Potatoes.....Are they worth the effort.

[Paulines7]

I am beginning to wonder if it is worth growing so many potatoes.  I seem to get so many small ones and the few large ones I produce have scab or been eaten by slugs and are no good for storing.  Many make their way to the surface and turn green.  I still have some in the ground as it is so wet where they are and I get so much mud on my boots that I can hardly walk.  It didn't help that we were away for 3 weeks in September and had to concentrate on harvesting plums before we went and sorting out apples and pears since we have returned.  We should have plenty of cider, perry and wine this winter!  hic! 

Next year I think I will stick to earlies and maybe get hubbie to make a couple of raised beds from some old pallets that we have.  I certainly won't grow so many in the future.

Does anyone else get these problems or are you all better organised than me?   

[Paulines7]

[Floyds]

I certainly sympathise with you. Potatoes can be hard work. But have one more go before you give up and try growing them under black polythene. You don't have to dig trenches or mound up the soil or even weed which I used to find a real pain.
If you can get hold of some reliable (chemical free) manure just spread it on the surface of the soil and cover with black polythene. Cut 4 inch criss cross slits in the polythene at the required spacing and lay the tubers on the muck and just cover with a handful of soil.  If you live in a dry area you might want to run some irrigation pipes under the polythene but this isn't absolutely necessary as the plants will take in water through the foliage. I use irrigation pipes because it means I don't have to stand there with a hose for ages but in a nice still cool evening watering spuds with a hose can be very pleasant and I won't bother with the pipes.
That's all you do. No ridging, weeds are suppressed and the polythene warms the soil so that you can crop them earlier. You can use the polythene again in following years so the initial cost is spread but it isn't that expensive anyway and is worth every penny for the labour it saves you.
Potatoes produce most of their tubers where the stem of the plant enters the soil which is a point easily forgotten when you keep burying them with soil using the traditional method. Using polythene when you crop them just lift the plastic sheet and there they all are on the surface of the soil waiting to be collected like windfall apples. A few might be under the soil but not to a great depth and a shallow dig will expose them. I couldn't grow spuds the traditional way anymore. I used to leave most of them behind to cause a problem the following year. With polythene I manage to get them all out of the ground. Try it.
Oh and the small spuds can be used as a base for some great soups. I used to throw them away, not any more.

[Paulines7]

Thank you Floyds.

I could try the polythene method next year with maybe have some in raised beds to compare the size and yield.  I may well have to run irrigation pipes under the polythene as my beds are on a slope. 

[caroline7758]

I must say I'm planting fewer and fewer potatoes every year for the reasons you give, Pauline, and because they're not expensive to buy. I keep saying I won't bother at all, then I see an offer I can't resist!

[kt.]

I don't bother with late potatoes anymore, just a late 2nd early.  Kestrel.  They grow to a large size and store through to Feb but we always eat them by Xmas.  Good all round spud for just about every use & disease free too.

[Paulines7]

I will always grow some earlies though.  There is nothing to beat freshly dug Roseval potatoes that can then be taken indoors, washed, steamed and eaten straight away. 

I might try Kestrel next year Kt and see how they grow here. 

[Digeroo]

I have like you quite a few very small potatoes, but Desiree excelled themselves and were actually not much effoft.   'They were mulched up with straw and piles of weeds.   

I grew squashes either end of the bed which rambled around the place so I got two crops off the same bed.  Now the squashes have died back I am amazed at the potatoes underneath.   The soil is nicely broken up there are few weeds so it is ready for growing something else next year.

[campanula]

I would have written exactly the same as KT but now I don't need to....apart from another puff for Kestrel. A chap called Gavin recommended them to me (on this forum) in 2003 and I have grown 'em ever since. Top spud.

However, I do find keeping enough spare space for a decent rotation gets harder (as the fruit and roses increase) ....but we only ever get to eat home-made chips when we have Kestrel (they will just about stretch till Xmas)....so it is worth the effort and space.

[staris]

I don't bother with late potatoes anymore, just a late 2nd early.  Kestrel.  They grow to a large size and store through to Feb but we always eat them by Xmas.  Good all round spud for just about every use & disease free too.

exactly what i do we always seem to get blight so have given up on growing maincrops, i grow a few earlies and kestrel is always my main potato and have never had a bad crop from them get my until end of feb.
they are also wireworm resistant which we have a lot of trouble with :)

[lottie lou]

Didn't do Kestrel this year and bought another variety (name forgotten).  Never again.  I had the best crop of spuds ever but the slugs :-(   Back to Kestrel next year.

[Paulh]

I too grow earlies rather than main crop to beat blight and mostly Kestrel because it is slug resistant.

[GREGME]

to answer the question in the thread title it's definitely worth the effort at least  if you seek out varieties you can't buy in the shops and those which mature early - some fab varieties out there- harlequin, ratte, annabelle, purple majesty ulster classic and more

[squeezyjohn]

Hard to say whether it's worth it or not for maincrop potatoes for storage ... they are such a cheap item in the shops that from a purely financial point of view - I'm not sure it can be for the time you put in.  But on the other hand - choosing good resistant varieties can give you a decent crop that you can know is pesticide and herbicide free - which I never quite trust from commercial ones.

Blue Danube were fantastic for me this year - they're a good floury potato that gets nice and big with an unusual deep blue/purple skin.  There was little slug damage and they have good blight resistance.  Unfortunately we've eaten them already!

I will never stop growing the earlies though ... the key is in eating them as fresh as possible ... it's a taste you cannot get from the supermarket - and in my view that is priceless.

[Digeroo]

The more I think about it the more the answer is yes.

Saw GREGME has mentioned Annabelle, I like that one too did well in last years rain, Elizabeth did very well this year and bulks up as a second early as well as first.   I like the flavour.

My potato areas are already prepared.  The straw is left over from keeping the courgettes warm last year.  Come march I will nip down to the lottie and throw them in and cover with straw.  Not much work and a nice crop when there is not much else around.  Though this year they waited until April.

I also recommend a few in a sheltered spot, under a cloche or in a bucket for Corneys challenge that first meal of a few tiny potatoes is a real prize for me.   

[antipodes]

But the earlies are so tasty!  And the flavour is nicer than bought ones. i am lucky to not have too many pests except voles that like to eat them.

[Paulines7]

Thank you everyone for your replies; you have put forward some good tips on what to grow and suggestions on how or how not to grow them. 

I had 8 x 10ft rows this year and apart from the earlies and pink fir apple, many were a waste of space.  I have none good enough for storage to see me through the next 7 months.  I have so many slugs and I don't want to use pesticides.

I will definitely try kestrel and, if I can get hold of them, Annabelle and some of the other varieties you have recommended.   

[cacran]

Hello, I made a very similar post a few weeks ago. I have all the problems you have. I stand in the kitchen peeling tiny ones and digging out holes where pests have been in the big ones, I can be there for ages. The boiled ones go to mush and OH does not like them chipped. He likes the bought ones chipped though!!!
I am very interested in the idea of planting under black plastic. sounds like a great plan for me,too.
I will get Kestrel next year and give it another go. I only do 3 x 15ft rows now as I have wasted so many due to storing in the frost.
Thanks to the OP and to all the others for advice.

[Floyds]

Hello, I made a very similar post a few weeks ago. I have all the problems you have. I stand in the kitchen peeling tiny ones and digging out holes where pests have been in the big ones, I can be there for ages. The boiled ones go to mush and OH does not like them chipped. He likes the bought ones chipped though!!!
I am very interested in the idea of planting under black plastic. sounds like a great plan for me,too.
I will get Kestrel next year and give it another go. I only do 3 x 15ft rows now as I have wasted so many due to storing in the frost.
Thanks to the OP and to all the others for advice.

If you are going to try the black plastic method and have problems with slugs I would suggest sprinkling some Sluggo pellets on the surface of the manure and around the edges. Sluggo pellets are not poisonous and are organically approved so they have absolutely no effect on the plants and is one way of dealing with the slugs. They are chemical free and work through iron which the slugs cannot digest and crawl away and die but the iron is harmless to everything else including pets. All my frogs and toads and hedgehogs survived which they didn't used to do with poison based pellets. The pellets are not cheap but you don't need many and they should last a long time but you could always use them around other plants too. I put some around my celery this year and have had no slug damage at all so far.
The thing about spreading a layer of manure on the soil is that the manure contains no slugs and by the time the slugs have realised that there are potatoes to eat they will be ready to harvest by you so you beat them to it. I think I had two potatoes with slug damage this year. Obviously the thicker the layer of manure you can spread the better. Four inches would be the minimum and anything deeper than that would be even better but not essential.