Topic: potatoes potatoes

[5rod]

hi all
just received all my potatoe saturday from
thompson & morgan.very early as last year
didnt turn up to mid january must be the credit crunch.

rockets,juliette     new
rooster, sapo axona  old.
cant wait go get going.
            ;D ;D ;D ;D
                    5rod

[pigeonseed]

very early! A few varieties - will that keep you in potatoes through the whole season?

I'm a bit jealous, I'm not growing any pots this year. I'm on the waiting list for an allotment.
But fingers crossed for next year!

[5rod]

hi pigeon seed
no i will also be planting 30 shapo miras i kept from
is year  crop .im hoping this will see me through .
its annoying to run out of the good stuff.the only
potatoes i buy if i run out are rooster.
                       5 rod

[shirlton]

Does anyone save their own seed potatoes. Tones talking about saving his egg sized Nadine to plant next year. The crop were so good, no disease at all

[saddad]

It can be done, several years ago HSL sent out "seed" potatoes and we were encouraged to "keep" our own I did so for about 10 years before the build up of viruses meant they weren't really worth growing anymore. Aura and Lord Roseberry out of interest.  ;D

[shirlton]

How do the suppliers of seed potato get theirs I wonder?

[Flunky]

How do the suppliers of seed potato get theirs I wonder?

from here I believe.

http://www.alanromans.com

[Larkshall]

How do the suppliers of seed potato get theirs I wonder?

from here I believe.

http://www.alanromans.com

I doubt it, the seed potato industry has always been very big in Scotland. The Maris varieties (bred in Cambridge, named after Maris Lane, Trumpington, the address of the Plant Breeding Institute) are probably grown in quantity in Scotland.

My father always believed in saving his own. The reason, Scottish seed "once grown" on your own land has become acclimatised to your soil.

A tip from the past (WW2), get your potatoes chitted in the warmth of your house. You will then see how many chits there are on each potato, cut them in half with an almost equal number on each half then rub the cut surface in ash (to seal it). You will then have twice as many seed.

[mummybunny]

Oh dear am i late in ordering potatoes??? Going to be growing them in pots and its my first year growing so any tips on what i ones i should get?

Just a good all rounder would be great?

Thanks

lucy

[Sparkly]

You are not too late at all. Your local gardening centre should have seed potatoes in after christmas.  Arran Pilot did really well for us in pots. Start with your pot about 1/4 full of compost and then earth up as the plants grow. Make sure you keep the pots well watered near the end of the growing season. We did 4 seed potatoes to a potato planter and got a good crop.

[Duke Ellington]

Did you put drainage grit in the bottom of your pots or will drainage holes do ?

Duke

[mummybunny]

Thanks sparky made a note of the name so i know what to look out for.

Cheers

lucy

[Sparkly]

Did you put drainage grit in the bottom of your pots or will drainage holes do ?

Duke

We put some broken pots at the bottom :)

[Larkshall]

Oh dear am i late in ordering potatoes??? Going to be growing them in pots and its my first year growing so any tips on what i ones i should get?

Just a good all rounder would be great?

Thanks

lucy

You're not too late, I've just ordered mine for delivery in January. 7.5KG for £17+ including delivery.
http://www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk/

[Lauren S]

Did you put drainage grit in the bottom of your pots or will drainage holes do ?

2007 I grew my potatoes in trugs. Drilled drainage holes about half to one inch up from the bottom and added grit in the bottom. I only added one seed in each pot and my yeild ranged from 20 to 34 potatoes per tub of swift

[shirlton]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Decided to have a go with our own saved  Nadine and will buy the earlies (petland javelin).

[cornykev]

I don't buy mine until January, there's plenty of time as they go in until Feb/Mar.  ;D ;D ;D

[shirlton]

Wilkies don't get em in till after christmas anyway

[Kea]

When I was working on a project to find a biological control for a potato disease we had to start with completely disease free potatoes then infect them. We drove from Edinburgh all the way to the Black Isle to get the right potatoes from a certified grower (we had to hand select them....8 hours in a chilled barn in january!).

[shaun01]

i was a late starter this year so i just chitted some that we bought from Morrison's they did OK has well and guess what iv got 50 to chit for next year  ;D