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Thought I would try some of these this year, they arrived about 6 weeks ago nice looking tubers
put them on top of the kitchen cabinet and then promptly went on holiday for 3 weeks when I finally
remembered I'd got them, they do look a sorry state all shrivelled up and dried out.
Will they still germinate ?

Soak them in water to see if they swell up again. If they do all could be well - if not then they are probably done for................

The tubers have swelled up nicely, whats the best way to keep them in tip top condition ready for planting

I always start mine off in 3" pots, so you could easily pot them up now in only slightly damp compost, leave them in a cold greenhouse or similar, and they should pop up in late March, depending on the weather. Reminds me, I still need to eat mine!

Nice veg. so easy to clean with that waxy skin and good both raw and cooked.

However they do spread rather a lot and can be difficult to find, remove and clean from clay - I recommend lining a trench with landscape/weed fabric and filling with light rich soil or compost.

Needless to say, on this system you dig them by trowel or gently by spade - no forks.

Pots work if you don't mind regular watering and smaller tubers.

Cheers.

Those nicely swelled up tubers have now turned black, not sure whether this is a good sign or not

Quote from: philistine on January 12, 2013, 08:56:29
Those nicely swelled up tubers have now turned black, not sure whether this is a good sign or not

Not good - I have seen this in only one year in the last 20 so it's pretty rare - I didn't eat the black bits but I can't remember how deep they went or even if I just dumped the blackened tubers entirely - I certainly would have given the black bits a wide berth...

It might be a touch of frost or waterlogging (that last rings a bell - especially with the conditions lately) and possibly some opportunistic bacterium has taken advantage of the original damage to produce the colour.

Hopefully someone else will have seen this recently and be more helpful.

Cheers.

That doesn't sound too promising to me either, but if they don't make it you are welcome to some of mine.