Potatoes planted last year

[Mr Plot]

I have taken on an allotment this year and part of it contains potatoes planted last year by the previous owner that are growing well... too well, as a bit of a nuisance!
My question is can I leave them to grow and eat them this year or should I continue to dig them up and destroy them?

[Mr Plot]

[tim]

Presumably the ones he missed when lifting. Might be diseased ?  I would get them out.

[philcooper]

JF,

You're new to the list so won't have seen my rant (and frequent mailings) on the subject http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/yabbse/index.php/topic,7095.0.html

Please dig them up; as Tim says, they may well be a source of disease

Phil

[Mr Plot]

Thanks Tim and Phil, I thought that might be the answer but thought I'd check. I will keep digging them up!

[janebb]

Seems like my whole plot  (which is also new to me) contains last years spuds.  When I dug over the winter I dug up thousands but there are still loads still sprouting now.  Its a bit of a pain as they keep coming up where other things have been planted.  So far I have been digging them out (as far as possible) but this has meant disturbing some other things.  Can I just chop off the leaves (and will this kill the potatoes below) or do I have to get the whole thing up?

[Merlins Mum]

Hi Janebb
It's a pain I know but you need to get the potatoes up too.  They can cause disease if left in the ground.

MM

[janebb]

I knew you were going to say that.

Thank you anyway

[Merlins Mum]

That makes me feel better.   :)
I was digging on my lottie over the weekend and I found several little tatties that had been left behind by the previous tennant.  Still it means I know where not to put my tatties for a couple of years.
MM

[redimp]

I have been finding previous owners tatties just where i was going to put my potatoes next year.  I am going to have to reduce the amount I plant next year - they are all at one end so I can use the rest of that bed.

[tim]

It's a knack - of dedicated effort - to get most of them out. But well worth the effort at the time. So much depends upon the soil condition at the time of lifting.

I reckon to leave in about a dozen tubers in five 50' rows. But it may need, say, 10 riddles to each plant to catch the little ones. Of course, if you rotovate after lifting, you can compound the problem.

[Merlins Mum]

I hadn't thought of that Tim and I was considering hiring a rotovator later on in the year.  Would it be a problem if I didn't sow tatties there for 3 years?

MM

[Merry Tiller]

Trust me, anything that gets rotavated by me stays rotavated 8)