Topic: Potatoes again!!

[tim]

wotta beaut, Phil! = Tim

[philcooper]

Another thing you can do with the sprouts is use them as cuttings.

The tiny nodule things at the botton of the sprout are the embrionic roots, cut off the sprout at the surface of the tuber and stick in any compost, in a warmish spot they root in 3 - 4 days - I'm doing that with a couple od varieties that I could only get 1 or 2 tubers of. The added advantage is that the cuttings have less chance of carrying any disease from the tuber - useful if you're keeping your own stock of heritage varieties.

The tuber will then put its efforts into the other sprouts and, if there are none showing, produce sprouts from dormant eyes.

[Mrs Ava]

.....and you will get a crop of spuds just from a wee sprout?!  

Have you notice, spud and tom questions produce the most debate!    :)

[tim]

- or you could make triffids out of them?? (Anya)


Tim

PS Chillies, Emma?

[philcooper]

Not quite a bag, but the amount you would have got from a single sprout had it stayed on the potato and the original tuber, if it has forced a dormant eye to produce a sprout will produce as much as it would have done originally!

Clever things is plants and as you mention tomatoes, being the same family, you can readily root bits of stem or side shoot from those and produce literally dozens of plants from one seed in a season

[Doris_Pinks]

oh must check my Anyas Tim!



Mine look totally different, no triffids here...................YET!

[Sparky]

Great photos. Must try and beg/borrow/steel a digital camara myself!!  Mine aren't trifid-like yet so they must be ok.  So is it better if they get a bit too long than plant them outside too early in the year?  Also, pardon my stupidity, but do earlies need planting earlier or are they just ready for harvest earlier?

[philcooper]

Sparky,

The usual figures for growing periods are ~90 days for earlies to ~110 for maincrop.

The earlier you can plant out the better from the point of view of getting an early crop (this is why people plant earlies first).

The down side is that the young growths may get caught by frost which will set them back and undo all the good (ie early) work.

The young sprouts should be protected by earthing up (which helps weed control and prevents greening) and given some other protective covering such as fleece.

So if your plot is sheltered from frosts or you are willing to take a risk, the sooner the better. You can, of course, plant some early and some late to hedge your bets.

On maincrop, there is not the urgency to get the young tasty tubers and people tend to the safe side (to avoid frosts) and plant later. The problem here is blight whiuch cuts short the growing season, so again the earlier the better -provided you take precautions.

By the way its not the frost when you plant that causes the problem, but don't but tubers into frozen soil, but when the young sprouts break through the surface

Phil

[boxingtortoise]

Is it possible to Chit in a shed, if you pardon the expression. The shed is up at the allotment, quite exposed. But it does not have any big holes in it or owt like that. It has a south facing window.

[boxingtortoise]

Is it possible to Chit in a shed, if you pardon the expression. The shed is up at the allotment, quite exposed. But it does not have any big holes in it or owt like that. It has a south facing window.

[philcooper]

Provided the shed is frost free it's ok - the tubers don't like it below 4 degrees C and the sprouts just curl up and die if it freezes

[The gardener]

If you are in doubt put one layer of fleece over them, this will let the light in and raise the temp' a couple of degrees.

[tim]

Never thought of that for such as seed potatoes.

And YES, YES!! - can't stop visiting your garden - superbly set out & wonderful photos - but my colour cartridge has taken a beating!! About time you were doing a book of it?

The only downside was early this am, when I wodered whether I would ever have the front to offer advice again.  But then, I thought, not everyone is going to have the time or patience to absorb all you've written, so maybe there's still a place for such as us?  

In saying all this, musn't forget Plantsman's mighty effort? = Tim

[rdak]

phil,
didn't know you could do that with the sprouts. is the yield any later than those from the tubers, and how deep should they be planted?
thanks

[philcooper]

What you produce is the equivalent of one stem, so the yield will be much less than from a whole tuber, but you can place them closer together - if the variety normally has 4 stems plant the cuttings 4" apart (equals one tuber every 16")

To maximise the yield they should be planted in a hollow about as deep as you would normally plant the tuber and then earth them up.

It's the way (before micro-propogated tubers) that growers used to bulk up new varieties. They were aiming for seed potatoes so size was not an issue.

The time of maturity is the same as for a chitted tuber (cause that's what you have (less the tuber which will rot away normally)) - provided you plant them at the same time

[rdak]

very interesting.
I know that tomato side shoots can be used to get an extra crop, but can anything be done with bush tomatoes, where the side shoots are not removed?

[philcooper]

Take part of the side shoot beyond the flower, the plant won't mind, you'll get the fruit and another plant!!!!

Magic things is plants - they just want to grow

[Hugh_Jones]

Sparky,

The usual figures for growing periods are ~90 days for earlies to ~110 for maincrop.

On maincrop..... The problem here is blight whiuch cuts short the growing season, so again the earlier the better -provided you take precautions.

These figures have been quoted for over 60 years to my knowledge, and take no account of modern varieties.   The figure for `earlies` related to varieties such as Sharpes Express, Epicure, Duke of York, or Arran Pilot, all of which will take a full 90 days, but newer varieties such as Swift and Rocket will crop in 9 – 10 weeks, and mid March planting under fleece can result in new potatoes by the end of May.

The figure of 110 days for maincrop,  was based on April planting and has no relevance to earlier planting. All maincrop are daylength sensitive, and no matter how early you plant them they will simply not start to form tubers until daylength starts to decrease after midsummer. If you plant on 15th March (say) there is absolutely no way that you are going to be able to harvest a crop on 3rd July (110 days) – you will still have to let them grow for several more weeks, and then leave them in the ground for another fortnight for the skins to harden. You will, however, probably get a larger crop.

Planting your maincrop earlier is, therefore, not likely to increase greatly your chances of dodging an early blight.  To be sure of this you would be better to grow second early varieties such as Nadine, Kestrel or Celine which are not daylength sensitive, and will crop well in late July from early March planting under fleece, early enough to beat blight– and they will keep just as well as maincrop

[philcooper]

On the length of time to maturity the little squiggle "~" indicates about. There are so many factors that effect the length oif time to maturity, soil temp and moisture being but 2.

On 1st earlies the very early ones such as Swift and Rocket seem to have sacrificed flavour for speed (in my opinion)

I agree with Kestrel as a good second early

I am not sure on the daylength issue

[aquilegia]

I remember that some said they spray their chitting pots to keep them hydrated. How often should you do it? Mine are getting a little soft and wrinkly - obviously drying out.