Dan Pearson reminds us today that Good Friday is the traditional first date. Or one week after the last frost. If the latter, we'd be waiting until mid-June!!
We regularly get them until the end of April.
How do we know when it is the last frost? ??? ???
Rosemary
2nd week in March, then I plant and cover each row with 3-4 inches of straw as a safety net.
I check to see it the plant is showing and then lift the straw off and just keep it around the plant. and if there is a frost alwert. just replace and cover the plant.
These things always seem a bit odd as Good Friday can be anything March 20 and April 23! Quite late this year though.
My husband tells me that his Granddad always planted his potatoes on his birthday - March 12th. But down here (west cornwall) potatoes have been in fields for quite a while now.
I'm going to stick with Granddad and plant them on his birthday - nice way to remember him. :)
Alison
BTW I've got some in the greenhouse in pots - just started to appear. Yippee early earlies ;D
Good idea Alimo - early earlies.
I shall put some of my earlies in pots too and leave in greenhouse which
is currently heated between 10 - 15 C
Might as well give it a go with a few tubers...
I'd have thought you could plant in February in West Cornwall. One of my beekeeping books has a map giving a guide to how the time of the arrival of spring varies across the UK; your area is put down as a wek ahead of London, but having lived in Cornwall for years, I think that's an underestimate as far as plants are concerned; it's probably more accurate for bees.
Read somewhere else that the Irish way of planting is reliable (no, not rose end down), but on St. Patrick's day, 17th March.
Celtic_Growers, thanks for the straw tip... where's the cheapest place to get it from, is the petshop the best bet? Thanks.
get my from local stables. £2 a bail.
local farms are a good place
I like to put a comfrey leaf in the planting hole with the spud, so when the comfrey leaves are big enough to pull is an indicator of when to plant. Mine (bocking) are just sprouting now, so I reckon 2nd/3rd week in March will be right.
Quote from: Common_Clay on February 27, 2006, 01:49:42
Read somewhere else that the Irish way of planting is reliable (no, not rose end down), but on St. Patrick's day, 17th March.
Celtic_Growers, thanks for the straw tip... where's the cheapest place to get it from, is the petshop the best bet? Thanks.
I guarantee no decent Irish man will be out in a field on Paddy's day, the only thing he will be planting is his backside to a stool in a bar....lol
(http://www.nysweca.org/images/leprechaun_dancing_jig_hg_clr.gif)
It is usually the Easter weekend for ours, though it does depend on the weather. In our trench we put well rotted manure and grass to lay the potatoes on, though I have even heard of paper being used and also seaweed. I think it is like leeks and broad beans everybody has their own little foible. :D busy_lizzie
Quote from: Celtic_Growers on February 25, 2006, 19:44:04
2nd week in March, then I plant and cover each row with 3-4 inches of straw as a safety net.
I check to see it the plant is showing and then lift the straw off and just keep it around the plant. and if there is a frost alwert. just replace and cover the plant.
CG - ask the farmer for spoilt straw..... its a bit damp(& heavier) but just as good for tatter mulching but usually FREE ! 8)
In a recent Amateur Gardening magazine Anne Swithinbank was planting her early potatoes in the middle of february! Mind You she does garden in a mild part of Devon ::). I was thinking the begining of march for mine - with the benefit of a fleece cover. Now i am not so sure. I have only just managed to get a cover on the soil where they are to go, to warm the soil up. Might have to wait a bit for the weather to warm up.
Mind you I recently dug over a couple of my veg beds and the soil was fine (moist but not wet and easy to dig) - if a little cold, so with a bit of warmth (ha ha! ::)) it should be ready to plant in a couple of weeks. (fingers crossed ;)).
I reckon though in milder areas if you insulate your potato planting (say straw in the trench then covered with fleece or a cloche), an early planting should still be possible.
I go by the weather; my onions and potatoes will be going in next time we have a warm spell, if it lasts long enough to plant them all.
Quote from: busy_lizzie on February 27, 2006, 13:18:42
It is usually the Easter weekend for ours, though it does depend on the weather. In our trench we put well rotted manure and grass to lay the potatoes on, though I have even heard of paper being used and also seaweed. I think it is like leeks and broad beans everybody has their own little foible. :D busy_lizzie
Didn't I read to avoid manuring the space the tats are going to go cos of scab? Or doesn't it matter? Bit confused now. New Tattie Grower - Lishka
No Alishka. Too much lime in the soil (or any limey compost used to improve the soil such as mushroom compost) encourages scab. If you apply lime or the soil is naturaly limey then you will get scab (I do). It has nothing to do with applying manure.
As far as manure goes, apply as much as you can as potatoes love it. I dont need to tell you it should be well rotted manure do I?. If you practice rotation then you only need to manure for potatoes, subsequent crops (such as leeks, roots or onions) dont need the soil to be so rich.
Hope this helps.
Quote from: Garden Cadet on March 01, 2006, 12:55:07
No Alishka. Too much lime in the soil encourages scab.
As far as manure goes, apply as much as you can as potatoes love it. I dont need to tell you it should be well rotted manure do I?.
Of course it's lime! Senior Moment there ;) but...errrr...no, didn't need to be told about the w/rotted - still 3 years, is it? ;D
Quote from: Alishka_Maxwell on March 01, 2006, 13:38:37
Quote from: Garden Cadet on March 01, 2006, 12:55:07
No Alishka. Too much lime in the soil encourages scab.
As far as manure goes, apply as much as you can as potatoes love it. I dont need to tell you it should be well rotted manure do I?.
Of course it's lime! Senior Moment there ;) but...errrr...no, didn't need to be told about the w/rotted - still 3 years, is it? ;D
About a year i'd say, or when the stuff no longer steams or smells I believe. Whatever is sooner. Just not really fresh stuff thats all. Of course if you realy WANT to wait 3 years........
I reckon my first earlies will wait about another week, max two then they're going in. I'm putting fleece down at the weekend, then I'll lift and plant after a few days of soil warming. Planting deepish and earthing up, then covering with fleece.
It's true everyone does have their own "way" - we are same area as grawrc but won't plant until the end of March at the earliest but deep down and earthed up in the same way. And guess what - bet we both get great crops ;) ;D
Normally I'd agree with you Wicker and plant later. It just so happens they arrived early and are going to deteriorate if I don't get them in by then. So I'm going to give it a go.
Good news is that the weather forecast says will be getting milder from the middle of next week, as a rain front moves in from the atlantic. So we might soon be able to get our 'extra' early spuds in fairly soon.
Speaking of potato planting, i was watching an old Gardeners World the other day (on Satelite tv) with the late great Geoff Hamilton. On it he showed veiwers a rather interesting method for growing extra early potatoes in the garden. He had the soil ridged up, the ridges 1 foot high and 2 feet apart. This was then covered with clear plastic to warm the soil. The reckoning was that the ridges gave a greater surface area of soil to warm up, which makes sense. The bit i couldnt make sense of was that Geoff planned to plant the seed potatoes into the ridges rather than the furrows and then cover to protect from frost. Now surely the potatoes would be more vunerable to frost on top if a ridge than they would be in a conventional trench?!! Isee where hes coming from with warming the soil (wish i'd seen the item before i prepared my spud bed!), i just dont get the idea od where to plant the seed tubers.
Is anyone familiar with this method?, if so could you explain how it works please?
I'm with you on that one GC. Get the soil in the ridges nice and warm then plant the pots in the furrows and cover with the warm soil.
Watched the repeat of Monty Don visiting B'ham allots 2 years ago - anyone else see it? Anyway.....the chap who grew superb Pentland Javelin prepared his trenches, lined with a layer of leafmould, then 3 sheets of newspaper, then a layer of grass clippings & set his pots on that...grew beauts.
How deep into the ridges was Hamilton planting his pots, Richard?
I've always put my leafmould on top, as a mulch. I might try his way as well, and combine them.
Beginning to wish I hadn't dozed off during the Monty Don prog. ;) How deep would you dig the trenches before putting in all the leaf mould etc?
About a spit I think. I've just put my spuds in with a trowel before, and mulched over the top, but I think I'd do better to put them deeper.
Quote from: Alishka_Maxwell on March 04, 2006, 11:18:55
Watched the repeat of Monty Don visiting B'ham allots 2 years ago - anyone else see it? Anyway.....the chap who grew superb Pentland Javelin prepared his trenches, lined with a layer of leafmould, then 3 sheets of newspaper, then a layer of grass clippings & set his pots on that...grew beauts.
How deep into the ridges was Hamilton planting his pots, Richard?
I am afraid we didnt see that in the programme in question. I dont think the soil was ready (and there was snow on the ground!). I think he was just showing veiwers the method with planting left until the soil was warmed up. I am hoping to catch the programme where he actualy plants the potatoes.
PS the programme was from 1996.
No it wasn't; it showed my allotment gate, which I put up in 1999. My hedge was well grown too, which dates it to at least 2003.
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on March 04, 2006, 19:51:19
No it wasn't; it showed my allotment gate, which I put up in 1999. My hedge was well grown too, which dates it to at least 2003.
I don't think we are talking about the same programme Robert. I am talking about a Gardeners World with Geoff Hamilton, which would make it 1996 or earlier. I don't know what programme or photo your allotment gate and hedge were shown in ????
As an update I tried laying my potato bed out as Geoff had done in the programme, but unfortunately my beds aren't big enough. I kept on filling in the previous trench with soil from the next one, which is no good at all, and any way the plastic sheeting i am using wouldn't fit over all the undulations. I have now gone back to how the bed was originally, flat soil covered with clear plastic. When i come to plant I shall put in deeply in trenches, then mulch and fleece them. And we shall see how they fare that way.
Hugely unscientific in my world - the bulk of veg go in around Easter weekend whenever it falls, as it's usually the only way to get two whole days in the garden uninterrupted by work or "life".
Seems to work fine most years, but if it's really early and or cold, get the plot ready over Easter & then plant on the first May bank holiday for the reasons above.
Roll on retirement & I can spend proper amounts of time outdoors.....
Couldn't agree more! ;) ;)
With the roll on retirement that is. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Someone at my plot has his first earlies in and the ground is freezing. Mine are still chitting in the shed (I say "still chitting, they aren't doing a lot yet :(). Think I'll have a go next weekend if it's dry as it's definitely turning milder now.
Andy
If you want to take the plunge but are scared of loisses if the weather turns, why not plant half your earlies now and the rest in a couple of weeks time? Then if the first batch fails you have the others to fall back on.
Good advice GC
Mine went in today :D Ok - a day early on the Grandad's Birthday date... but it's forecast for downpours tomorrow.
We also planted broad beans, shallots and onions, plus sowed beetroot, carrot and radish (under the Lidl finest Cloche). I know I said I was going to wait, but I just couldn't......
Alison