Allotments 4 All
News:
Picture posting is enabled for all :)
Home
Forum
Help
Search
Calendar
Gallery
Chat
Login
Register
Allotments 4 All
»
Produce
»
Edible Plants
(Moderator:
Admin aka Dan
) »
Topic:
spuds again - low yield
« previous
next »
Print
Pages: [
1
]
Author
Topic: spuds again - low yield (Read 2208 times)
aquilegia
Hectare
Posts: 3,590
hello!
spuds again - low yield
«
on:
June 25, 2004, 09:11:00 »
:-[ :-[ :'(
I enthusiastically dug down through the soil in my old grow bags to reveal potatoes for dinner last night...
After digging through a LOT of soil and finding the bottom of the plant, I found three Red Duke of York spuds. So we had them for dinner with the two Anyas I found, after losing the plant to slugs.
Fortunately we had some garlic bread in the freezer as just under 3oz of spuds between the two of us wasn't exactly enough.
Anyway - the question - how come my yield is so low? Could it be the restriction of the bag? Not enough feed? I think I might have earthed them up too much. So could the plant have direct it's energy into growing up rather than producing tubers?
The spuds were absolutely delicious (thanks again Tim!) So I want to make sure that next year I do actually get a decent harvest to enjoy.
Logged
gone to pot :D
legless
Hectare
Posts: 1,034
Cheltenham, UK
Re:spuds again - low yield
«
Reply #1 on:
June 25, 2004, 13:29:26 »
no idea but i have had dissapointing yields with charlotte, about the same as yours and yet the cherie in the same row have given us over a meal's worth per plant.....
Logged
Multiveg
Hectare
Posts: 1,943
Oops, been gone a while, but still allotmenting.
Re:spuds again - low yield
«
Reply #2 on:
June 25, 2004, 18:53:44 »
I lifted the rest of my first earlies today (to make room for other things), and I was disappointed with the yield of Mimi - though this is a salad variety. Haven't weighed them yet...
Logged
Allotment Blog -
http://multiveg.wordpress.com/
Musings of a letter writer, stamp user and occasional Postcrosser -
http://correspondencefan.blogspot.co.uk/
Debs
Hectare
Posts: 1,506
If at first you don't succeed, try and try again!!
Re:spuds again - low yield
«
Reply #3 on:
June 26, 2004, 12:16:24 »
I dug up some of my earlies ( International Kidney).
I dug about 5 plants up - all were planted out at same time.
Some gave a good yield but from two I got nothing ???
Debs
Logged
john_miller
Hectare
Posts: 956
Re:spuds again - low yield
«
Reply #4 on:
June 26, 2004, 23:45:24 »
Aqui, earthing up is supposed to increase yield, not diminish it. Potatoes are heavy feeders, especially for Nitrogen as they are bulking up tubers, perhaps you didn't apply enough? I know it's not on your scale but the commercial recommendation is 50lbs per acre of N as a side dressing when buds are visible.
Logged
philcooper
Hectare
Posts: 1,275
Re:spuds again - low yield
«
Reply #5 on:
June 28, 2004, 08:56:41 »
I agree with John that N will bulk potatoes up, but if it's chemical N then it will be at the expense of taste (the extra bulk being mainly water)
For good yields the hungry beasts need a good dose of organic feed - FYM or, failing that, compost
Blood fish and bone helps
Phil
Logged
tim
Hectare
Posts: 18,607
Just like the old days!
Re:spuds again - low yield
«
Reply #6 on:
June 28, 2004, 09:23:45 »
NOT an argument - just confusion.
Nitrogen? I know it's likely to be different for grow bags, but 3 typical feeds give 6.5.10/10.10.20/7.9.14. I use the latter.
Should I add something? And when? Difficult when the rows are earthed up? Foliar feed? = Tim
Logged
philcooper
Hectare
Posts: 1,275
Re:spuds again - low yield
«
Reply #7 on:
June 28, 2004, 09:32:27 »
Tim,
I think you have hit the nail on its thingy - a bit of seaweed spray should perk em up a treat
In the first email in the thread the words "old grow bags" were used - that could well be the reason for the lack of nutrients
Phil
Logged
aquilegia
Hectare
Posts: 3,590
hello!
Re:spuds again - low yield
«
Reply #8 on:
June 28, 2004, 09:38:01 »
Phil - it was old grow bags, literally the bag, but I was using garden soil to earth them up. Occassionally applied chicken manure pellets (I'm very unscientific - didn't do it regularly, or keep records!) I'm beginning to see where I went wrong!
Logged
gone to pot :D
tim
Hectare
Posts: 18,607
Just like the old days!
Re:spuds again - low yield
«
Reply #9 on:
June 28, 2004, 09:58:51 »
'Occasionally?' - I would have thought that one lot of your main fert , incorporated in the soil, would suffice?
But I'm all ears for John & Phil's comment on the big N! = Tim
Logged
philcooper
Hectare
Posts: 1,275
Re:spuds again - low yield
«
Reply #10 on:
June 28, 2004, 10:31:50 »
1. Any chance of a photo of Tim in "all ears" mode - does it look anything like the heir to the throne??? ;)
2. Chicken manure has N, is organic, but as you pointed out, it's a bit late in the day to apply it for effect. I would incorporate it, and any other organic fertiliser, when planting. So maybe next year!!!
Logged
aquilegia
Hectare
Posts: 3,590
hello!
Re:spuds again - low yield
«
Reply #11 on:
June 28, 2004, 10:48:14 »
Thanks phil - next year, definitely. You live, you learn!
Logged
gone to pot :D
Print
Pages: [
1
]
« previous
next »
Allotments 4 All
»
Produce
»
Edible Plants
(Moderator:
Admin aka Dan
) »
Topic:
spuds again - low yield
anything
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal