flopping potatoes

[caroline7758]

I noticed yesterday that a couple of my potato plants are "flopping open". They haven't been earthed up much, but other than that, what might cause this?

[caroline7758]

[windygale]

hi caroline, can we have more info please, it might be lack of water, does the grond look very dry, earth them up asap, when did you plant them, are they 1st early / 2nd early's or main crop, are they on an allotment or at home, growing in bags, what colour are the leaves green, yellow or brown and crispy, have they flowred, dig up a plant and check for insect damage like eelworm, ants, slugs,
hope this helps
windy

[caroline7758]

They are on an allotment and the leaves are green- will have to go & check the rest so will get back later. The worst example is in the middle of a row, other plants in the row are ok.

[artichoke]

Same problem here: lovely healthy row of leaves reaching for the sky, but two plants (widely separated) are flopping very noticeably, though still green. Can't be the drought if the rest are all right.

Is it blight???

[Robert_Brenchley]

I find that mine tend to flop all over the place as they get larger, due, I think, to weak stems. Could it be this?

[artichoke]

If it's me you are answering, the point is that the rest of the row are still stiff and sturdy, making the two droopers stand out.

[littlegem]

mine are doing the same! the 2 rows next to hedge that were planted 2/3 weeks earlier than others are worse! i put it down to the tallness weighing them over, as they did the same last year and i got a good harvest! but reading these threads it might b due to drought, as the hedge drinks loads of water! oh well i'll wait and see what harvest i get. its all trial and error still in my garden!  8)

[mat]

one of my first early varieties had flopped over yesterday (the Red Duke of York)  I watered them and by this morning they were all standing again...

I think the very long dry and very hot weather had taken its toll...

mat

update - Oh, and yes, these were the tallest of the varieties too...

[artichoke]

I remember the last rains very clearly because I was teaching bot ill and running around in a whole week of pouring rain trying to find flowers for the class to draw that weren't smashed to ribbons by howling wind. Came home to find allotment sodden and bath (pink, cast iron) half full. That was only 15 days ago, and it wasn't exactly dry before that week, so I am hoping there is still enough water underground to keep deeply planted things growing. Especially as our allotment is without water (apart from bath).

[caroline7758]

Going off-topic a bit here, but..I was digging on Saturday morning and although the soil was hard & dry on top, it was still pretty moist under the crust, and nothing was really wilting. Do we really need to water that much just because it's hot, when we had all that rain so recently? Like you, artichoke, we have no water at the lottie except what we collect, and it's only June, so don't want to waste it. Is it good enough to wait until plants look as if they are thirsty before we give them a drink?

[mat]

I think the question is where you live.  Where I am, it is bone dry below the surface and very little moisture even at spade depth.  If you have it damp below the surface, then other than seeds, I wouldn't expect any watering to be required.

My potatoes had wilted, watering revived them. This was the first watering they had had since planting.

mat

[supersprout]

although the soil was hard & dry on top, it was still pretty moist under the crust, and nothing was really wilting. Do we really need to water that much just because it's hot, when we had all that rain so recently?

I have different conditions across my plot - it ranges from silty to slightly clay-ey.
I'm dithering about whether to water my beans in the drier silty bit. With the moisture-retentive soil, and keeping a dusty tilth or mulch on top, I don't think it's necessary or desirable to water in the clay-ey bit.

The new (uncultivated) bits of plot are keeping the moisture far better than the cultivated beds. Another argument for no-dig? ::)

[Stork]

I have just been on holiday and was worried the hot weather here may have caused mayhem. Got to the plot yesterday to find two flopping potato plants among 50. I watered the lot and then thought I may as well just have a look at the tubers on the floppy plants.

To my surprise and delight I came home with 12 really good sized first earlies. We ate them with dinner last night, along with freshly picked lettuce from the plot. These were my first ever harvest and tasted fantastic.

Even my lovely wife who complains I spend a bit too much time on the allotment was moved to say that home grown was the way to go.

A triumph all round.

Stork