Allotments 4 All

I am going to do some 2nd crop potatoes again this year.Anyone fancy joining me?

We could decide when to plant etc and all start on the same day..could aim for harvest on Christmas Day  or whatever.

All ideas welcome

No doom and gloom now, we  know we won't get a big harvest but this is just a bit if fun.

Never done it before, no problems, advice will no doubt be available here from other spuddy folk.

XX Jeannine

I like the idea, but am wondering where the seed potatoes would come from?  And would they need to be chitted?
I must admit, Christmas potatoes sound very tempting!

wouldn't mind having a go, could keep some of our spuds, maybe..we shared some from T &M last year, disaster, one lot just rotted without even growing , still, we learn from our mistakes  ;D

I think you can just use your own from what you dig up and no need to chit.

Someone here posted last year that they replanted some of the ones they dug up in late July and was cropping them in abundance, best crop ever apparantly, on 15th October.  Don't remember who nor the variety.

But I made a little note of the timing in my gardening diary  ;)

Of course, we did have one beautiful autumn and no blight here so maybe they were lucky, but I thought if I got around to it I might give it a go.

Yes please, love to join the fun. I have some Charlottes I ordered from T and M. Not the second crop ones though, but I left my order which as late as I dare with out them running out. Thought they would do a better job of storing them than me!

So I have the potatoes, I have a spare bag or two, do we have a date to start?

No need to chit.

I remember reading somewhere newly lifted tubers have a dormancy period, but I'm not sure how long. I think it may have been a post by Tattieman.

Oh goodie, I am doing mine in pots, and guess what JayB, Charlottes as well!!

OK so plenty of time I think for pots or bags..

You can use your earlies or pick up a few organics at the supermarket.

So what do you think, should we aim for Christmas or do it earlier. I have some I need to get in soon but I will have more  to use shortly.

If everyone is agreed on a date, Christmas or whatever,a little research should give us the best time to plant..

oh..just a sec...

yes just remembered, in the Vegetable Expert is the following


Christmas Potatoes

New potatoes for Christmas dinner-something of a gamble but worth trying.When lifting your crop of first earlies in July set a few tubers aside.Plant them in a warm spot in the garden and look after them in the normal way.In late September  cover the plants with large cloches and use them at Christmas.

I don't fancy the garden I have done it in pots in the greenhouse though.

But about mid July sound about right. I am using second earlies though.

What does everyone else think.

I was going to use a 5 gallon bucket, easy to find  I think.Or I might  take a trip to SPEC, a recycling group near the city dump, they have all sorts of stuff.

XX Jeannine

Super choice Jeannine  ;D

Mid July sounds like a plan. I'm going to do mine in bags so i can put them under cover if need be. I think they will be ready before Christmas, but store well if left in their bags. The skin won't just rub off with your fingers but a quick rinse and eaten in their skins yum yum!

5 gal buckets sounds ideal. I'm going to use a few old compost bags with the tops folded down.

sounds like I've found a use for my new greenhouse!

B&M have 2 potato bags for 1.99, going there tomorrow to stock up  ;D

OK, so who is planting what?

XX Jeannine

I have a couple of Red Duke of York which got forgotten are are sitting in the kitchen looking like rather weird monsters from some other planet  Since they are still alive I think they deserve a bit of TLC.  So when are are aiming to plant.

I enjoyed the last challenge.

We are still in the deciding stage..any ideas?

XX Jeannine

I'm going with Charlottes, I may have some overgrown Blue Danubes too  ;D. I'll go with the majority but would favour early to mid July, blight just becomes a nightmare.

Can I join.  I was a total failure in this year's spud challenge, due to the darned things refusing to grow.  Think I have some anyas lurking away under the kitchen sink so with a bit of luck I can use them.  Did spuds last Christmas - didn'g get that good a crop but amusing.

Hi, I have been thinking a lot about a good day for us all to plant on  the same day same and   I think I have found a good one.

What do you all think about St Swithains Day July 15th, folklore says if it rains that day we get 40 days of rain and if it is sun we get forty days of sun.

So what do you all think, is it ok with everyone else. Suits me.

XX Jeannine

15th July sounds good to me- we should have dug up our Kestrels by then so I could use one of those (I dug one up accidentally this morning trying to dig out some mare's tail- looks good but now with a large cut in it!)  I'll leave them until 7th though, which will be exactly 13 weeks since planting- can't wait!

I'll join in, mine will be in tubs in the greenhouse and will either be Annabelle or Homeguard  :)

i will give it a go 

so lets have a plan  of action ;D 

Hi

Just registered for this forum and found this thread that interests me a lot.

I have grown 2nd crop spuds for many years, including ones bought from mail order (expensive!), ones saved from the early crop (slow to sprout) and seed tubers saved from the spring (OK). But in recent years they've barely got out of the ground before the blight got them. Last year I bought (at very great expense) Sarpo Mira from Alan Romans, which resisted the blight and I got a great crop for Christmas and even some retrieved in spring from under the snow. 

This year I have saved some Sarpo Mira from spring and was going to plant them in July after I've finished the first earlies.

Just let me know when to plant them and I'll let you know how I get on at Christmas.

Hiya, onionsquash, welcome to a4a  ;D
15th sounds fine to me, I'll be doing some sharpe's express in leaf bags  :)

count me in , 15 july sounds ok  will plant sharpes express from this years crop


jimtheworzel

just out of interest what are considered to be the best spuds to sow for xmas - 1st earlies, 2nd earlies, early maincrop, later maincrop, last year's maincrop or ???

Calendula first earlies apparently!

My Anyas look all dried and shrivelled nd I don't know if they will do anythin for me.  Would using a couple of mangy supermarket spuds be okay?

OK, it seem we have a planting date



                         15th July..St Swithans day


and so far joining us are..

Me....................Charlottes and a forgotten name one I shall call "Who Knows"
gwynethmary.........Kestrels
manicscousers.........Sharpes Express
Early pea................??
Jayb......................Charlottes and maybe Blue Danube
Digeroo..................  Red Duke of York
Lottie Lou...............Supermarket
Canendula..............Annabelle or Homeguard
Graceland..............??
onionsquash............Sarpo Mira.. welcome to you XX
Jim the Worzel........Sharpes Express.

OK next  few thing,as it might help the newbies

Pots or ground and if pots what size and what soil? If ground what protection.Ideas please

Fertilisation  plans?Ideas please

Chitting yes/no

Are we going to have an official harvesting day?  When?

Are we going to have an official firkling day? When?

Any other ideas, help always welcome.

How many of us are able to post pictures?


XX Jeannine

PS is you can't join us to play, we would enjoy a cheerleading group ;D

http://www.gardenertube.com/watch/e131bfc9d98363e55d1d/second-croppers

Thank you Jim, I had a time hearing the clip but I think it is my laptop whose audio is poor.


I finally managed to pluck up the courage to tip out one of the tubs I was growind my Charlottes in that I planted in the Spring before I got my lottie.

I uses 2 tubers and got 13 really good sized ones back and some walnut sized ones( the bigger would cut into 3 pieces for boiling if compared to how I would prepare old ones)

So I was quite happy with that.

I think I could do better, the pots I used were narrow at the bottom and about 16 across the top, looked like oversized regular plant pots. Next time I would use something that didn't waste so much bottom space. I am thinking in terms of a large storage box with drainage holes added, to give an idea of the size it would hold about three average sized growbags.

XX Jeannine

I was thinking I'd do mine in strong black plastic sacks, use ericaceous compost, and move them into the greenhouse if frost threatens.  I thought I'd quite like to do one lot aiming for my birthday (October 15th), and leave the others for as long as possible aiming at Christmas Day.  When I grew the last lot it was easy to tell  were ready because I could feel the hard lumps through the bag, and so I didn't really need to "firkle" (just love that word!)

we have 2 leaf bags with holes in the bottom and handles on(B&M 1.99)..we also have pot movers for them, again, cheapo ones..we will plant outside then move them into the poly if it becomes cold like last year, I have some ordinary soil and will mix some chicken pellets or bfb in with it, it's the watering when they're inside I'll have to watch out for , too little, no crop, too much, rot..rain water on the leaves, blight  ;D
chitting, it depends if they chit between now and then  ;D

Him Gwynne, can you explain the choice to use  erinacious compot pleas,

XX Jeannine

I read (somewhere!) that potatoes prefer acidic soil, and so I thought , as I had a bag of ericacous compost, that I would use it for my challenge potato back in February. As I had a crop of nice healthy poatoes I thought I'd do it again.  Perhaps I should try some in a multi purpose as well, just to test out the theory.

Go on then, I might as well give it a bash.
Rockets or Kestrels
Planted in toy tubs in a sunny spot
Leaf mould to plant in with spud ferilizer
Fleecing when it starts to get cold.
;D ;D ;D

Oooh this is sounding more and more fun  ;D
Looking forward to hearing how the different varieties and methods do.

Mine will be going into compost bags with approx 35l of multi purpose compost with organic chicken pellets mixed in, 2 tubers in each. If I have any potato bags free I'll also use them with 4-5 tubers per bag, filled as above. Although it seems more normal to top up with compost as they grow I'm going to fill the bags full after I plant. This has been working well for my spring grown tubers.

My tubers are already chitted as they are spring kept ones, but I find they grow very quickly when planted late in the year and would not worry if I had tubers not ready chitted.

I'm hoping, if we plant on the 15th to have some ready from mid October onwards, as long as blight avoids them long enough. I'll be leaving the remainder in bags to harvest as needed. I love mashed potato with Christmas dinner well potato and swede mashed to be exact so for me the treat would be new potatoes on Boxing Day, fantasitic ;D

Look forward to seeing other progress pictures and I'll try and post some as we go
x

If you fill your compost sack up at the beginning, won't it be too heavy for humping into the greenhouse when the weather gets cold?  Also does anyone think that my really mangy shrivelled Anyas will be any good for planting rather than my rather mangy supermarket ones or do you think I should save some of my Pentland Javelin after I harvest them in a couple of weeks time?

Going on my frost dates I think mine will remain outside, maybe a bit of fleece if it looks risky. I think 35ltrs should be manageable if I do need to move them.

Have you got a picture of how the tubers look now as there is still a little time to go before planting? If they are very chrivelled maybe it would be better to try with Pentland J or perhaps some of each?

Sorry I got muddled up with the size - I was thinking of the 70L bags

Well I got a really big Rubbermaid box today and a bale of Sunshine mix 4 so I am all ready   to go. I have a sack of organic fertiliser just right for spuds
I am going to start them out on the lottie to get the sun and pop a plastic tent over them as I do with toms to keep off the blight. They should be OK for a bit.When it starts to get cold I shall bring them home and set them on my balcony. I shall be planting some Charlottes kindly sent to me recently  by a smashing friend  who kept some back from Spring planting, they have chits on them. I am  also  planting one or two of the newly harvested Charlottes which grew from spuds sent over by the same pal earlier this year..although it was tough not  to eat them...they are my seed spuds for next year as I can't get Charlottes here.

I have some Charlottes in flower too so am hoping they set seeds pods as they did in the UK so fingers crossed I will have some TPS too.

Thank you all for joining in

XX Jeannine

Oh I am getting excited about this.

I am going to take part with some sprouting supermarket new spuds  (should be ok don't you think ? )

But  i could put them in   early  ie  before :D the 10th July or just after the 18th as i,m away on that week

Hi, welcome..I don't think it is critical to a few days, I doubt any of us are treating this as a contest.. more a trial and a bit of fun


Question for somebody..just how small can a seed potato be..is bigger,better or doesn't it matter. Could I for example plant the small walnut size ones I dug up a few days ago?
XX Jeannine

I've had good results from smaller tubers, but had a search and thought these were quite intresting;

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,57896.0.html

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,48764.0.html

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,38754.0.html

I couldn't remember how long potato dormancy lasts but apparently averages 60 days. For those planning on planting recently harvested tubers have a look at this link
http://www.potato.org.uk/department/sbeu/smg/content.html?content=5

Good info Jayb, thank you for the links.I want to have alook around here and see if i can find anything else being sold off cheap, something new to us.

I found a tomato site today, sounded  wonderful..till I checked it out.. Tomatobobs folks..oh bejeebers stay away from that one.

XX Jeannin e

I have just had a look at this thread, yes I would like to join in please. I shall do Kestrels. Dont know what in yet.......great idea Jeannine ;D!!

so, going by the dormancy info does that mean it is better to plant a chitted slightly dried out spud from any variety than to plant a wettish newly pulled 1st early which is likely to rot  :-\

me too, kestrels in 40 litre tubs, John Innes 3 and Levingtons shrub and tree compost, my compost,  on plot but moved to greenhouse as soon as foliage starts to get big. July 15th sounds good to me but if I haven't yet had my kestrels up, will go with Foremost.

Quote from: calendula on June 27, 2010, 08:15:53
so, going by the dormancy info does that mean it is better to plant a chitted slightly dried out spud from any variety than to plant a wettish newly pulled 1st early which is likely to rot  :-\

It does sound like you will have more luck with chitted dried out ones particularly if newly harvested pots have a dormancy of 60 days they are going to be sitting in compost for a wee while. I think I'm going to have a go to see what happens if I place a couple of newly harvested tubers on the shelf in the green house and a couple somewhere cooler, and plant on or just after the 15th, although I don't think 2 weeks is quite long enough? Worth a try to see :)

to plant by the agreed date I am now opting for an unknown variety (shop bought) but is last year's main crop that is chitted

I read something a few days ago, sorry forgot to save the link, will try to find it.

It was spuds grown in potato boxes, that is like mini raised beds but as the foliage grows you slip another layer  of wood on so they can go quite tall. The theory is that the higher you go, the more spuds you will have as they grow from the buried stem..BUT.. there was a point that the earlies still only grew in the bottom six inches or so. I have noticed this doing spuds in post and have always used earlies but apparently of you grow lates, they are in the pot long enough to grow up the stem!!!

So... I am going to test this and grow a couple of lates in a similar set up and see what , if  any, the difference is.

I will try to find the article.

XX Jeannine

Bump, are you getting ready folks XX Jeannine

tatoes at the ready  ;D

Potatoes and tubs at the ready, unfortunately blight is too! But hey nothing ventured......

I've got red duke of york, home guard, swift & Nicola ::) :o. Don't ask. Most of them have 6'' long chits on them. Do I take those off please? I have an area behind the potting shed, will they be OK there & then into the GH or potting shed & are the florist buckets any use or do they need to be bigger?

 Granny ---I have loads of those buckets that I was going to use. I was only going to plant one seed potato to each bucket! What do you think ?

DUke

All ready to go here XX Jeannine

Don't know Duke, sorry. Someone will let us know. Just remembered I've got some pink fur apple too ::).

I would love to join you all in planting for Christmas. I have this years Charlotte which I have just started to harvest, and will go to the supermarket tomorrow and see what I can find. I have a spare bag of ericaceous compost and some ordinary. I will grow in both and see which is most successful. I will also use Hessian bags which the supermarkets sell as bags for life. They are only cheap and hopefully they will last the season.  I am really looking forward to seeing the outcome later in the year.

Queenbee. If I knew what was in the stinky compost grow bags I might consider them ;) ;) ;). Still debating.

Quote from: grannyjanny on July 11, 2010, 14:00:45
I've got red duke of york, home guard, swift & Nicola ::) :o. Don't ask. Most of them have 6'' long chits on them. Do I take those off please? I have an area behind the potting shed, will they be OK there & then into the GH or potting shed & are the florist buckets any use or do they need to be bigger?

If the shoots are really wispy you may need to take the worst ones off, if they look fat and chunky leave them on. Your aiming for a quick turn-around, First Earlies are probably best followed by second earlies, so maybe not Pink Fir Apple  :)

If the area you have in mind gets lots of sunshine and is fairly sheltered, they should do well. If you have a spare bit of fleece you could use that later on if frost threatens.

Florist buckets sound fine, I've not used them but agree with Duke, one tuber per bucket.

Queenbee, I often think the hessian bags could be very handy to grow veggies in, if they are large ones, you might be able to squeeze 2 in.

Quote from: Jayb on June 26, 2010, 10:22:42
I couldn't remember how long potato dormancy lasts but apparently averages 60 days. For those planning on planting recently harvested tubers have a look at this link
http://www.potato.org.uk/department/sbeu/smg/content.html?content=5

I think it does depend a lot on the variety though.  I was thinking of using my recently harvested Charlottes and/or Mayan Queen so I was looking for more specific info and didn't want to go to the expense of buying in more.  In the end I don't think I can join in for this year, because I wanted to do it outside and I need the vacant space for other things.

But thought I'd share the info in case it helps anyone else.

I can't find specific info on the popular first/second early varieties, but this doc indicates that you can break dormancy in recently harvested potatoes, particularly in earlies by using cold and heat.
http://www.cipotato.org/library/pdfdocs/ResGuide32465.pdf

It says keeping early maturing varieties in a dark, warm room (18-25 degrees C) until they sprout - airing cupboard?

and/or cold treatment, again works best on early maturing varieties.  Kept at 4 degrees C for 2 weeks then put in a warm dark room as above.

Unfortunately, there isn't time to do that for this year if you're going for the 15 July, but useful for next maybe.

The Mayans have very poor dormancy rates so they could be used immediately after harvest
Mayan Queen

QuoteThey do not store well and are replanted very soon after harvest in areas of South America where 2-3 crops a year are possible.

http://www.alanromans.com/p-2031-mayan-queen.aspx

They are early maincrop, but I've found Mayan Queen grows very quickly more like a second early.  Mayan Gold seems a lot later.

Certainly won"t be using Jab's grannyjanny, that has all be used as a mulch in my flower garden. Have some good stuff from a plant nursery that makes their own. Looking forward to this project and the outcome from everyone taking part.

THree of us at work are going to give it a go. I picked up some bags of first earlies when the shops were having a clear out and I reckon that by keeping them bright but cool they're in good enough condition to try it.....Perntalnd Javelin, Sharpes Express and Red DOY...will prolly go for four tubs (got loads more PJ than the others) so a tub of each in mixed soil, compost and manure adn then an experimental PJ in pure horse manure.....

chrisc

Wow, well I make that 19 of us, that is great.. it will be great fun and I am certain we will all learn a lot from each other.

So just 3 days to go.. are we all ready, I guess being mid week we could say plant by Sunday so we are all on the same page!!


Photos will be good by the way, if anyone has the time, I would really enjoy seeing what we are all planting in. I will be in pots on a shady balcony so it will beintersting tgo compare with those of you who have the light to help you.

Has anyone given any thought as to what sort of soil they are using yet.

XX Jeannine

Please can i join in, 15th July is my Dad's birthday and as his last name is Sharp guess which variety i am going to plant ;D  Going to put some Charlottes in as well in my newly built raised bed and fleece the bed when needed. Using garden topsoil  and homemade compost. Grown them in flower buckets before but not in a bed, might put some in bucket  as well just to be sure of some for christmas.

Welcome.. be careful of the bed over winter though, even with fleece it might be far too cold.what do others think. I have never done that.

XX Jeannine

planted  my 2 'unknown shop bought' variety in a large tub today and it is staying in the greenhouse for the duration - decided on using these main crop spuds (last year's) because they were well chitted and should give a head start  :-\ who knows - good luck  ;D

ours go in tomorrow, fingers crossed for no blight  ;D

I ordered my Christmas seed taters from D.T.Browns a few days ago. They say delivery time is after 1st August. They are Carlingford. Mine will be planted in a compost bag turned inside out and rolled down with 6'' of compost to plant in. They will be started off outside, but when the weather cools, the bag will then go in the green house. Can't wait to plant.

Will try to get mine in at the weekend.  OH chucked my supermarket spuds out as they were mangy.  Bin men on strike but I didn't really fancy sorting through the smelly bin bag so will have to use my well chitted Anyas.  Doing them in large pots down at the lottie.

So what's best to plant Rocket earlies or 2nd Kestrels.    :-\ :-\ :-\

                               OK IT IS PLANTING TIME ST SWITHAN'S  DAY

So today here in BC it is a beautiful day, no sign of rain, so if the St Swithan's day fable is correct, that is what we will have for 40 days..how about you in your area?

Playing along on our Potatoes for Christmas game are 23 keen spuddies.

De88ie with Sharps Express and Charlottes
Manics with Sharpes Express
JayB with Charlottes and possibly Blue Danube
Gwynnethmary with Kestrels
Digeroo with Red Duke of York
Loyyie Lou with Anyas
Calandula with Annabelle or Homeguard
Graceland with Spermarket Specials
Onion Squash with Sarpo Mira
Jim the Worzel with Sharpes Express
Cornykev with Rocket or Kestrels
Star with Kestrels
Campanula with Kestrels
Grannyjanny with Red Duke of York.Pink Fir Apple,Nicola, Swift or Homeguard
Duke Ellington with Anja  and Charlotte
Queenbee with Charlottes
Chriss Cross with Petland Javelin
Chriss Cross friend 1 with Sharpes
Chris Cross friend 2 with Red Duke of York
Amazing Rotavator with Carlinford
Me with Charlottes and BC Supermarket specials


Wow,we are going to have a good experiment here, we have many varieties, different maturity dates, some unknown Supermarket Specials, all in different soils, containers and situations, even some in shade.

So good luck everyone, get your spuds going, hopefully all will be tucked in by the weekend.

It would be interesting to hear how you are all doing the planting, eg a bit of soil and fill in as they grow, full bin to start with etc.

Who is outside, who is inside. eg greenhouse, balcony, conservatory, raised bed with or without fleece.

Who is planning on fertilising and with what. Who's are chitted and who's not,

So I wonder who will be the fist to see the green!!

Oh and I cancelled the blight, so we are not going to worry about that are we?

To start us off. I am using a big Rubbermaid storage box, I will  put about 8 inches of soil in , put my chitted  spuds with eyes UP on the soil, then cover with about 3 inches of soil.I will give then a very light sprinkle of Organic all purpose fertiliser.

Calendula is planted bang on time, well done. Planted 2 unknowns already chitted., in large tub and they are living in the greenhouse.


This  is starting to get interesting!! Don't forget to post what the weather was like when you posted if on St Swithains day.

XX Jeannine

Sorry Jeannine - I'm out, not in.  Posted that a page or so ago, but buried in waffle and easily missed.

Don't have any potatoes nor a place to put them once the frost hits  ::)

Oh sorry, but please tag along and cheer us on XX Jeannine

Oh yes !!

Sorry Jeannine I will be doing Anya and Charlotte potatoes. Not quite ready to plant yet but will do by the weekend.

I've not had a chance to plant yet, hopefully I will on sat or Sunday  :)

Wish I had room in my greenhouse - can't move for other stuff.  Doing minee on the lottie in a bin and a couple of large tubs acquired whilst passing interesting skips.

Right, after reading up on Hessayon's vegtable expert I will be using my rockets in a big tub on the lottie, fleeced when it starts to get cold.     ;D ;D ;D

seems obvious but this might be useful as it gives a list of those to avoid if blight is a problem in early autumn - methinks July 15th might have been a tad early for xmas  :-\

http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/plant_sow_veg_bymonth/plant_sow_august.asp

here we go, first 3 old spuds in ordinary soil with a bit of bfb  ;D
second ones in the dwarf french bag full of old manure, they will be finished next week and cut off, leaving the roots to feed the spuds, bit of bfb in there, too
oops, forgot the pics

It was early for Christmas deliberately, figured we might beat a bit of the cold and stand more chance, they will keep OK in the soil after the leaves die off or can be brought in and put in the fridge till Christmas day.Plus folks are planting in tubs not in the ground,

XX Jeannine

Mine are in ow....

oops I forgot, mine went in yesterday on time..planted at midnight, I have got to get a life!! XX Jeannine

Raised bed built and charlottes in ;D Sharps going in buckets tomorrow just in case of blight, thanks for the list of potatoes prone to blight. Will upload pics later this week when other 2 raised beds finished.

Ahhhh, I'm still well behind and not going to have a chance to plant before this weekend  :(
Anyone else still to plant?

I think a few of us.. I will have a tot up later tonight XX Jeannine

Put Mine In On Sunday 18th in Bags

Only a few checked in so far. Manics, Lottie Lou,Me,Debbie and Graceland.. still waiting for the others.

Is it coincidence that they nearly are all ladies.. come on fellas, where are you?

XX Jeannine

ate the kestrel by mistake, so will change mine to Nadine and try to plant on Sunday!

I'm not going to put mine in just yet.  :-\         ;D ;D ;D

Quote from: cornykev on July 23, 2010, 18:32:14
I'm not going to put mine in just yet.  :-\         ;D ;D ;D

:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

Ah, I'me gonna tell.. he is wanting real Christmas ones..bet ya XX Jeannine

Mine are not in either  :-[ but will report in when I do .

completely forgot! My potatoes were such total rubbish this year. after weeks and weeks without a drop of rain, they are the size of marbles and the texture of ball-bearings so keen to have another punt. Never done it before though so I am just gonna use some of this years Kestrel (the biggest, obviously) in raised beds with cloching later in season. Will plant Saturday, 24th July. cheers, suzy

Quote from: cornykev on July 23, 2010, 18:32:14
I'm not going to put mine in just yet.  :-\         ;D ;D ;D

hmmmm, correct as usual  ;D - I've got haulms showing through already in my big tub in the greenhouse and xmas seems a long way off, will have to start another tub methinks  :o but will have to be a saved second early if I can get it to chit a bit - will let you know

I will start mine on the 31st July :)

Mine are just starting to poke through now out on the allotment - I''ve operated a hot desk system, they went in straight after the earlies were finished. But a case of Sods Law - I chose Sarpo Mira because after years of bad blight I reckoned it was the only one that would survive, and guess what, I should have gone for a drought-resistant one instead. Now I can look forward to not-particularly-tasty spuds at Christmas!

Mine are just poking through in bags going to cover with compost again tomorrow

Drat mine haven't shown at all

Panic not..neither have mine XX Jeannine

Quote from: Jeannine on July 15, 2010, 18:51:21

Chriss Cross with Petland Javelin
Chriss Cross friend 1 with Sharpes
Chris Cross friend 2 with Red Duke of York

Correction, I'm growing all three, so are my friends.... All seem to have survived and shoots are sprouting.... currently in 5" pots, will move up to tebs this weekend....

Mines going to be ready way before xmas at this rate  ;D

I got shoots!!! XX Jeannine

 ::) ::) ::)

mine have been earthed up twice now  :o

Oh your just showing off ;D ;D

Mine have poked through again after earthing up and are obviously reaching for the light as they are in shade. Can I put just peat over them. It is not endangered here and I have a big bale but have run out of potting soil.

XX Jeannine

sorry to report that I missed the planting date, but have finally got round to it today!  I'm also unsure whether I've planted a Dadine or a Charlotte as I dug some from both sides of the bed and they got mixed up in the carrier bag!  I'm not enough of an expert to be able to tell them apart yet, but I guess I'll learn.  I've just planted one, in a black sack in ericaceous compost, and popped it straight into the greenhouse.

Charlotte are oval and white, not round . I don't know the other oneXX Jeannine

Quote from: Jeannine on August 02, 2010, 23:58:56
Charlotte are oval and white, not round . I don't know the other oneXX Jeannine

Nadine are also oval and white.  They have purple eyes, and they have a lovely texture and taste.  I bought them from Wilkinsons.  Being a newbie to all this, I'd never actually heard of most of the varieties until this year, and had no idea there were so many!

With pink eyes they could be Kestrel

Quote from: Jeannine on August 02, 2010, 20:37:40
Oh your just showing off ;D ;D

Mine have poked through again after earthing up and are obviously reaching for the light as they are in shade. Can I put just peat over them. It is not endangered here and I have a big bale but have run out of potting soil.

XX Jeannine

;D but will have to plant more cos these are going to be far too early and could be like a slightly late maincrop - regarding peat - I would use what you've got that is compatible, seems silly to waste it

I have bought the Browns second cropping selection which just arrived, I was late placing an oreer.
Instructions say plant straight away and do not chit, so I will keep them  in a cool washouse untill can plant.
Just took on the allotment plot you see. All the briars and raspberries cut down and waiting for re growth before spraying, not had any rain to speak of for months, oh and no water supply on allotment, I like a challenge 8)
Nettles just getting big enough to spray so will do so asap and rotovate about a week to ten days after, so I am assuming middle to the end of August planting.

Quote from: davyw1 on August 03, 2010, 08:51:39
With pink eyes they could be Kestrel

No, not Kestrel- we've eaten all of those!

 ::) mine are still waiting for me to get into gear and plant them!
But very encouraging to hear how quickly they are growing.

You are being sensible Jay, ours will be ready before Christmas..XX Jeannine

Just read this thread but want to join in , have got Charlottes dug up this year so do I just plant them or do I have to chit them help please. x

No need to chit, Jay did say earlier in the post about a waiting time so I don't know how crucial that is, I have planted them quite fresh in the past and it seemed to be OK but maybe a waiting time  gives a better harvest or something.

XX Jeanni8ne

Thank you Jeannine but I have to admit if I had had the chance I would have planted them by now, I've found better the quick growth now to produce a better harvest while the weather is still ok. Yes they are ready before Christmas, but keep very well tucked up in their containers, sort of an early Christmas pressie waiting to be unwraped  ;D

Blight seems to be the biggest hazzard, I think we have have had 6 or 7 Full Smith periods in my area in the last fortnight!

I've not tried it before but from the info I've come across potatoes seem to have a dormancy period of about 6 weeks from harest, this can be helped along by keeping tubers in warm conditions before planting them. I've put aside some freshly harvested tubers from this year, some just in a shed and some I've put somewhere warm, but where? I'm sure they will turn up sometime  ;D

Yes there is a link re potato dormancy earlier in the thread.

Are you sure you didn't post them to me ;D ;D

They are growing nicely

XX Jeannine

OK, OK, I know I'm a little late ::), but I fancy some christmas potatoes too  ;D

So, I'm going to plant some tomorrow and see what happens. I dont know what variety yet. I have a few spuds in the fridge waiting to be eaten, so I'll give them a go.

No laughing when mine turn out to be like marbles ::)

c x

Growing marbles eh Caroline, well we have a big collection of marbles here John  has all his from being a boy  plus  plus.. so we know a bit about them.I bet mine are smaller than yours

XX Jeannine

I shall  be planting mine by the weekend in black dustbins that I forgot about and they have soil sieved in them already.    ;D ;D ;D

Lucky you! I have to go fill my pots  :(

Plenty of compost though, so no real problem  :)

c x

Mine are in trouble.On the covered balcony in the shade, the shoots are stretching to the light, They are covered with soil as much as possible but no more depth in the container now.

My aim is to get some Charlottes to maturity so that I can grow them in the new year, I have 6 in the fridge from this years planting but am not sure if they will keep over, I am told they are iffy.

XX Jeannine

How is everybody doing?

XX Jeannine

well i have covered mine over again bit i think they will be ready before xmas
???

Mine went in on Sunday. They were some Estima that were sitting in the fridge.

No sign yet though :( Of course I am not impatient ::)

c x

ours are showing at last  ;D

My three rockets went in a black dustbin on Sunday, with a mixture of soil, manure and dalek compost, staked with a bamboo stick ready for the fleece when it gets colder.      ;D ;D ;D

mine now
(http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv277/GRACELAND_01/P1140362.jpg)

I am sooooo not jealous >:(

I have just planted some Charlotte that I had forgotten to plant earlier

Welcome to A4A hedgeman, good choice  :).

I am so glad I have finally managed to plant my Charlottes and Adam's Blue this weekend. Gone for the earthed up approached so guess I won't be seeing them for a while, but hey they may miss a bit of blight!

Ok so I am very late but I have just planted my charlotte and anya in black floral buckets today.  I still think its going to be interesting seeing how mine do. ;D
So the bottom line is I am about a month later that the rest of you.

Duke :)

Most of my potatoes are all up, not as forward as Graceland but growing on well. Adam's Blue is growing strongly, a few of the Charlottes have failed to show  :-\

I've just noticed blight on some of my maincrops so fingers crossed Christmas ones are ok, I did give them a spray yesterday.  A long way off cropping  :-\

How's everyone elses doing?

Couple of hard frosts and the tops of my second crop potatoes have dissolved. I planted Sarpo Mira, which grew well and didn't get blight, which would probably have finished off other varieties. I've piled the contents of the compost heap on top to keep them frost-free until Christmas. But I couldn't resist digging a root - a good crop of medium tubers and they tasted OK too - I find Sarpos a bit tasteless when grown as a maincrop. So lets see if the slugs leave them alone and they don't deteriorate between now and Christmas!

Mine have gone by the way.       :'( :'( :'(

Mine too are gone..not blight, no sign of that at home on my ppatio, and they were toasty warm, but not enough light, the greenery got to be three feet high and sp spindly it was clearly wrong so I gave up..not a sign of any tubers when I dumped the soil, so insufficient light!!

XX Jeannine

frost has finished the tops of ours off, not had time to put them under cover :(
will turn them out on saturday to see if there's anything in there  :)

THe Pentland Javelins stopped of their own accord a couple of weeks ago and have died down, the rest went into the polytunnel but it looks like the frost we had was too sharp.... I'll see if they've picked up in a couple of weeks and if not then I';ll tip them out and see what's there....twas fun, cost me nothing financiall;y so anything that they prduce is a bonus, though not sure as to what I'll do with a bunch of small new potatoes if that's all I've got from it....

chrisc

I had to abandon mine because our son was in hospital for nearly 2 months but when I looked today there were about 10 decent sized spuds so I pulled them to eat today but they wouldn't have got any better than this - these were in a greenhouse so I would definitely do this again next year with less expectation  ;D

 :'( we got 6 spuds from 3 seed, not too good, next year will put them i the poly early  ;D

Well I realise that mine were put in too late :-[  I have no leaves or sign of any growth whatsoever!! I dug through one of my buckets thinking I was going to find a rotten potato but I found a perfect potato. that thinks its in storage for the winter ??? The buckets are outside the greenhouse. So what do I do now? I think I will buy mine from the supermarket.

Duke

My tops are all dead looking too and I'm not very hopeful they had time to produce a crop, but I'll empty the bags on Boxing day  ???

Quote from: Duke Ellington on November 06, 2010, 15:02:04
Well I realise that mine were put in too late :-[  I have no leaves or sign of any growth whatsoever!! I dug through one of my buckets thinking I was going to find a rotten potato but I found a perfect potato. that thinks its in storage for the winter ??? The buckets are outside the greenhouse. So what do I do now? I think I will buy mine from the supermarket.

Duke

I put mine in a black sack in the greenhouse when we launched the experiment, but I found just the same as you- a perfect potato and nothing else!  It was a charlotte I'd dug up from the lottie.  I might eat it.

mine are still going well and are coming into the porch tonight, hoping they will keep going strong as they were planted late

Same as Duke and Mary the rockets never even sprouted so I ate them.  ;D ;D ;D

Bump!    for Onionsquash.   ;)     ;D ;D ;D