Allotments 4 All

It is easy to lose sight of the fact that the earlies are there to use early and enjoy small and skinless and sweet and delicate and delectable.
It seems to me pointless to wait until they resemble an asteroid before consuming.
Pull em up and enjoy ;D ;D ;D

mine sure do have a lot of flowers, think it might be time to start using some of them ? ? ?

Have a firtle and see.

Hello - this is my first time in this forum and the first time I have attempted to grow my own. I have a very small vege patch and have therefore chosen to grown my pots in bags.

I planted my first earlies in early March and seconds about a month later...problem is they have growen very tall and seem to be falling over and the leaves seem to be vanishing before my eyes. I pulled up one plant yesterday (from firsts) and got 4 marble sized potatoes (which were delicious albiet hardly a meal) - my firsts are not flowering but my seconds are...?

Could you possibly give me some idea as to what to do - I am awfully excited about my pots but don't want to take up too early.

Many thanks

hiya, AB south, welcome to the site  ;D
as Robert says, have a gentle feel around the roots, jst re-cover if they're too small  :)

Thanks! had a feel around and there were some bigger ones on there so have taken some up. At the same time found some rather huge slugs with orange colour around the outside....any clues? Also found some rotten pots and the carlottes have gone a funny brown colour with speckled skin - they are a little soft.

Not sure if the first try was too successful however have about 4 dinners worth...always next time!

When is the latest time to plant main crop?

Thanks for yout help...

To Sunner -  that`s just what mine look like at the mo - can`t remember what variety they were though! Let us know how you get on will you?

Mine are just at 8 weeks now but are seconds (didn't get any firsts this year as I find I eat more salads in July/Aug than June!) so have about 6 more weeks to go. Ho hum!

moonbells

Looking forward to my earlies but I am enquiring about 'guide lines' for lifting second earlies, early main and late main. Thompson & Morgan note 13 weeks, 15 weeks, 20 weeks but websites suggest upto 16, 24, and 30 weeks. Firkle I could but I planted them deep to save earthing up and I imagine I won't be able to push my hand in that deep.

As you've found, it's not an exact science so you won't know unless you have a look.  When to start looking?  Well, if you want a handful of marbles as per Tim, go for it at 8 weeks.  I'd have a first look around 10-11 weeks.  If they're very deep you may have to dig but you could try scraping the soil away with your hands first rather than sticking your hand in up to the elbow!

Planted 12th feb, dug up four plants Saturday, enough for three meals for the two of us, put two plants back in.  ;D ;D ;D

Quote from: Oldhippy on June 10, 2008, 09:42:31
To Sunner -  that`s just what mine look like at the mo - can`t remember what variety they were though! Let us know how you get on will you?

mine are Charlotte`s planted them at easter , just dug 4 plants up and got 4 and a half pound of studs .
was shocked at the size of them put a 2p there so you can see the size , big as fist some of them have had a lot of rain in southampton few weeks ago dont know if that had anyting to do with it ?

These are Pentland Javelin from last year, grown in containers from three seed potatoes and lifted after 51 days.



Joanne.

 Thanks Sunner - so mine are Charlottes are they? Oh good, I like them! :)
Looks as though it might be worth digging up a plant or two!