Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Sparky on February 24, 2004, 23:25:44
-
With all this talk of chitting, am I too late to start off some potatoes? Only just got my allotment so are there any varieties you pros can recommend? :) ?!?
-
No, it`s not too late, Sparky, but if you want new potatoes in mid June you`d better get a move on. Get your seed potatoes set up to chit in a warm(ish) room for a couple of weeks to start them, then move them to somewhere cooler for a week or so, and plant out in mid March.
Difficult to advise on varieties because only you will know what you would like, but for first earlies I`d suggest Rocket, and a good early maincrop is Nadine. You should be able to get both of these immediately in your nearest decent garden shop. However, you will no doubt now get a flood of different suggestions
-
Know it sounds silly but people keep telling me to put them in egg trays/boxes and I haven't got any, is there anything else that people can recommend or is it ok just to lay them out on trays
-
It is fine to lay them out in trays sparky, I chit mine in seed trays, or anything else that comes to hand! DP
-
Sparky,
1. You are too late - if you'd asked a week ago you could have visited Potato Days in Manchester or Lancaster and had a huge choice with loads of advice - next year think on (as they say)!!!
2. You asked for recommendations, a highly personal view follows (except on Princess, Red Duke of York and Accent which are recommended by most who have grown them) Of the more easily available varieties:
Earlies: Princess - by far the best for flavour and yield,
failing that Red Duke of York or Duke of York - stays in the ground and will produce bakers, Accent, good flavour and stays well in the ground
Second early: Catriona or Kestrel good flavour multi purpose
Maincrop: Picasso or Valor both high yield
Salad: Roseval, if you can get it or Charlotte
Many garden centres get their potatoes from WCF-Pheonix who offer all the above less Princess and Roseval
The other supplier is Dobies, more limited choice, whose best 1st early is Winston (also will stay on to make a baker)
Phil
-
Our little local garden centre/nursery has big bins full of seed spuds, and they are all chitting nicely in situ. I wonder what happens to them with planting time comes and goes....I wonder if the owner has a huge allotment and he grows all the left overs, or if they all just end up in the bin ??? I might wander by in a couple of weeks time and enquire - never know, might be able to get my hands on some already chitted left overs. :)
-
EJ - I thought, and so checked on your profile, that you were from Essex - sounds as though you have some Scottish blood in you!!
-
Sparky - I even put in photos of ours chucked into plastic trays - and you didn't look?? 'Egg boxes' is far too disciplined and restrictive for me.
Phil - wholly agree with RDY (very trouble free). Accent & Charlotte. Picasso we're trying this year.
All this talk of new potatoes - we don't have to have them in the spring? Even things planted in the late summer will produce 'new' pots if dug early??
Oh, and one correction - I said, yonks ago, that Pink Fir lasted well into February. What I meant was that they lasted as new till then - they are starting to go a little floury - but still last well in casseroles or fry-ups! = Tim
-
EJ- if the spuds aren't already there you might want to suggest, without alluding to any other motive, that the garden center move their spuds into a well lit, cool area to keep the stems short and easier for anyone, such as yourself who may not be able to plant now, to handle.
-
Tim-Where are the photos? I'm intrigued!!! ;)
Only just finding my way about this site as only discovered it last week!!
Sparky
-
Probably dead and gone by now??
And they only showed that you DO NOT have to follow Mrs Beaton in everything you do!! = Tim
-
Oh Phil, I maybe living in Essex now, but I am a mongrel South London Devonshire cross....the London in me says ''say no to nothing'', and the country ways in me say 'well my 'ansome, yous donny get if yous donny ask'. ;D
-
My spuds are chitting... but they seem to be sprouting very fast. How long should the sprouts be by the time they are ready for planting? I don't want them to be ready to early to go outside when its still frosty
Sparky
They are Duke of York, if that makes any difference
-
Sparky, it`s only a week since you were asking whether it was too late to start them chitting, and now you`re complaining that they`re sprouting too fast. You must have them either too warm, or in not enough light. Move them to the coolest lightest spot you can find (frost free of course), and that will slow them down.
-
Sparky,
Don't worry too much about the length - trials some time ago with sprouts up to 1ft long showed that they grew well - you just need to handle them a bit more carefully when plant in order not to break the shoots
Hugh's dead right about the conditions you should be aiming for. Mine are in a spare bedroom (temp ~13 C) and sprouting gently away.
-
Which brings me to apologise for suggesting, earlier, 'green (or reddish, of course) & 1/2 - 1" long. But that was always my teaching. = Tim
-
Tim's dead right about what you should be aiming for, but gardeners often miss the target (by quite a way sometimes)
Pictures of tubers with their sprouts, as they should be for planting, can be found at http://www.potato.org.uk/seedSearch.asp?sec=446&con=458 (http://www.potato.org.uk/seedSearch.asp?sec=446&con=458) (put the name of your variety in the search window) there's loads of other information about UK commercial varieties
One example is here
(http://www.aardappelpagina.nl/images/plaatje.img?db=ras&fl=plaatje2&code=15)
-
Mine are also in spare bedroom and i keep opening window to cool them down (much to annoyance of hubby who likes house warm!!) Would they be ok if i put them outside during the day and brought them in at night to keep them out of the frost? It is only my earlies that are speeding ahead. The pink fur apples are taking their time
Sparky
-
I never appreciated the artistic appearance of sprouts before!!
8)
Ten x
-
Sparky,
Moving them in and out should be ok.
The earlies should be the ones making most progress
Phil
Tenuse, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - which probably means something to someone!!!
-
wotta beaut, Phil! = Tim
-
Another thing you can do with the sprouts is use them as cuttings.
The tiny nodule things at the botton of the sprout are the embrionic roots, cut off the sprout at the surface of the tuber and stick in any compost, in a warmish spot they root in 3 - 4 days - I'm doing that with a couple od varieties that I could only get 1 or 2 tubers of. The added advantage is that the cuttings have less chance of carrying any disease from the tuber - useful if you're keeping your own stock of heritage varieties.
The tuber will then put its efforts into the other sprouts and, if there are none showing, produce sprouts from dormant eyes.
-
.....and you will get a crop of spuds just from a wee sprout?!
Have you notice, spud and tom questions produce the most debate! :)
-
- or you could make triffids out of them?? (Anya)
(http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=4b244dd7-4ae0-6aa3-248f-6d9c51fa6b28&size=lg)
Tim
PS Chillies, Emma?
-
Not quite a bag, but the amount you would have got from a single sprout had it stayed on the potato and the original tuber, if it has forced a dormant eye to produce a sprout will produce as much as it would have done originally!
Clever things is plants and as you mention tomatoes, being the same family, you can readily root bits of stem or side shoot from those and produce literally dozens of plants from one seed in a season
-
oh must check my Anyas Tim!
(http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=62387206-6c90-4fac-6997-33956fcb7632&size=lg)
Mine look totally different, no triffids here...................YET!
-
Great photos. Must try and beg/borrow/steel a digital camara myself!! Mine aren't trifid-like yet so they must be ok. So is it better if they get a bit too long than plant them outside too early in the year? Also, pardon my stupidity, but do earlies need planting earlier or are they just ready for harvest earlier?
-
Sparky,
The usual figures for growing periods are ~90 days for earlies to ~110 for maincrop.
The earlier you can plant out the better from the point of view of getting an early crop (this is why people plant earlies first).
The down side is that the young growths may get caught by frost which will set them back and undo all the good (ie early) work.
The young sprouts should be protected by earthing up (which helps weed control and prevents greening) and given some other protective covering such as fleece.
So if your plot is sheltered from frosts or you are willing to take a risk, the sooner the better. You can, of course, plant some early and some late to hedge your bets.
On maincrop, there is not the urgency to get the young tasty tubers and people tend to the safe side (to avoid frosts) and plant later. The problem here is blight whiuch cuts short the growing season, so again the earlier the better -provided you take precautions.
By the way its not the frost when you plant that causes the problem, but don't but tubers into frozen soil, but when the young sprouts break through the surface
Phil
-
Is it possible to Chit in a shed, if you pardon the expression. The shed is up at the allotment, quite exposed. But it does not have any big holes in it or owt like that. It has a south facing window.
-
Is it possible to Chit in a shed, if you pardon the expression. The shed is up at the allotment, quite exposed. But it does not have any big holes in it or owt like that. It has a south facing window.
-
Provided the shed is frost free it's ok - the tubers don't like it below 4 degrees C and the sprouts just curl up and die if it freezes
-
If you are in doubt put one layer of fleece over them, this will let the light in and raise the temp' a couple of degrees.
(http://www.honleyvillage.co.uk/images/Community/GardenClub/bYkYhw.gif)
-
Never thought of that for such as seed potatoes.
And YES, YES!! - can't stop visiting your garden - superbly set out & wonderful photos - but my colour cartridge has taken a beating!! About time you were doing a book of it?
The only downside was early this am, when I wodered whether I would ever have the front to offer advice again. But then, I thought, not everyone is going to have the time or patience to absorb all you've written, so maybe there's still a place for such as us?
In saying all this, musn't forget Plantsman's mighty effort? = Tim
-
phil,
didn't know you could do that with the sprouts. is the yield any later than those from the tubers, and how deep should they be planted?
thanks
-
What you produce is the equivalent of one stem, so the yield will be much less than from a whole tuber, but you can place them closer together - if the variety normally has 4 stems plant the cuttings 4" apart (equals one tuber every 16")
To maximise the yield they should be planted in a hollow about as deep as you would normally plant the tuber and then earth them up.
It's the way (before micro-propogated tubers) that growers used to bulk up new varieties. They were aiming for seed potatoes so size was not an issue.
The time of maturity is the same as for a chitted tuber (cause that's what you have (less the tuber which will rot away normally)) - provided you plant them at the same time
-
very interesting.
I know that tomato side shoots can be used to get an extra crop, but can anything be done with bush tomatoes, where the side shoots are not removed?
-
Take part of the side shoot beyond the flower, the plant won't mind, you'll get the fruit and another plant!!!!
Magic things is plants - they just want to grow
-
Sparky,
The usual figures for growing periods are ~90 days for earlies to ~110 for maincrop.
On maincrop..... The problem here is blight whiuch cuts short the growing season, so again the earlier the better -provided you take precautions.
These figures have been quoted for over 60 years to my knowledge, and take no account of modern varieties. The figure for `earlies` related to varieties such as Sharpes Express, Epicure, Duke of York, or Arran Pilot, all of which will take a full 90 days, but newer varieties such as Swift and Rocket will crop in 9 – 10 weeks, and mid March planting under fleece can result in new potatoes by the end of May.
The figure of 110 days for maincrop, was based on April planting and has no relevance to earlier planting. All maincrop are daylength sensitive, and no matter how early you plant them they will simply not start to form tubers until daylength starts to decrease after midsummer. If you plant on 15th March (say) there is absolutely no way that you are going to be able to harvest a crop on 3rd July (110 days) – you will still have to let them grow for several more weeks, and then leave them in the ground for another fortnight for the skins to harden. You will, however, probably get a larger crop.
Planting your maincrop earlier is, therefore, not likely to increase greatly your chances of dodging an early blight. To be sure of this you would be better to grow second early varieties such as Nadine, Kestrel or Celine which are not daylength sensitive, and will crop well in late July from early March planting under fleece, early enough to beat blight– and they will keep just as well as maincrop
-
On the length of time to maturity the little squiggle "~" indicates about. There are so many factors that effect the length oif time to maturity, soil temp and moisture being but 2.
On 1st earlies the very early ones such as Swift and Rocket seem to have sacrificed flavour for speed (in my opinion)
I agree with Kestrel as a good second early
I am not sure on the daylength issue
-
I remember that some said they spray their chitting pots to keep them hydrated. How often should you do it? Mine are getting a little soft and wrinkly - obviously drying out.
-
I'm giving mine a daily spray, but that's cos I've got the time and the room, at ~13 C, is a bit warm
A spot of seaweed extract in the spray is said to do em good
-
No wonder my Anya are wrinkling. I'm too lazy. But they'll make out. = Tim
Sunday = here's a strange one. All this blurb about Anya being a new variety - checking back on planting dates, I find that I grew Anya in 2000! So, how short is ones memory?
Planted 10/3; cropped 27/7. Got blight!
-
On the length of time to maturity the little squiggle "~" indicates about. There are so many factors that effect the length oif time to maturity, soil temp and moisture being but 2.
On 1st earlies the very early ones such as Swift and Rocket seem to have sacrificed flavour for speed (in my opinion)
I agree with Kestrel as a good second early
I am not sure on the daylength issue
While I am indebted to you for your explanation of "~" it hardly accounts for the considerable difference between the cropping periods of the more recent varieties and your 90 days, even taking minor climatic variations into account, and, of course, Rocket and Swift are not the only varieties which crop in well under your figure, which is precisely why I said it that took no account of modern varieties.
More to the point is your statement as to your uncertainty on the issue of daylength sensitivity. I am certain, which is why I pointed it out. However, if you are still in doubt, I would suggest that some study of the various reports and papers on photoperiodism, and photoperiodic response in potatoes, which have appeared at regular intervals over the past 60 years, may resolve your uncertainties.