Is it worth growing potatoes ?

mirry

I am looking at the potatoe seeds on suttons web site .

It says its £8.95 for 2kg of potato seeds , which seems such alot of money to me BUT how many potatos would i get from this ?

any advice please

orangemonkey1

hi mirry
i bought some potato seeds from WILKINSONS (yes really wilkinsons of all places!) and they cost around £2 for a bag of 2kg.
This is the 1st year i have grown potatoes, in fact 1st year i've grown anything, and when i first got into it i was looking on sites such as suttons and marshalls, but don't bother cos they're pricey. Go to your local gardeners or Wilkinsons and shop around. I think most seeds are sold much earlier in the year though so you may have limited choice of stockists. Mine are nearly ready to harvest.
Not sure how many potatos per plant you'll get though.
I've planted mine will let you know the average when i start to harvest. However, as this is a MSE site, in true getting most of your money style here is a trick i read about to get loads out of your potato plant. Get an old big tyre filled with compost, plant the seeds, when they start sprouting, put another tyre over the top fill up with a layer of compost just enough so that the top of the plant is still visible, then as the plant continues to grow upwards keep putting more compost around it eventually adding more tyres etc etc. When the plants are ready to harvets they will have potatoes all the way down. This is called earthing up or something. You can do it without old tyres like barrels etc or in the ground just by raising the earth around the plants, but apparently tyres are the best way because you can pile them as high as you like and its easier to dig them out as you can take off a layer at a time. Haven't done it yet, lack of tyres and space. Google earthing up potatoes and see what comes up. Hope this helps!

kprice580

Hi,
I'm new to this e.g only logged on yesterday!!! lol

i've been reading through a lot of threads this morning and found out that you can use ordinary shop bought potatoes that have sprouted!
All you do is when you have a sprouted potato put a little soil in the bottom of a tub pop in a potato in and cover with a little soil/copmost, when you see shoots coming up cover again with more soil/compost, repeat this untill you have filled the tub.

After that I'm not sure !

I've started one this morning so will keep you updated as to when I see shoots appear and I re-cover them etc etc.

HTH
Katy x x

kazwookie

Buy cheaper else where if you can.

We are having a spud weigh in, so when they are grown, tell me how many kgs or lbs !!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1032771

hex2

mirry,

I bought my seed potatoes loose from a local garden centre who sold them by weight so do shop around. It worked out about 2p per spud! Each one has resulted in a plant, each plant has given us at least enough pots for a family of 4. I have grown vivaldi and charlottes this year as I knew I liked them - both have tasted significantly better than shop bought ones.

100% worth it, both in terms of cost saving and improved quality.

The ones in pots have done less well, and I had a lot of damage last year from eelworms as it was the first year of cultivation. Some varieties are a lot nicer than others. Paid a lot for pink fir apples last year and didnt rate them at all. You can plant sprouted supermarket ones but you risk bringing diseases into your soil.

kprice580, you need to make sure that you water them every now and then, and they are nearly ready when they have flowered. Give them a couple of weeks to bulk up after the first flowers.

kprice580

How long before I dig them out???

I only put them out this morning, I really dont have a clue as to what to do! lol

Cheers Katy x

evilgoose

Ive grown spuds this year, I think you maybe a little late in planting. Once the flowers die off them and the leaves turn yellow they are ready.

I've grown maris piper and maris peer and also some spuds with had sprouted in the veg cupboard.

I probably paid a bit to much for my seed spuds - I bought to small bags from B&Q. So far I've had about 8lb out of the garden of the maris peer.

Everyone who has tried them have said how nice they are. And you cant get much fresher!

mirry

these ones are the ones you plant out in August - ready for November/xmas day dinner . I tried all the garden centers and wilkos and they do not have any . I am going to grow them in two old dustbins i have .
Thanks

Jnelhams

It's just a ploy to flog overpriced spuds. Go and buy a pound of Jersey Royals (International Kidney is the real name - Not catchy!) (Just the ones from Supermarket will do, they dont need to be Seed) Plant those and keep them in a sheltered spot in the garden or pots in the greenhouse to avoid frosts and you will have Spuds for November, Christmas really is dependent on mild weather.

tomsolomon

I planted mine out this week. They didnt cost me much either, I saved a couple of spuds we had form our shop, and stuck them in the window a couple of weeks to sprout. Get a bag of compost and an empty bag of compost, split the compost between the two bags, bury your sprouting spuds in the bags and sit and wait. Well not literally.....
If that makes any sense.....

irishwexford

We bought our seed potatoes from B & Q way back in March. We have been eating them now for a few weeks and the taste alone makes it worth the effort. I never liked new pototoes until I tasted these but of course the bonus is the savings.