Advice please

[rosebud]

I have grown my early pots, in a potato bag those green ones , i have earthed them up 2/3times they are now at least 18inches above the bag, what do i do now  do i leave them to die off or harvest them?

[rosebud]

[posie]

I think you need to wait until they stop flowering and then harvest, mine are about 2 foot tall now, but no signs of flowering yet.

[Gazfoz]

The perceived wisdom is to harvest first earlies when in flower but it ain't necessarily so!
I am going to wait until they flower and then have a little root with a small fork to see if there is anything worthwhile to harvest before I pull the plant up.

[betula]

I love that moment :)

[manicscousers]

one of ours was dying off, pulled it up, loads of kestrel, 3 lbs in all and we had no flowers  ???
tasted nice, though  ;D

[Uncle Joshua]

A chap on our site was talking about this today and what he has done is gently lift his plants, take the spuds that fall off and then replace the soil, he said he'll then wait two/three weeks then harvest the rest.

[redimp]

Some earlies won't flower because they have been bred to bulk up so quickly that the spuds come before the flowers and the plants die off too.   If a breeder wants seed from these, they have to extract all the tubors without lifting the plant and keep doing it until the plant has flowered and the fruit have formed and ripened.  This has to be done over and over again to stop potatoes maturing and the plant thinking it has secored its future and topping itself.

[antipodes]

hmm that was interesting. I have some first earlies that have good growth on them. I don't know about flowers I haven't been down that recently. They were planted early March - do you think I would already have potatoes under them? Is it too early to firkle? and if I do do I take off the biggest ones I find?

[redimp]

If you firkle and remove the biggest ones and do it well and consistently, you can keep firsts cropping for longer.  Never bothered myself but have thought about it.

[shaunster]

does it matter if you let the early potato foilage die down before harvesting?

[redimp]

The skins set so you do lose that flaky skin (that just slides off) but apart from that, no!  Left too long though, they may be slugged.

[allaboutliverpool]

Just stick your hands in the soil and carefully feel about.
When you feel a potato that is the size of a small egg, then detach it and continue the process, it is the most wonderful feeling, like panning for gold.
They will be the best potatoes you have ever tasted.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XL8ZknMQclM

[helsbels_89]

Hi

I have some earlies that were planted in March, have earthed up 3/4 times and now have plants that are 2/3 ft tall. They have had buds for some time but still not flowering. Should i start to harvest or wait??

[saddad]

Some earlies don't make good mains... if they get too big.
:-X

[Robert_Brenchley]

You could try cautiously digging around the roots of one or two to see if there's anything there, though it seems a bit early yet.