Topic: early taters

[daveandtara]

i was telling a neighbouring allotment holder how helpful you lot have been and he wondered if anyone could explain why his early potato crop has been so disappointing (maybe 10 small taters) when his mids and late season varieties, treated exactly the same, are growing 'great guns'? ???
this kind man gave me a load of fresh beetroot today cos ours isn't doing too well and the mrs has never tried beetroot except in vinegar, so i'd love to be able to repay him with a possible answer!
can anyone help?
Dave.

[philcooper]

Dave,

When were they planted and what have the conditions been like since planting?

First earlies have a much shorter time to produce the growth and tubers than 2nd earlies and maincrops, so poor conditions for a short period of time have a much larger effect on 1st earlies.

My 1st earlies have been a bit thin this year, but the others look (in general) as though they will produce a good crop.

Phil

[tim]

My first Colleen only gave us about 8 tubers each. The last ones, just dug, gave 10-15. Various sizes.

[weedin project]

Strange year for spuds this has been.
I put my first earlies in two weeks before easter and put fleece cloches over them until earthing up.
I dug the last of these Jersey Royals yesterday and some of them were massive, so big that some of the top ones had been forced above ground and had started to chit!
So I planted the chitted ones (10) with a dusting of blood, fish & bone, about 8 inches deep in a six-foot row of spare ground and watered them in.  Goodness knows what will happen, but I may get some "last lates" out of them.

I have found that my deeper planted spuds have grown significantly bigger than the shallower ones this year, or else it may be not enough water (although I didn't water mine much) or else it might be a patch of poor soil; that may help you :-\.

[Irish Eyes]

Different question but potato related: This is my first year with an allotment. I grew up on a farm in Ireland and I remember my father spraying acres of potatoes to prevent potato blight. Is that something I should be worried about on my allotment, if so what should I spray with and how often. I'm quite proud of my potato plants and would hate to loose them.

[tim]

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0701/potato_blight.asp

[philcooper]

...blight.....Is that something I should be worried about on my allotment, if so what should I spray with and how often. .....

There is no cure for blight so you must prevent it getting hold of your crop. The use of a copper fungicide coats the foliage and prevents the spores getting a grip of the foliage. The trouble is that it washes off and so needs replacing every 2 week weeks or so (more often in wet weather).

The best advice is to spray only when there is blight in your area - at the moment, the recent rain and now high temps mean that there is a high risk across the whole of the UK - so spray now


Phil

[Icyberjunkie]

Is there a known cropping rate for different types of taters then so you can tell whether you've done well or not?   I got about 12 decent potatoes from a Sharpes Express plant.

[philcooper]

Yield is so dependant on soil and weather conditions that it is difficult to give hard and fast rules. Even the National Institute for Agricultural Botany, which probuces the figures that are usually quoted, hedge their results by saying that they apply to their test beds only.

NIAB figures are at http://www.potato.org.uk/docs/pdf/seedHandbook/firstear.pdf - 1st Earlies
and http://www.potato.org.uk/docs/pdf/seedHandbook/secondea.pdf - 2nd Earlies & Maincrop

and they're free - no need to buy any books written by "Potato Experts"!!!

Phil

[tim]

Ring the changes with the beet - Google beetroot recipes? So much choice.

[Icyberjunkie]

Okay - thanks Phil.  Will go have a look at how much better  I could do!!!

[philcooper]

You may well do better.

In the NIAB trials all the spuds are all planted in the same soil (albeit in more than one location) so your soil/weather conditions could be better for your variety(ies) than NIAB's

Phil

They also don't give them as much tlc as members of this board appear to lavish on their crops.