Topic: Why don't I have any potatoes??

[quizzical1]

the rest drowned...so am not happy. Is there anything i can plant so late?

Watercress?

[nitiram]

lol, lol, lol.

Actually have heard that you can grow watercress on an allotment in a barrel but have no idea how. Am sure Mr Flowerdew would know.

[cornykev]

Water melons.  ;D ;D ;D

[Rhys]

I grew 7 varieties of 1st earlies in my polytunnel this year and all had good crops, I suppose on average 18 spuds. I watered the soil in the winter, planted and didn't water again and had a good result.

However, I've just moved to my outside 2nd earlies, Charlotte, first year I've grown these, and to my horror am getting about 4 spuds to each plant  >:( It's a bit of a mystery

[Kepouros]

I`m afraid that this posting will be too late to help those of you who have already lifted their plants, or whose potato haulm is now dying off, but for those of you whose first earlies are still green, and for those of you who may wish to try it next year, it may be helpful.  However, I must stress that it only applies to First Earlies, and NOT to Second Earlies or Maincrop.

All First Earlies are daylength neutral, and consequently they commence tuber initiation as soon as the plant itself is ready.  Once tuber initiation commences the tubers bulk up rapidly, but what frequently happens is that the tuber initiation can be sporadic, a few tubers start first, and the plant puts all its energy into bulking those few.  Then you get a few large tubers and (usually) a lot of very small (pinhead to pea size) immature tubers . At that point the plant considers its job done and shuts down.   However, if these largest tubers are removed before they this point is reached the plant will carry on growing and transfer its efforts to the remaining tubers, which will then develop - the plant`s only concern is to produce viable means of propagation, and it will continue to strive to do so for some considerable time.  If one is careful enough one can treat early potatoes almost as a pick-and-come crop rather than as a one off crop.

I grow Rocket as my very First Early, and Rocket not only bulk up very quickly, but also become rather coarse when they do. I like my new potatoes small, so as soon as I sense that the tubers are making any size I start lifting them as they are required.  As each plant is lifted I remove all tubers larger than a golf ball, then replant it and water it well in.  After 3 weeks or so I can lift that plant again and get another decent crop of golf ball or larger sized potatoes.  In a coolish or wettish summer I can often get 3 pickings off each plant.

This year I planted 6 Rocket.  I lifted the first plant on 14th May and got enough tubers for a good meal for both of us. We eat potatoes 4 times a week - 23 meals for two since the 14th May from those 6 Rocket, and there are still 2 (replanted ones) still in the ground.  The plant I lifted this morning was one that I previously lifted at the beginning of this month, and this morning it produced enough tubers for dinners for both of us for both today and tomorrow, and despite this I could count more than a dozen pea sized tubers still on the plant and awaiting their turn to grow.  Needless to say, I replanted it again.  Next weekend I shall be starting the same proceedure with the 6 Foremost plants.

I have been using this method for ten years or more, and it has only failed me twice, during periods of heatwave.  However, both the lifting of the plant and the removal of suitable tubers have to be done with care so as not to damage or lose too much of the root system.

I would add that their is anecdotal evidence of a Scottish Clergyman in the late 19th century who obtained over 1 cwt of tubers from one plant using this method, so there is nothing new about it.

[tim]

Good advice!  It always annoys me that so many are pea size. So I do feel around for the bigger ones.

But I'm interested that you can actually lift & replant. I would not have dared.

[djbrenton]

I don't look for size in first earlies, preferring them small anyway. I've just lifted some Rocket, Mimi and Ratte and am very happy with the results.

[kt.]

Never had much luck with Charlotte so changed to Aaron Pilot. This is my first crop from 2 tubers this morning. Well pleased. Didn't have to dig too deep neither. After reading some of these posts, I am sure there may be some more if I dig a little deeper.

[cornykev]

Mine are 'Accent'  KT and are similar to yours except there were some very big ones, jacket potato size, I didn't think earlies lifted early would get that big, mind you I'm not complaining, they were in for 15 weeks.  ;D ;D ;D

[caroline7758]

I replanted a couple last week when they had so few spuds, so will see what I get.

[SMS6]

We tried digging our early potatoes about 3/4 weeks ago and there were very few so my partner replanted them as above after removing maybe a meals worth for two.

Anyway, we went on holiday 2nd week of June and on our return all the potato plants had died off completely - is this normal?

Yesterday, I decided I'd better dig the lot as I wasn't sure it was good to leave them in the ground with no plants above and it is so very wet -thought they might rot.

Have to say we've got stacks of potatoes now and I'm trying to think how to store them best.

[Kepouros]

When the early potato thinks it has done the business it simply dies back - that`s obviously what happened to yours since they had done the business in the end.

However, early potatoes don`t usually store very well or very long, so I`d be inclined to concentrate more on eating them while they`re still new than on storing them.