Hi - I'd just like a bit of advice please. I've never grown potatoes but I'm going to try growing them in containers/bags this year. I obviously don't need many but would like to try more than 1 variety. I've found a couple of suppliers on the internet who sell a few of each variety. They come in at about the same price but the varieties are slightly different & I just wondered which you would recommend.
1 contains Charlotte, Maris Peer & Red Duke of York - the other is Charlotte, Maris Peer & Swift.
As a complete novice I would be grateful for your comments.
Thanks very much!
:)
Can't give you much advice on the varieties side, but as I grew most of my potatoes on tubs and bags last year, this yera I'm thinking of sticking to early varieties as it was hard work keeping them watered enough during the summer.
Check out the links elsewhere on here too for potato days, I bought 2 tubers of six varieties last year at a fair. 12p per tuber.
I've heard good things about Red Duke of York... not grown either of them myself.
Alan Roman (potato guru) specifically rates Swift for container growing, but Red Duke of York are very popular for flavour etc. Difficult choice!
http://www.alanromans.com/product.asp?P_ID=606 (http://www.alanromans.com/product.asp?P_ID=606)
http://www.alanromans.com/product.asp?numRecordPosition=17&P_ID=603 (http://www.alanromans.com/product.asp?numRecordPosition=17&P_ID=603)
Swift are one of the fastest so that would free up your container earlier for a follow on crop...
Not overly impressed with the taste myself always grow RDoYork myself but not sure how they would do in pots.
:-\
I bought small quantities of potatoes for chitting from a local G.C. last year & I believe that you can buy them at a stall in Birmingham Market too. I grew Belle de Fontenay as salad potatoes in tubs last year & will repeat again. I'm also going to grow a few Pink Fir Apples in tubs this year. I think it would be worth asking around to see if there's anywhere you can buy a few of this, a few of that, before you go down the pre-selected route offered by the 2 suppliers. Last year, in all, I grew 6 varieties. Sory I don't have a price but remember that they were sold by weight, rather than per tuber.
Quote from: Alishka_Maxwell on January 10, 2007, 15:26:34
I bought small quantities of potatoes for chitting from a local G.C. last year & I believe that you can buy them at a stall in Birmingham Market too.
You can indeed (good selection though varieties come and go) and I've also spotted a shop in Bearwood, up Three Shires Oak Road, that seems to have a good selection. I haven't seen any yet this year though.
Avoid Swift or any other very 1st Early, they have little or no flavour
Charlotte and Red DoY are excellent - please feed them well (orgainc not chemical and they will reward you hansomely
Phil
Builders buckets or similar style are good for potatoes. Drill drainage holes in the bottom. Easy to move around with handles. Wilkinsons currently have black buckets at £0.99 which makes them significantly cheaper than pots of a similar size and they can be reused.
Swift is very early but agree not a brilliant flavour. Charlotte is called a salad potato and is OK. Not grown the others. Grew Swift, Charlotte, Lady Crisrtl, Kestrel, Maxine, Nadine and Accent last year because I was able to buy a few tubers of each variety by weight. They were in general OK. Accent probably the best.
we grew pots for the first time last year. My friend at work brought me some sprouting things in and we just planted and grew some fantastic red suds..really tasty. My friend just peels big chunks off her pots and throws them into the garden and it seems to work so we tried this laid back attitude and produced some lovely potatoes so this year we are going to plant loads.
Quote from: Goosgog on January 10, 2007, 23:55:04
My friend just peels big chunks off her pots and throws them into the garden and it seems to work so we tried this laid back attitude and produced some lovely potatoes so this year we are going to plant loads.
Goosgogs
Do you mean your friend is getting potatoes from just her peelings as opposed to planting an entire tuber?
CC
Thanks very much to everyone - certainly given me something to think about! I like Charlotte anyway & will prob try Red Duke of York too. I'll have a look round at weekend & see if anywhere locally sells small quantities & then take it from there. I just want to start doing something really & planning/buying is the only possibility with this weather!
Regarding containers for growing - that's easily sorted as OH gets huge & medium sized food-grade buckets from work, all with handles & ideal for gardening/decorating & all sorts of things.
Thanks again.
I learned my lesson last year with growing potatoes in the ground at the far end of a long garden - we didn't have a hosepipe ban but it was still too much of a f*g to get the hose out just for that crop and certainly the yield suffered as a result. So more in pots nearer the water tap this year, then :)
Had you thought of leaving a hose permanently in place, so it just needed connecting up?
If you do leave a hose out, and we do for the 100' of garden then 70' of allotment, remember to take the fittings off the ends as many have stop valves which mean when the water in the pipe freezes it can split the hose, or break the fittings.
:(
Quote from: Alishka_Maxwell on January 10, 2007, 15:26:34
I bought small quantities of potatoes for chitting from a local G.C. last year & I believe that you can buy them at a stall in Birmingham Market too.
Oh, that's really good to know - I'll have to pop in next time I'm in town :)
It's in the Bull Ring by the meat stalls. Things come and go but if you can keep an eye on them they have a pretty good selection.
I have grown Lady Christl and Swift in containers and was not at all impressed with Swift but had been spoilt with Lady C the year before, the flavour from them was wonderful. :D
T.
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on January 11, 2007, 17:16:08
Had you thought of leaving a hose permanently in place, so it just needed connecting up?
too untidy (and I'm
very tidy) :), and too inconvenient, too, as the hose is needed down the near end of the garden so I'd still be hauling it around :-\ Bad thinking of mine to grow pots in those 2 patches at the far end last year. The rest of the area is shrubbery & never gets watered other than by rain. But I'd not allowed for a dry summer..
Laura, I'd not realized that you were one of us 8) Don't let your cat wander too far. I've been just loving the pic of yours & a spot of cat-napping might be quite do-able ;D
Does anybody live in the Stockport/Manchester area? If so, do you know if there's anywhere locally which sells small quantities of potatoes?
Thanks very much.
we live in wigan, plot in golborne, we have an allotment shop on rob lane, golborne but I think it might be a bit too far away for you, straight down the east lancs, they sell potatoes by the pound/kilo, I usually ask for 10 potatoes, they're not getting them in until end jan and it's £3.00 to join :)
i grew potatoes for the first time last year in pots. I grew maris piper but harvested them early as small salad potatoes and they were fantastic for flavour. as long as you only put 2 or 3 potato seeds in depending how big the pot is. equally as good to grow potatoes in is black bin liners or in a big bag of compost, but make sure the compost has been well broken up.
I'm growing my pots in containers for the first time this year. Have decided on Lady Christl (first early) and Cara (maincrop).
Bought my containers from Wilkos in the sale last year and can't wait to get going.
I have always fancied grow pots in pots, but have been put off due to having to buy more seed potatoes than I needed. Does anyone know of an on-line supplier of small quantities?
dobies sells pots for pots :)
Hi Shirley - I bought some Charlotte & Red Duke of York over the weekend from a local Garden Centre. They were in small packs containing 10 seed pots & were £1.69. Wyevale sell them in packs of 10 too for about £2-3 depending on the variety.
I'm really glad I looked around first as otherwise I would have ended up buying online & spending 3 or 4 times as much!
Just can't wait to get going now!
Thanks, I will make enquiries at the local garden centres, first and check out the Dobies catalogue.
Quote from: Teej on January 15, 2007, 09:47:38
Hi Shirley - I bought some Charlotte & Red Duke of York over the weekend from a local Garden Centre. They were in small packs containing 10 seed pots & were £1.69. Wyevale sell them in packs of 10 too for about £2-3 depending on the variety.
I'm really glad I looked around first as otherwise I would have ended up buying online & spending 3 or 4 times as much!
Just can't wait to get going now!
I bought one of those small packs at the garden centre too, same price! I got Catriona Second Earlies. I'm growing 4 pots of them.
Do I just put one seed potato in each pot? I have no idea what I'm doing! ;D
Laney
If the pot is around 12" then 1 tuber will be enough
For something the size of a distbin 3 - 4
IMHO Catriona is a very good tasting 2nd early dating back to the sixties or even, according to some, the 20's
Phil
Quote from: philcooper on January 17, 2007, 09:50:59
Laney
If the pot is around 12" then 1 tuber will be enough
For something the size of a distbin 3 - 4
IMHO Catriona is a very good tasting 2nd early dating back to the sixties or even, according to some, the 20's
Phil
Thanks!
I'm growing them in buckets(70p in Asda!), so one tuber should be enough.
I'm finding myself wishing away the weeks now so that I can get started.
If you're growing somewhere sheltered, patio/balcony where the heat of the house keeps the temp up them why not try planting some now!!
possibly a stupid question from a total veg growing novice
but you know if you have a sprouting potato - could you plant that in a tub/ old dust bin/ wheelie bin - whatever container - and grow them from that?? provided the tub was big enough
would that work??
You have inspired me to try growing some potatoes in pots in my conservatory! If I put a first early tuber in a pot, will I need to fill the pot, or wait and then top up the compost as if earthing up, as the plant grows?
cj :)
Top up when earthing up, and yes Benjy it will grow but its too cold outside but rather than supermarket spuds buy some seeded spuds that are now available plant outside Feb/Mar and check out potato threads.
The RHS have fairly detailed instructions here
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0506/potatoespots.asp (http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0506/potatoespots.asp)
Barnowl,
The RHS advice is good but the number of tubers seems high (unless you want very small tubers), the bit on watering before flowering is highly suspect - they will need lots of water - and don't use chemical fertilisers - use compost or FYM when planting and water (including the foliage) with seaweed extract based liquid feed eg Maxicrop.
And if there are flowers, pick them off - the energy that the plant puts into them is wasted.
The fertiliser and flower removal bits apply equally to garden planted spuds
Phil
Thanks Phil, very useful advice. :)
Dobies/Suttons (Look like to same catalogue) sell potato starter kits, which appear quite expensive, at £24.95, but I cannot work out the logic of their quantities. The complete kits comprises of 5 tubers each of 3 different varieties (15 tubers) and 3 buckets. The instructions says you place 2-3 tubers per bucket. What do you do with the remaining tubers ???
The refill pack of 15 tubers is £4.95 which means they are charing £20 for 3 buckets 40cm high by 40cm dia.
I think I will have a look around the garden centres for small quantities
Morrisons are selling the black handleless buckets that they get flowers in for 99p for 6 in many stores. Now all you need Shirley are the spuds.
There are 2 Potato Days in Scotland this year, Kelso & Edinburg, see thewhitchurchweb.org/potatoday/potatodays.htm (http://thewhitchurchweb.org/potatoday/potatodays.htm)
Phil
Poundland are selling Unwins Desiree seed potaoes. !0 in a bag & obviously £1.
The co-op shops give away the black buckets that the flowers are kept in. Well our local one does.
Hi Phil
The correct date for the Edinburgh Potato Day is Sun 25th Feb. I checked with the organiser and she confirmed this. Do you think you could change the date in the Whitchurch website.
Ta!
Cherry
B&Q do cheap builders-type buckets if that's any help. I'm sure they're only around £1 ish as I remember commenting last time we were in there.
I'm debating whether to try planting a couple each of my 2 varieties (Charlotte & Red Duke of York) at the weekend - hopefully I'll be able to keep them warm enough to give them a bit of a headstart & get "extra-earlies"!
Thanks for the advice and suggestions. I have 3 suitable sized tubs, so will look out for the tubers. The Potato Day sounds fun, but a difficult location to get to by public transport from here, especially on a Sunday
Quote from: cherry on January 22, 2007, 21:05:39
Hi Phil
The correct date for the Edinburgh Potato Day is Sun 25th Feb. I checked with the organiser and she confirmed this. Do you think you could change the date in the Whitchurch website.
Ta!
Cherry
Cherry thanks - Sat 24th was the date I was given I then was told Sun 26th and when I asked for clarification - no answer came!! - I've now made the change
Phil
i was planning on planting some pots in sacks too, topping the sack up as the pots need earthing up. my question is what depth of soil do they need beneath them in the first place??? i ::) at asking such a silly q, but thank you in advance, gg x x
4"
Phil
;D thank you very much! gg x x