Allotments 4 All

This may have been asked before...apologies if so.

I have just taken delivery of a 25kg sack of Carlingford seed potatoes from Tuckers for Late new spuds!!

Having shared them with a mate I am left with 28 lbs of seed. Due to the cost I am extremely keen to make sure they show some return.

I understand that they need to go in ASAP, are there any other specific rules I need to follow regarding earthing up and protecting against frost etc?

Thanks in advance for any tips!

We last grew Carlingford in '97. Went in 11/7 & we lifted from 15/12 -10/3. By which time they were quite cold (!) but good.

Thanks Tim, what sort of yield can I expect?

Do they need any frost protection other than normal earthing up?

We didn't do more than the normal earthing up & the yield was 'a boiling'.

I too am thinking of Christmas Spuds, returning some of the International Kidney into buckets, to be kept in the greenhouse from about mid October.

We grew them in the tunnel one year and found that they got blight almost straight away. We then read somewhere that you really need to spray against it as soon as the first leaves appear. We normally use copper sulphate and this seems to work ok.

Do you need to protect them from the frost ? Or is it ok just to leave them in the ground ?

So far I have only found one greedy slug munching my tatties - but hoping that slugs won't be too much of problem for late ground potatoes ?

I left them in the ground & was lucky not to get too much slug damage.

Well. they are in....all 6 x 30' rows of them!!

Thanks for the advice Tim & Eric.

(much crossing of fingers etc!)

we tried some a couple of years ago, and the frost did see them off - didn't go and check, and the fleece and cloches we'd put on had come away.

They did recover however the following spring and we did get a crop - just 6 months late!

Joolieeee

We've grown these several times & have never done anything special to them. The main problem we have found is ensuring they get enough water when they've just been planted out. Just got some in this year having not grown them for a couple of years when we've relied on Pink Fir Apples left in the ground for a while.

what a lovely idea - picking spuds for christmas dinner! would it be too late to get seed potatoes now?

not sure - we have just planted ours out but we ordered them months ago. Try T&M.

Daisymay, I am just replanting some of my new potatoes, after leaving them in the light for a while . . .

Joolieeee, nice to see you posting again. I must pop up and say hello. I am on holiday from next monday for two weeks, but just let me know (via pm) when you will be around . . .  :D

Daisymay,

We just bought ours from Edwin Tuckers...but several companies seem to sell them. Order quickly or you will be too late!