Allotments 4 All

This is my first season on my new allotment . There is still lots of clearing to be done but I managed to prepare a section to experiment on this year. 

Like any newbie, I am anxious to do the right thing but wet behind the ears.  I was hoping to plant out my potato seedlings this weekend but have read that the sprouts should be green and not white.  All of mine are white.  I wasn't quick in unpacking them upon arrival, when I opened the box last weekend I noticed that they all have started to sprout with white shoots.    I now have them sitting in egg boxes in a cool, light (not bright room).
I don't know what to do.   Should I rub the sprouts off & start again?  I have earlies, mains and some salad ones.    HELP !!

???    :-\     :-[    ???

P.S -   on a different note -  I have planted some peas in trays a couple of weeks ago, they seem to be happy enough.  How tall do they get before I have to start worrying about providing support for them to climb. At the moment a few of them are almost an inch high.      ::)

PANIC STATIONS...   I've only just begun and look at me   :o

I try to plant peas out when they're about three inches high, but you can let them get a bit bigger than that. I never knock the shoots off spuds, but if they get long, handle them carefully. You get stronger sprouts in a well-lit position.

Potatoes: put them on a window sill, preferably north facing so it doesn't get too much direct sun. In a week the sprouts should be green. You could rub off the mains shoots safely enough, but I'd try and live with the earlies as they are. Salads are not a potato type really, are they 1st earlies, 2nds or lates?... Variety name is fine.... For instance Mimi and Pink Fir Apple could both be described as "Salads", but Mimi is a 1st early, and PFA is a late maincrop.....

Peas about 4-6 inches.... I guess

chrisc

I got very distracted and left my potatoes in their bags in the dark for too long, so they developed long white fragile shoots. I rubbed them off, and set them out on window sills, and they now (a month later) have short, strong, dark shoots. I have grown a lot of potatoes over the last 10 years, and I am not at all worried about these, if only the weather would warm up so that I can plant them.

This time last year, I started planting in the last week of February and got a terrific crop which we expect to be eating for another 2 months at least.

on the subject of peas, i was told to pop them straight in the ground but on reading here is
it best to start them off indoors ?
not grown peas before

thanks

Right now I'd be putting them in indoors... either module sow them or chit on damp kitchen roll in a bag.... the ground is still cold so chances are they'd rot if they went in now, plus the mice are starving so they'd probably have them out.....

chrisc

I always start them in pots. When I first had the plot, I was getting hardly anything coming up. then I cloched a row, and got excellent germination. I'm convinced the problem was pigeons. Round-seeded ones would probably survive until the soil warmed up, but there wouldn't be any point putting them in now and leaving them at the mercy of anything hungry that was passing. Wrinkle-seeded varieties rot all too easily. I'll probably plant some round-seeded varieties when we get the next mild spell.

I grow mine up wigwams, a different variety on each, and I put the supports in when I plant them out.

ours in guttering are up about 1", they're in the poly and covered with some fleece  ;D

I want to thank everyone for their contributions, much appreciated.  Sometimes I feel a bit daunted by the prospect of managing my allotment for the first year.   I want everything to come out perfect but in reality I know that there are going to be failures, just as there will be some success stories.

Quote from: Buckeye Girl on March 05, 2010, 23:08:18

PANIC STATIONS...   I've only just begun and look at me   :o

Weclome to A4A Buckeye Girl  :D  

I saw a Charlie Brown cartoon strip years agao and he said "don't panic picnic"  ;D  
1066

Hi Buckeye Girl.
Don't think of them as failures – they are learning experiences, and we are all still learning!

You may also find it useful to keep a note of when you have sown/planted things this year, then you will be able to look back and work out what you did right, and what didn't work for you. Most people plant/sow too early generally, and the plants struggle to do well with low night temperatures.

Having said that, the more experienced you get, the more you are tempted to push the envelope and try and get really early crops! But it takes a lot more effort, using more cloches and fleece and mollycoddling generally. ;D

Welcome to A4A

If the sprouts are white they have chitted in the dark

They want light to chit properly.

I've planted spuds which have chitted in the dark several times. they grow with no problems. After all, they'll chit in the dark underground!

The only difficulty is that if the chits are long, they're easily broken off, and get tangled.

To Buckeye Girl,
Every year some things will be failures and others successes. It is hard work but over time you learn things that make it less work. Look at me. A few years in and I still have never successfully grown radishes or carrots!! And yet I manage perfectly parsnips, garlic, tomatoes and aubergines, which some people have problems with! It all depends on the soil and climate. One year peas will be great, the next you will have about 10 all told! and so on.
Spuds I find grow pretty much no matter what punishment you give them! I always plant them very deep and never have problems with the cold as they take a while to break through. Don't worry if they have long chits, some people don't chit at all and still get spuds. Just try not to break too many chits when you plant.
Remember that the first vocation of any plant is to grow and thrive! Good luck and welcome!