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Potatoes again!!
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Topic: Potatoes again!! (Read 9713 times)
Sparky
Quarter Acre
Posts: 86
New chick on the lottie
Potatoes again!!
«
on:
February 24, 2004, 23:25:44 »
With all this talk of chitting, am I too late to start off some potatoes? Only just got my allotment so are there any varieties you pros can recommend? :) ?!?
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Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
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Hugh_Jones
Guest
Re: Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #1 on:
February 25, 2004, 00:00:29 »
No, it`s not too late, Sparky, but if you want new potatoes in mid June you`d better get a move on. Get your seed potatoes set up to chit in a warm(ish) room for a couple of weeks to start them, then move them to somewhere cooler for a week or so, and plant out in mid March.
Difficult to advise on varieties because only you will know what you would like, but for first earlies I`d suggest Rocket, and a good early maincrop is Nadine. You should be able to get both of these immediately in your nearest decent garden shop. However, you will no doubt now get a flood of different suggestions
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Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
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Sparky
Quarter Acre
Posts: 86
New chick on the lottie
Re: Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #2 on:
February 26, 2004, 10:18:03 »
Know it sounds silly but people keep telling me to put them in egg trays/boxes and I haven't got any, is there anything else that people can recommend or is it ok just to lay them out on trays
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Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
»
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Doris_Pinks
Hectare
Posts: 5,430
Re: Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #3 on:
February 26, 2004, 10:37:11 »
It is fine to lay them out in trays sparky, I chit mine in seed trays, or anything else that comes to hand! DP
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Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
»
Logged
We don't inherit the earth, we only borrow it from our children.
Blog:
http://www.nonsuchgardening.blogspot.com/
philcooper
Hectare
Posts: 1,275
Re: Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #4 on:
February 26, 2004, 14:06:08 »
Sparky,
1. You are too late - if you'd asked a week ago you could have visited Potato Days in Manchester or Lancaster and had a huge choice with loads of advice - next year think on (as they say)!!!
2. You asked for recommendations, a highly personal view follows (except on Princess, Red Duke of York and Accent which are recommended by most who have grown them) Of the more easily available varieties:
Earlies: Princess - by far the best for flavour and yield,
failing that Red Duke of York or Duke of York - stays in the ground and will produce bakers, Accent, good flavour and stays well in the ground
Second early: Catriona or Kestrel good flavour multi purpose
Maincrop: Picasso or Valor both high yield
Salad: Roseval, if you can get it or Charlotte
Many garden centres get their potatoes from WCF-Pheonix who offer all the above less Princess and Roseval
The other supplier is Dobies, more limited choice, whose best 1st early is Winston (also will stay on to make a baker)
Phil
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Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
»
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Mrs Ava
Hectare
Posts: 11,743
Re: Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #5 on:
February 26, 2004, 17:23:49 »
Our little local garden centre/nursery has big bins full of seed spuds, and they are all chitting nicely in situ. I wonder what happens to them with planting time comes and goes....I wonder if the owner has a huge allotment and he grows all the left overs, or if they all just end up in the bin ??? I might wander by in a couple of weeks time and enquire - never know, might be able to get my hands on some already chitted left overs. :)
«
Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
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philcooper
Hectare
Posts: 1,275
Re: Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #6 on:
February 26, 2004, 17:28:42 »
EJ - I thought, and so checked on your profile, that you were from Essex - sounds as though you have some Scottish blood in you!!
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Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
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tim
Hectare
Posts: 18,607
Just like the old days!
Re: Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #7 on:
February 26, 2004, 20:26:27 »
Sparky - I even put in photos of ours chucked into plastic trays - and you didn't look?? 'Egg boxes' is far too disciplined and restrictive for me.
Phil - wholly agree with RDY (very trouble free). Accent & Charlotte. Picasso we're trying this year.
All this talk of
new
potatoes - we don't
have
to have them in the spring? Even things planted in the late summer will produce 'new' pots if dug early??
Oh, and one correction - I said, yonks ago, that Pink Fir lasted well into February. What I meant was that they lasted as
new
till then - they are starting to go a little floury - but still last well in casseroles or fry-ups! = Tim
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Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
»
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john_miller
Hectare
Posts: 956
Re: Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #8 on:
February 26, 2004, 20:37:44 »
EJ- if the spuds aren't already there you might want to suggest, without alluding to any other motive, that the garden center move their spuds into a well lit, cool area to keep the stems short and easier for anyone, such as yourself who may not be able to plant now, to handle.
«
Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
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Sparky
Quarter Acre
Posts: 86
New chick on the lottie
Re: Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #9 on:
February 26, 2004, 21:58:16 »
Tim-Where are the photos? I'm intrigued!!! ;)
Only just finding my way about this site as only discovered it last week!!
Sparky
«
Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
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tim
Hectare
Posts: 18,607
Just like the old days!
Re: Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #10 on:
February 26, 2004, 22:14:32 »
Probably dead and gone by now??
And they only showed that you DO NOT have to follow Mrs Beaton in everything you do!! = Tim
«
Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
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Mrs Ava
Hectare
Posts: 11,743
Re: Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #11 on:
February 26, 2004, 23:36:07 »
Oh Phil, I maybe living in Essex now, but I am a mongrel South London Devonshire cross....the London in me says ''say no to nothing'', and the country ways in me say 'well my 'ansome, yous donny get if yous donny ask'. ;D
«
Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400
»
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Sparky
Quarter Acre
Posts: 86
New chick on the lottie
Re:Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #12 on:
March 02, 2004, 20:04:51 »
My spuds are chitting... but they seem to be sprouting very fast. How long should the sprouts be by the time they are ready for planting? I don't want them to be ready to early to go outside when its still frosty
Sparky
They are Duke of York, if that makes any difference
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Hugh_Jones
Guest
Re:Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #13 on:
March 02, 2004, 20:52:37 »
Sparky, it`s only a week since you were asking whether it was too late to start them chitting, and now you`re complaining that they`re sprouting too fast. You must have them either too warm, or in not enough light. Move them to the coolest lightest spot you can find (frost free of course), and that will slow them down.
Logged
philcooper
Hectare
Posts: 1,275
Re:Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #14 on:
March 02, 2004, 21:12:01 »
Sparky,
Don't worry too much about the length - trials some time ago with sprouts up to 1ft long showed that they grew well - you just need to handle them a bit more carefully when plant in order not to break the shoots
Hugh's dead right about the conditions you should be aiming for. Mine are in a spare bedroom (temp ~13 C) and sprouting gently away.
Logged
tim
Hectare
Posts: 18,607
Just like the old days!
Re:Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #15 on:
March 03, 2004, 06:42:08 »
Which brings me to apologise for suggesting, earlier, 'green (or reddish, of course) & 1/2 - 1" long. But that was always
my
teaching. = Tim
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philcooper
Hectare
Posts: 1,275
Re:Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #16 on:
March 03, 2004, 12:30:48 »
Tim's dead right about what you should be aiming for, but gardeners often miss the target (by quite a way sometimes)
Pictures of tubers with their sprouts, as they should be for planting, can be found at
http://www.potato.org.uk/seedSearch.asp?sec=446&con=458
(put the name of your variety in the search window) there's loads of other information about UK commercial varieties
One example is here
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Sparky
Quarter Acre
Posts: 86
New chick on the lottie
Re:Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #17 on:
March 03, 2004, 12:48:19 »
Mine are also in spare bedroom and i keep opening window to cool them down (much to annoyance of hubby who likes house warm!!) Would they be ok if i put them outside during the day and brought them in at night to keep them out of the frost? It is only my earlies that are speeding ahead. The pink fur apples are taking their time
Sparky
Logged
Tenuse
Acre
Posts: 459
Re:Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #18 on:
March 03, 2004, 12:58:58 »
I never appreciated the artistic appearance of sprouts before!!
8)
Ten x
Logged
Young, dumb and full of come hither looks.
philcooper
Hectare
Posts: 1,275
Re:Potatoes again!!
«
Reply #19 on:
March 03, 2004, 14:43:08 »
Sparky,
Moving them in and out should be ok.
The earlies should be the ones making most progress
Phil
Tenuse, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - which probably means something to someone!!!
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