I grow my spuds in containers and have only ever grown Pentland Javelin (which have done really well for me).
I have been into Wilkos and succumbed to Charlotte (which I believe is a second early) and Rooster (which I believe is a red skinned) this year.
Can anyone enlighten me on these varieties. Are they decent spuds?
Cheers,
Jo.
Charlotte are one of the best second early spuds. They are waxy and have a great flavour and are a very good salad potato. A very good choice. ;D
Also a big fan of Charlotte, in fact bought mine today! Great as small salad potatoes, even nicer when left a bit longer and bigger!
Rooster...not tried growing them yet, I did buy some last year but ended up giving them away as I ran out of room and had bought too many..... :-[
I've grown charlottes for several years both in the ground and in containers, and both as a second early and as a second crop for christmas. They're a very good potatoe to grow and crop well in all cases - just remember that if they're in containers they need a lot of watering.
Haven't grown rooster before , but they're in my schedule for this year.
Third year for growing Charlottes... great potato, especially when you use them in a stew type recipe...they stay intact.
I grew Rooster last season and they were great :)
Grew Roosters for the first time last year. Late potato with good yield. Particularly good for roasting and frying.
Have grown Charlotte for several years. Very good as a smallish salad second early but can be left in the ground to get larger.
Good choices - grew them both last year.
Charlotte is a lovely salad potato and Rooster makes the most wonderful mash!
Thanks everyone for your replies.
It would seem that I have chosen two decent spuds here then. I wish I could say that these were chosen after I had done some research, but in truth, I saw them in Wilko's and just picked them up ;D
Hope they do as well for me as they seem to have done for you.
Jo.
Hello Tattieman, hadn't seen you sneak in there.. welcome to the site! ;D
hiya, tattieman, nice to meet you ;D
jo, we grew rooster from a wilkies small pack last year, a bit more expensive seed potatoes but a lovely spud ;D
Hi all.
Yeah I was doing a search the other night for allotment sites and I came across this website and thought I could always pass on a bit of help to people about their spuds.
Lots of nice folk on here with nice questions for me to answer ;D
WELCOME TATTIEMAN ;D ;D
Hi,
I have no input on what spuds are like only because its my first year and have not grown anything yet Except my garlic. ;D
Just wondered as few of you mention growing in containers what containers they were.
Thanks lucy
Hello Tattieman......... ;D
Welcome Tattieman :)
Mummybunny, I use large buckets or large containers to grow my spuds. You must make sure that they have plenty of drainage holes in the bottom, and you must ensure that you water regularly.
You can now buy special 'sacks' in which to grow potatoes, but I think the buckets and containers work just as well.
Jo.
I used an old dustbin, with holes in the bottom, for my Charlottes last year. Three tubers produced a lot of spuds.
Thanks will try that then. i have seen the spud bags and spud containers but they seem so expensive!!
Before I had my lottie, I used the large trugs. Drilled holes around the base, about 1 inch up from the base. I grew swift.
I only put one seed per trug and my best result I got 34 potatoes, but mostly 24.
(http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa42/ElleEss_photos/GardenMay25th005.jpg)
Potatoes on far left
Hi Tattieman I think we've met on another site, :-\ mummybunny you can also grow spuds in large builders bags. ;D ;D ;D
we bought collapsible leaf bags(2.99) in in stores, they were ideal for growing spuds in, 3 per bag , followed by french beans in 2 and leeks in the other , and they fold up when we're not using them :)
I grew rooster last year and they were great, not form proper seed potatoes but I had a couple in the fridge that had chitted so I chucked them in an old compost bag with holes at the bottom and earthed them up as they grew. Produced loads of lovely spuds and as a variety they are very versitile.
Enjoy your spuds!
Helen x
Quote from: cornykev on January 22, 2009, 15:12:44
Hi Tattieman I think we've met on another site, :-\ mummybunny you can also grow spuds in large builders bags. ;D ;D ;D
I am on a few websites so it is quite possible we have spoken before ;D
Is Alan Hutton Still injured?
Container gardening is very simple for people to do and requires little effort. A 40 litre container will let you grow between 3-5 seed potatoes in it and produce a large crop as long as they are well fed and watered.
Hello again to everyone else that has welcomed me on here. ;)
Well, apart from the Charlotte and Rooster's, I now have Kestrel.
I've never grown these before either, but in for a penny, in for a pound ;D
Jo.
[/quote]
A 40 litre container will let you grow between 3-5 seed potatoes in it and produce a large crop as long as they are well fed and watered.
[/quote]
What do you feed your potatoes?
Wotcha Tattieman!! nice to have another spud expert on board.
thanks for link to your website. I have a friend who grows 150 - 170 acres a year in norfolk. I'll pass on your details. ;)
Quote from: Lauren S on January 26, 2009, 20:15:36
A 40 litre container will let you grow between 3-5 seed potatoes in it and produce a large crop as long as they are well fed and watered.
[/quote]
What do you feed your potatoes?
[/quote]
There are many suitable fertilizers for this job that are in most good garden centres.(can't name a product on here)
I have read adverts saying that 100lbs of spuds can be achieved in these 40litre grower bags.
You must not let the compost in your grower bag dry out, it should always be moist but not saturated.
The water is the key to a good crop. A regular watering system will work best rather than one big splash of water a week.
Regular watering should give you consistant growth and stop the potatoes cracking.
Make sure they get plenty of good sun light and support the Haulm with a cane if it starts to fall over.
Is there anything else you are unsure about?
Quote from: tonybloke on January 26, 2009, 20:24:38
Wotcha Tattieman!! nice to have another spud expert on board.
thanks for link to your website. I have a friend who grows 150 - 170 acres a year in norfolk. I'll pass on your details. ;)
It is nice to be here Tony and thanks for your help that was good of you. ;D
Can't agree more "Charlotte" are great but I now grow "Nicola" from Wilko's too. ;D
Just seem to be even waxier and still stay firm once they get too big.
As for "Rooster" I can't see how one spud can be great for everything as they are supposed to be ???,some folk say it's good for roasting and some for mashing ?
Well I suppose people might like waxy roasts or floury mash ? Who knows. ???
Hi Tattieman,
Noticed the JBA Logo, I thought it was familiar. I received my seed potatoes early this month. Thankyou.
You can't grow 100lbs of spuds in a 40 litre growbag :o
If you emptied all the compost out and filled the bag with spuds you couldn't get 100lbs in.
???
Look at the size of a 56lb bag of spuds and try to get 2 of them in a grow-bag
Do you not mean 10lbs instead of 100lbs ?
Glad your happy with the spuds Larkhall ;D
Vegmandan yout right I should have said 4x40 litre for 100lbs the advert states which would still be very good from a bag that size. I think that would be the most you could get if you were lucky.
The Rooster i grew last year were all tops,will go back to Picasso this year.
Hi Tattie yes Hutton still injured, I think the English game is a bit tough for him :-X I take it your a Ger. Just a quickie could you tell me what category Ratte falls under as I have conflicting answers, sorry Jo for jumping on your thread. ;D ;D ;D
Yes I am a big Gers fan Kev. Ratte are an early maincrop and their real name is Asparges which is maybe why you had problems getting info on them. We would take Hutton back off you for 1 million. ;D
Cheers for that Tattie, when I bought them they was in a colour coded maincrop bag, when I got them home the label said early maincrop and I think I read somewhere or maybe I was dreaming it was a late 2nd if theres such a thing. You can have Hutton for 3 mill if
you take bentley off our hands. ;D ;D ;D