Topic: Should I water my potatoes?

[Tenuse]

Hi all,

It is the first time I have grown potatoes, on my allotment which has quite heavy clay soil (ie. quite moisture retentive).

I have not watered my potatoes at all and they have been doing well, the flower buds have appeared and are just about to open.

However we have not had any decent rain for a fortnight now, what would you all recommend - should I water my potatoes?

If the answer is yes, how do you water a big earthed up row - get the watering can in among the stems and water? Sprinkle the sides of the ridge? I'm just very conscious that it's not considered a good thing to get water on the leaves... I don't want to encourage blight or blackleg.

I'm planning on having a look to see what's happening in the land of potatoes next weekend as I think the flowers on my first earlies will be open then!

Thanks,

Ten x

[Jesse]

Ten, don't know a lot about potatoes but my starting point would be to see what your neighbours are doing, they will know the conditions at your allotment better.

[kenkew]

Don't water. All sounds fine as it is. Additional watering encourages top growth in potatoes, not tuber size.
(Find a spare bit of ground on your plot and dig a hole. Unless you are on a very sloping site, you will hit damp earth at less than a foot depth. That's all your tubers need.)

[Tenuse]

ken a test hole will be dug tonight!

Jesse, I keep looking at what my neighbours are doing, but mostly they are there when I am not and vice versa, so I don't know if I have missed them watering, or if they aren't watering, or whatever!!

Ten x

[aquilegia]

Ten - I'm on heavy clay too. I've been watering mine and lost several to blackleg.  :-\ Don't do it!

[Les_Woof]

What on earth is blackleg?

I had visions of a nasty little Pirate elf called blackleg pillaging your tatties :D :D :D

Les

[aquilegia]

LOL Les - it's when the stem turns black and rots away - leaves turn brown/yellow and wilt. Caused by too much moisture. Note to self - don't water spuds next year.

[Les_Woof]

Aqui

Being new to all this I have actually been watering mine, right up until last night, so I am going to stop to see what happens.

I have actually also stopped watering carrots and they have now started to grow.

Not sure what to water and what not to so from now on if its in the ground it can find its own..... at least until someone tells me differently

Les ;)

[aquilegia]

Les - don't follow my advice - I'm new to spuds too. This knowledge is based on very limited experience! (ie - don't blame me if it all goes wrong!)  ;)

[Ceri]

I gave mine a serious watering just once, as we'd had days and days of hot hot sunshine and my lottie soil is pretty free draining.  I watered about 5 pm - at 5am the next morning it started raining heavily, and did so for over 24 hours.  I won't be bothering again!

[derbex]

Ceri,

please do -we need the rain :)

Jeremy

Whose waterbutts are just about empty.

[philcooper]

A correction to the blackleg information above.

Blackleg is not cause by moisture it is a bacteria (which does well in very moist conditions) for more see http://bitrws400.scri.sari.ac.uk/Health/HostPara/Blackleg/Default.htm with pictures of what it looks like

Water is not bad for potatoes, just as it is not bad for most plants. An excess of water is bad but that just means being sensible when watering

Phil

[john_miller]

To expand phil's comment about sensible watering: sensible watering also includes watering in the morning so that the stems and foliage have time to dry off before pathogens have time to infect the plant.
Once tuber initiation has occured some water will help swell the tubers and may help avoid hollow heart. At this point it will not promote excessive foliage growth as the plant will be sending most of its nutrition to the tubers.

[gavin]

One of my mates reckons that water as John describes can double his yield.  Don't ask me how he knows - (and don't ask me either about his fishing stories! :))

All best - Gavin

[john_miller]

Plants take up most of their nutrition during the hours around sunrise. Possibly watering at this time expedites utilisation of both. Double though? Perhaps I better change my watering pattern!

[philcooper]

"Sensible" watering in its extreme form involves seep hoses just under the surface - limiting loss from surface evaporation and stopping the build up of moisture on stems providing the ideal conditions for fungal infections - which was mention earlier

[Tenuse]

OK, so I should water in the morning, avoid wetting the haulms as much as possible. So - as I don't have a seep hose - should I put the spout of the watering can in amongst the stems and water down into the plant, or should I water the wall of earth that the plant is growing through?

This may all be academic as it is forecast to rain tomorrow!!

Ten x

[philcooper]

I find that if you water the wall, you wash the soil away, so I carefully water the point at which each stem comes out of the ground.

The amount of rain expected will probably not go through more than 1cm, so watering now will help it penetrate - I put something like half a gallon per stem - otherwise the water doesn't get to the roots (even that may not be enough!!!)

[tim]

Seep hoses - YES. If you can. A gallon/hr/ft? Nothing wasted.

Penetration?
One inch of rain is a hell of a lot of rain which, in 'normal' places, you seldom get in a day. When you reckon that that's 4 gallons (?) spread over a sq/metre - try it & see how deep it goes. Salutory? = Tim

[gavin]

For John and doubling your yield - don't panic!  I've heard the fishing stories!  ;D

All best - Gavin

PS  On where to put the water - you lot have got me re-thinking.

I'd been reckoning that with a good healthy shower of rain, a lot would run off the leaves, and off the earthed up row - and into the trough between the rows.  So I watered between the rows - assuming that's what the potato wanted, and that deep and wide roots would pull the water up into the plant?