Potatoes steps 1-2-3

[guerriero75]

Hi all,

Probably a question that as been asked in the past many times....

Me and partners in crime have started an allotment, (huge in size) and we started sowing veggies, we have arrived at the POTATOES business now. We have bought many variety, salad type, roast and all rounders, but in my past experiences I planted the potatoes in stages, Earlies-late earlies and main crop.
One of the group said thats wrong, the potatoes go down all at the same time and what makes them early-late-main its when you pick them off the ground.
I disagreed but then agin I'm probably wrong.

Could you tell me how you do it?


Thanks for all the help

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER AND EAT VEGGIES

[guerriero75]

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've seen advice to put earlies in first, and that's what I used to do. These days I just put them all in this time of year, as convenient. They'll sit till the soil warms up, and they won't come to any harm.

Earlies will tuber once they reach a certain size, and so the crop follows roughly at so many weeks after planting. Lates are stimulated by daylength, as I think all spuds were when they were first imported. So whatever you do, there will be no tubers until the days are getting shorter.

[manicscousers]

we do the same as Robert, I read in Bob flowerdew's book, many years ago, that this is the best way to avoid blight  :)
we do stand by with fleece if there's a cold snap  ;D
sorry, forgot, welcome to a4a  ;D

[Le-y]

all mine are going in at the same time but then i've only got a few earlies then the rest main crop

[lincsyokel2]

They want to go in in a steady stream over march. I put in 60 1st earlies two weekends ago, then 60 2nd earlies last weekend, and there will be 50 mains going in next weekend.

Get a ridging tool for your Rotavator, saves hours of digging.

[guerriero75]

Hi All,

Thanks for you great advice, I guess it can be done both ways. I might try this year to put them down all at once and next year to do it by stages to see if theres is a difference.

I do have a merry tiller titan...my proud and joy..lol, I'm looking for a ridger but they are so bloddy expensive..anyone as a cheap one?

Thanks

[lincsyokel2]

Hi All,

Thanks for you great advice, I guess it can be done both ways. I might try this year to put them down all at once and next year to do it by stages to see if theres is a difference.

I do have a merry tiller titan...my proud and joy..lol, I'm looking for a ridger but they are so bloddy expensive..anyone as a cheap one?

Thanks

I only stagger them because 60 tates is three rows and about an hours or so's work, thats enough for me :D

I just put a 6.5HP Honda engine on mine, goes like a rocket now, a real beast.

Ridgers and other tools you just have to watch ebay. Ive had to pay £40 for a set of outer tines, £40 for a set of front wheels, and £60 for the ridger . Thats on top of £50 originally for the Rotavator, and £110 to drop the engine on and a new belt to take  the extra HP.

Mind you,  if  i keep it 20 years ill be able to sell it for what it cost me, ill get my mone yback on it.

[chriscross1966]

I've got a spare ridger, dunno what it's off but it has a square shank about 10-12mm..... both of my Howards have ridgers but they work in different ways..... the one on the 400 (like the Gem but next size down) is a straight symmetric plough, the one on the Bulldog apparently catches the spray off the rotors and separates it......Hoping I can get the 400 working for a couple of weeks tiem when it's actually time to put in all the spuds as far as I'm concerned...

They can all go in together.... earlies will be four weeks ahead of 2nd earlies (so you onl,y need 4 weeks worth of spuds as earlies) which will be 4 weeks ahead of the earlier mains which will be 4 weeks or more earlier than somer of the epically late Victorian heirlooms...... even just "old fashioned" spuds like Pink Fir Apple (a late main salad potato) can be a fair chunk later than a modern main.... generally the advice I've seen is to divide spuds into about 5 and plant one part earlies to one part secojnd earlies to three parts mains.... situation blurred a bit by smoe specioalised 2nd earlies that keep fairly well adn some first earlies that you can leave in the ground to get big but they won't keep past Christmas.....

You might want to look at your ration next year..... if I was putting in 160 spuds (I'm putting in about 120 IIRC) I'd be looking for 25 or so first earlies then the same of seconds and about 100-110 mains..... or thereabouts..... However there's only me to eatt them so on the basi8s that I eat spuds maybe four times a week I'd need 16 earlies 16 second earlies and the rest mains, but I might well give away some of the crop

BTW don't confuse "Salads" with "Earlies".... most earlies are suitable for salad use it is true, however some hough they  are both late mais (very late in Vitelotte 's case)

chrisc"Salads" are definitely late, PinkFir Apple and Viteloote are definiely late maincrops even though t

[cornykev]

You can do them all together but I do mine in stages
Earlies in March
2nds in March/April
Lates in April
;D ;D ;D