Topic: Newbie here- how many potatos?

[CambourneSandra]

The first thing we are going to try and grow are potatoes. How many should I plant?

I currently have 7 swift, 5 charlotte and 5 red rooster seed potatoes.

Should I plant these all at the same time? And would recommend any more?

[Flighty]

How many you should plant really depends on how many you eat and how much space you have to grow them.
I would work out how many you can plant and work on that basis. Maincrop ones store well  for use through the winter.
All potatoes can be planted out at the same time. First earlies, such as Swift, will be ready in about 12 weeks whilst maincrop varieties, such as Rooster, won't be ready until September.
I'd certainly grow more Charlottes as I really like them, and they do store well.
 
There's lots of good information on this website - http://www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk/index.php?route=common/home
 

[CambourneSandra]

How many you should plant really depends on how many you eat and how much space you have to grow them.
I would work out how many you can plant and work on that basis. Maincrop ones store well  for use through the winter.
All potatoes can be planted out at the same time. First earlies, such as Swift, will be ready in about 12 weeks whilst maincrop varieties, such as Rooster, won't be ready until September.
I'd certainly grow more Charlottes as I really like them, and they do store well.
 
There's lots of good information on this website - http://www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk/index.php?route=common/home
 

thank you, i will take a look at that link. I currently have a whole plot (only got it last week) :-) that only has 2 goosberry bushes on it atm. So i have loads of room.

[Flighty]

I have a half plot, about 30 by 60 feet, and plant over 70 seed potatoes in just one of the four beds that it's divided into to. I still have enough stored maincrop Desiree to last me another couple of months!

[shirlton]

You can plant them all at the same time but they will mature at different times depending on wether they are earlies mids or lates. They all take different lengths of time to mature.
if I were you I would sow a few of several different sorts to see what you like the best. Do try Nadine cos they are my favourite. They are mid season variety but they will also store

[CambourneSandra]

thanks to the link i have discoverd that
swift are 1st earlies i have 7 seed
charlotte are 2nd earlies i have 5 seed
red rooster are main crop.  i have 5 seed

So i might do some more 2nd and main to keep my going and see how many grow.

Once i harvest the swift can i then plant more main crop where they were?

[Lottiman]

Hi Cambournesandra I putt all of my seed potato's in at the same time as others have said they all mature at different times. I normally use a quarter of my 60x30 plot for spuds about 120 seed I guess it depends how much you like them,we eat loads ;D last years seed gave us 4 sacks full we will run out probably in the next week or two I usually put in four variety's one of which is Charlotte a great tasting spud. :)

[Flighty]

No you won't be able to do that as potatoes are planted during March or April. Yes more second earlies, such as Kestrel which grow big and store well, and maincrop ones is a good idea. They'll all grow but until you dig them up you never know how many or big they are.
There are plenty of other things that you can plant or sow in June.

I think that you should consider treating yourself to a book such as Allotment Gardening, An Organic Guide for Beginners by Susan Berger which is full of useful information
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Allotment-Gardening-Organic-Guide-Beginners/dp/1903998549

[CambourneSandra]

Thank you both, we go through anywhere in between 2.5-5kg in a week.

So i shall probably plant a few more.

I have been lent 3 books
alan titchmarsh- how to garden vegetables and herbs
how to plant your allotment and
allotment month by month.

So im gong to get reading :-)

[Flighty]

Plant plenty more, as we've said they store so won't be wasted!

Taking on a plot is daunting at first but above all enjoy what you do. Take it steady, relish your successes and learn from any failures.
Ask questions here, talk to plot neighbours and read books.  It took me at least a couple of years to even start thinking that I knew what I was doing!
Happy gardening!   
 

[caroline7758]

One other consideration is where you will store them. I've still got some left from last year's harvest but they are starting to sprout, I think because they've not been kept cool enough.

While potatoes are one of the easiest things to grow, they are also one of the cheapest to buy, so if you want to save money you could give less space to the spuds and more to things which are more expensive to buy but require a bit more attention.

[Digeroo]

Welcome to A4A.  Potatoes do take up quite a lot of room, so I would decide what else you want to grow.  Though they do have a good effect on the soil. 

I grow brassicas between the rows and allow squashes to fill the space  as the early  potatoes come out.  I have not heard of sowing mains after earlies they tend to be planned about the same time.

When I started the first things to go in were parsley,  broad beans and onions. 

I like my potatoes cleaned in nice plastic bags, so do not grow very many.  I find there is so much competition for the space.  I like to grow things which are expensive such as strawberries and raspberries.  Or things which taste so much better home grown such as carrots and parsnips. 

[CambourneSandra]

we do have a list of things we would like to grow
we currently have sowed
leeks, broccoli, tomato, cucumber, sweet pepper and potatoes chitting

[cornykev]

Hi Sandy, I planted nearly 150 seeded spuds last year for a family of 3.5, my littlun don't eat many
Earlies put in March weather permitting
2nds weeks later
Main in April
Some put in at the same time but with that many I stagger mine
Cambridge should be planting at about the same time as London.
Different books may contradict each other so don't get confused
 :D :D :D

[kt.]

I am planting 15kg of seed potatoes of different varieties between my 2 plots.

[Robert_Brenchley]

They can go in any time as they'll be below any frost. The worst it can do is trim the foliage back, but it soon regrows, and the roots - the really important bit - aren't affected. I plant them all at the same time.

You'll want more tubers than that if you want more than the occasional meal off them. I don''t use many, but I've got interested in a breeding project so I'm planting a lot of seeds (real seeds not tubers), and a few rows of tubers.

[antipodes]

Welcome Sandra,
Personally I think you have sown your cucumber too early. I either sow mine mid-April to plant outside 2 weeks later, or sow directly in the ground in May. Unless maybe you have a heated greenhouse? Cucumber is a warmer weather plant.

For the spuds, in recent years I have grown more of teh fancy types that are exepnsive to buy and if I have to buy ordinary spuds during the winter, it's no sweat. But during the season you get lovely new spuds which are usually expensive to buy. It's a point to consider.
Don't worry you will have plenty of thing to fill up the plot, once you start getting peas and beans in, and your tomatoes, courgettes and the like, you will think of plenty of things you want to grow!
I often put  my winter leeks in where the early spuds have been. But the others are right, you need to have all your spuds planted by about the end of March, beginning April. They just mature at different times.
have fun!

[chriscross1966]

ONe useful thing to remember with spuds is that they can be a useful clearing crop (or at least "hiding the problems crop") in the early years of a plot... In order to keep the committee off your back regarding cultivationit's not insane to not bother weeding a piece of a new plot, just throw some muck on it and rotavate, preferably into ridges, cover with weed plastic and punch holes through to put spuds in. The weeds will have a tough time with the combination of plastic and spuds to compete with, it doesn't take a lot of effort in the spring when you're trying to weed everything, and you'll get a load of spuds... as you need it to be easy to grow go for something bulletproof like one of the Sarpo's cos they don't care much about drought, don't attract slugs and are basically immune to blight....