Topic: Potato yields

[allaboutliverpool]

I grew 4 (8ft x 4ft)  beds of potatoes this year, ten to a bed and the results are as follows.

The Pentland Javelin were started on the 12th June and the last root dug on the 22nd, a deliberate policy to get fresh daily earlies. The flavour was a little disappointing, I thought they were a bit watery and I will not grow them again.

On the 23rd June I started digging the other 3 varieties, despite knowing that they could be dug much later, and by 30th July all were dug, some eaten, and the rest in storage.

I have lost a large proportion to blight and slugs etc in previous years by leaving them in too long to get a heavy yield.

Pentland Javelin (First early) average 557 grams per plant.

Cara (Late maincrop) average 2044 grams per plant

Nicola (Early maincrop) average 2170 grams per plant

Charlotte (Second early) average 1804 grams per plant.

The really good news is that a total of 5 potatoes had a small slug hole in them, the bad news is that I wonder if the fact that I sprinkled slug pellets into the trenches when I planted them was the reason for the improvement over previous years when as many as a half have been decimated by slugs.

I have about 40Kg in storage and next year I will repeat the slug pellet trick.

As can be seen from my web page I had high yields from Bonnie and will try them again next year and perhaps leave them a little longer as the undamaged ones stored superbly.

http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Vegetables_potatoes.html

The deeply dug, manured beds are now growing leeks.

[Kea]

My Maris Bard I have decided just to dig and discard...too many slug holes. I have heard charlotte is not so prone to slug attack?

[amphibian]

Spuds have been almost slug free this year.

Don't know if it is due to a change of varieties, but I did use those organic slug pellet things. Maybe it's down to them.

To be honest, slugs have not been a big problem for me this year, plenty of snails, but not slugs. Snails are so much easier to deal with.

[1066]

My Charlottes and some of my Nicola have been slugged this year, Charlottes more so. So maybe trying slug pellets in the trenches is worth a try as the Charlottes were so tasty.
 

[tomatoada]

When do you put down the slug pellets please?  You say you put it in the trenches, so is that when you first earth up?  I had a problem with slugs on my Picasso.   I was very pleased with the amount I harvested.  One potato weighed 1lb 8 1/2 oz es.

[allaboutliverpool]

When planting, I dug the trench, put in plenty of horse manure, then Growmore and fish blood and bone and then slug pellets both on the manure and on the heaped up soil. I then mixed up the manure, pellets and fertiliser before placing the potatoes into position and then covered it all up. The pellets on the heaps of earth got well mixed in.

[tomatoada]

Many thanks.  I think I can work that out.  Have put it in my " do in 2010 notes".

[Ishard]

I have cropped my first tyre structure with PFA in and from 3 half spuds as seed, horse manure, straw and top soil and 3 tyres high I got 15lbs of spuds.

Im very, very impressed with growing spuds in tyres and am wondering now what to do with the other predicted 460lbs of PFA!!!

[artichoke]

"I had a problem with slugs on my Picasso. "

Of all my potato varieties, Picasso potatoes are the most damaged by slugs and other things. I will never grow them again. I planted 250 seed potatoes of about 8 varieties, and the Picasso are the most useless.

I swear by Charlotte and Desiree.

[Trevor_D]

My Picasso have been brilliant. Just finished lifting 20 tubers-worth - the only potato with any damage was the one I put my fork through! And plenty of a really decent size. Should see us through the winter.

Desiree have produced a large crop of mainly small to medium size tubers - disappointing compared to previous years.

Charlotte much the same.

Roseval doing well, but not as good as last year.

But, all told, I don't think I've had more than half a dozen potatoes with slug damage!

And Lady Chrystl - which has, until now, been very reliable - was a bit of a non-event this year.

Win some, lose some....

[davyw1]

Took the last of my Nadine out today about 12 tubers


[attachment=1]

On average per tuber

[attachment=2]

The loose one are what i damaged when digging them out or have slight slug damege. Over all not a bad result

[attachment=3]

[amphibian]

I have had truly spectacular yields from Salad Blue, though they have a lot of scab. From today's dig I yielded 15kg off two seed tubers.

[artichoke]

Has anyone grown a Sarpo variety?

http://www.landscapejuice.com/2009/08/new-sarpo-superspuds-lead-the-way-in-low-carbon-gardening.html

I know I bought a few to try, but my labelling is hopeless. However, among all my patches on two plots, only one patch is still growing away strong and green, so it could be that - haven't reached it yet.

What do they taste like? Is it worth going over to them because of the blight resistance?

All my other varieties have completely lost their haulms, whether to blight or old age I don't know (been away for a month) but the potatoes below (apart from Picasso....) are fine.

[Kea]

I don't think I'll bother with potatoes next year. Mine are well laced with slug holes and I'm just throwing them away.

[Flighty]

Kea my maincrop Cara have been likewise slugged as well. I'm thinking of planting just earlies and second earlies which were okay this year.

[cornykev]

My Rocket produced very quickly, too quickly for new potatoes, the first half a dozen meals were heaven then as the spuds got bigger I chipped them and did OK, some slug damage but a good yield.
Lady Christl, again nice at the start then chipped them and still have some in storage, no slug damage but smaller yields.
NOTE:    Less earlies next year.
Kestrels, one scabbed and one with slug damage, not nearly as big as previous years, but still my favourite and will do them next year for the fourth year running.
 Not sure if they should have had more water as we had a dryer growing season. :-\
First time with Ratte, they are very small so far, but loads more to dig out.
 ;D ;D ;D

[pigeonseed]

weird I've never had slug damage in potatoes. I wonder if it's because I've always had allotments in rather dry locations, and also never treated my potatoes well, never given them good  rich moisture-retaining soil. So it's all a bit dry and dusty for slugs.

Or maybe they're too busy eating everything else...

[hippydave]

ive had my first sarpo tonight, they dont boil very well as i found they broke up very easily, i didnt find anything wrong with the taste as others have found but they just keep growing and i have spuds nearly 10" long but the bigger ones seem to be hollow and they do get very scabby but the yeilds were very high so ive now dug them all because they did not seem to be dying off, they were the only ones not to fully secome to blight but i did get the odd blighted tuber, i will see how they store and see whether or not to grow them again. one of the other plot holders grew some i think were called marquee or markey and they looked fantastic a good size and no scab with very little slug or wireworm damage.

[amphibian]

weird I've never had slug damage in potatoes. I wonder if it's because I've always had allotments in rather dry locations, and also never treated my potatoes well, never given them good  rich moisture-retaining soil. So it's all a bit dry and dusty for slugs.

Or maybe they're too busy eating everything else...

I have bone dry soil and am terrible at watering, I have plenty of scab, which is superficial and bothers me not a jot, but no slug damage.

[Digeroo]

but no slug damage

 
Allotment ok but slugs a huge problem in the garden.  Once grew potatoes under a black plastic sheet and ended up with only two without slug damage.

If you put one in the microwave with a slug in it the smell is appalling.