Topic: new to potatoes

[laura G]

Hi, this year will be my first year at growing anything on the allotment and i was thinking of going to the potato day next month, but before i go i would like to know how many potatoes i will need. What are the average spacings between (plants and rows). I was thinking of getting a few to try (the only ones i know i  want to try are Picasso and pink fir apples) any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Also i was going to try a few different varieties of tomatoes and was wondering if i can use the seeds fromthe toms at the end of the season or do they cross pollinate?
Hope this all makes sense!!

Thank you Laura

[saddad]

Most tomatoes do not cross, some of the more primitive...like yellow Currant can.

Potatoes and spacing is an arcane art...!
 ;D

[Trevor_D]

Basically, the closer together you plant the potatoes, the smaller they are; the further apart the more chance you have of getting large ones.

You don't mind earlies being small, so they can go in a foot apart (or even a bit closer); but you want the main crop a bit bigger, so give them up to a foot and a half. (Mains are going to be a bit bigger anyway, because they're in the ground longer.)

[Lauren S]

I think I read...

12 Inches apart = New potatoes
18 Inches apart = 2nd Earlies
24 Inches apart = Main Crop

[beckydore]

I wish I'd read that before I bought those bags.
59 second earlies and 43 maincrop - thats got to be a large chunk of my half plot!

[Barnowl]

I wanted to try a lot of varieties this year so I'm going to grow a lot in bags because of space constraints

[JimmyJames]

I thought I had my spud quantities sussed out, but having read the above im not sure!
I think I might have set out too many to chit for the space.

I read from the pack that they need to be 25cm (about 10") apart within the row, but the rows need to be 60cm apart (24").

Thinking about it the plants are not going to know which way the row goes, so a standard distance on all sides would make more sense!

Ah well, I guess I can sit and think about it endlessly - the best way will be to try them out and change the plan next year if things dont work out very well!  That's the only problem with reading up so much about what we plan to do - it makes the wait even harder :)

[Cuke]

Just about on topic as I'm new to potatoes as well, I ordered my potatoes for this year from Thompson & Thompson in November along with a load of other stuff. The seeds etc all arrived a week or so later and I'm assuming the potatoes (and onions) will arrive when they're ready to be planted...

Is that right? And any idea when that'll be?

[Trevor_D]

The rows need to be 2 feet apart to give you space to earth them up as they grow.

And yes, the potatoes & onions should (!?!) arrive in time for planting, early March at the latest. (Last year, my potatoes arrived today, if you see what I mean.)

[laura G]

Thank you very much for all the replies, i think i have a good idea to how many potatoes i will need... now next question is

After looking at the varieties that will be available at our potato day i have picked out a few varieties that i have heard of but cant remember if they were good things i had heard or bad  :-[. Please can you tell me of any good or bad experiences you have had with any of them ( I may still get a few of each if they are all good, to see what works for me). I do love jacket potatoes if that helps.

Red Duke of York
Picasso
Pink Fir apple
Maris Piper
King Edward
Golden Wonder
Cara
Harlequin
Swift
Lady Christl
Charlotte
(in no particular order)

Thank you again

[Tee Gee]

My way;

When ordering I estimate the quantity needed by remembering that six potatoes weigh approximately 0.5 kg (1lb).

Planting distance is 300mm (1ft) apart for earlies, and 400mm (16") inches apart for maincrop, in rows 600mm (24") apart

http://tinyurl.com/2tplbo

[angle shades]

 ;D harlequin are very nice, a cross between PFA and something else ::) not for jacket spuds though,

PFA fab not for jacket spuds , but make fantastic chips if you keep them whole ;D great tasting salad spud

Maris Piper and Cara, good all rounders.. good jacket spuds

Swift ok