dwayne" wrote ...
> Good morning. You could lay them on the soil, or you could dig a pocket,
> lay the tubor in the bottom, cover it with 2 inches of dirt, and after
> they have grown two or three inches, cover them again. I continue to do
> that until I have 9 to 12 inches of dirt on top of the tubor.
>
> Seed potatoes are usually available in the spring. They can be planted a
> couple of weeks prior to your first frost (or your average first frost
> date). Recover them at 1/2 to 1 inch increments when there is danger of
> frost. If they get frosted they will come back. I sometimes find a
> potato that I like better than most, and will put a few up to save for
> spring and make my won tubors.

Don't you mean Last frost and last frost date?

Seed potatoes should be available in late January/February.

Unless you have a heated greenhouse I can't see you getting spuds cropping
in spring as that's when they are planted (except for the specially heat
treated Christmas cropping ones)

I normally put my spuds in trays to chit (grow shoots) about the beginning
of February and plant them out "Early" about 3rd week of March, "Second
Early" about the end of March and maincrop towards the end of April. I
usually cover the first two with fleece to protect them against a couple of
degrees of frost. Sometimes you get an unexpected late frost, we had one on
the 9th June a couple of years ago, and the young shoots will get burnt,
just leave them and they will come back although it will put the plants back
a bit. These are my timings for where I live you may live further north and
will therefore have to adjust these dates by as much as two weeks+.
Earth up as they grow.
The terms Early; Second Early; Early Maincrop and Maincrop simply describe
how quickly these varieties will be useable which also means how quickly
they grow. It's the slower growing and heavier cropping Early Maincrop and
Maincrop that are the "keepers" that can be stored through the winter.
Varieties I can recommend are
Early - Concorde, Ulster Chieftain, Anya. (ready 12 weeks after planting)
Second Early - Kestral (will keep, is slug resistant and heavy cropping).
(14 weeks)
Early Maincrop - Romano (Red, slug resistant)
Maincrop - Spey (Slug resistant, heavy cropping ) Pentland Dell (Slug
resistant)
All will suffer slug damage if that's a problem where you are, it is serious
here, but at least you will get a good crop from these. Other varieties seem
to attract slugs, Kondor for example.
When they are growing look for the thickness of the hulms (stems) just above
the ground, the thicker the better crop you can expect. Maincrop are left to
grow until the hulms start to yellow and die.
Hope this helps.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

Dwayne

2005-12-07, 6:21 pm

Your correct. What I meant to say was last frost date.

Dwayne

"Bob Hobden" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:3vmjd0F16nv8vU1@individual.net...
>
> "Dwayne" wrote ...
[color=darkred]
> Don't you mean Last frost and last frost date?
>
> Seed potatoes should be available in late January/February.
>
> Unless you have a heated greenhouse I can't see you getting spuds cropping
> in spring as that's when they are planted (except for the specially heat
> treated Christmas cropping ones)
>
> I normally put my spuds in trays to chit (grow shoots) about the beginning
> of February and plant them out "Early" about 3rd week of March, "Second
> Early" about the end of March and maincrop towards the end of April. I
> usually cover the first two with fleece to protect them against a couple
> of degrees of frost. Sometimes you get an unexpected late frost, we had
> one on the 9th June a couple of years ago, and the young shoots will get
> burnt, just leave them and they will come back although it will put the
> plants back a bit. These are my timings for where I live you may live
> further north and will therefore have to adjust these dates by as much as
> two weeks+.
> Earth up as they grow.
> The terms Early; Second Early; Early Maincrop and Maincrop simply describe
> how quickly these varieties will be useable which also means how quickly
> they grow. It's the slower growing and heavier cropping Early Maincrop and
> Maincrop that are the "keepers" that can be stored through the winter.
> Varieties I can recommend are
> Early - Concorde, Ulster Chieftain, Anya. (ready 12 weeks after planting)
> Second Early - Kestral (will keep, is slug resistant and heavy cropping).
> (14 weeks)
> Early Maincrop - Romano (Red, slug resistant)
> Maincrop - Spey (Slug resistant, heavy cropping ) Pentland Dell (Slug
> resistant)
> All will suffer slug damage if that's a problem where you are, it is
> serious here, but at least you will get a good crop from these. Other
> varieties seem to attract slugs, Kondor for example.
> When they are growing look for the thickness of the hulms (stems) just
> above the ground, the thicker the better crop you can expect. Maincrop are
> left to grow until the hulms start to yellow and die.
> Hope this helps.
>
> --
> Regards
> Bob
> In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London
>
>
>
>
>

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