Advice on growing Salad/New Potatoes

purple_spider

Hiya! I'm aiming to grow as much of my own veg & salad this year (rather buying it from Mr T's!) and I'm trying to balance my veg garden costs, as I don't want to spend excessively on seeds/supplies and I wondered if anyone could give me some advice on growing new/salad potatoes as its the first time I will have tried to grow some - since we seem to eat an astonishingly large amount of them each week I thought they might be a good veg garden project and that maybe you lovely people might be able to give me some tips!

A few questions
- How long do most take to grow?
- What's the average potato yield I could expect to get from a seed potato?
- When's the best time to plant them & is it best to try and plant them weeks apart or just all at once?
- Which place do they grow best in pots or the garden?
- How well do they store?

Also are there any varieties anyone can recommend, either for taste or if they quick/easy to grow and are there any shops that are recommended either online/high st that have good bargains

Thanks Purple Spider

RAS

Hi

Hunt out Potato Days as they allow you buy small quantities of different varieties. I start with Rocket and then red Duke of York. others swear by Swift as the earliest.

If you have an unheated green house, come february, put one in a large pot and start it off.

Other then that, I plant them early March but keep earthing up to prevent frost getting to the leaves.

jimbo_the_jetset

See Gardeners World Magazine this month. Feature on potato types - ratings on yield and taste as well as growing info & tips.

Bargains, see here http://www.jparkers.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.standard&continueaction=category.standard&category_id=583&producttype_id=50186

I am thinking about getting these - 4 growing bags + 24 seed potatoes £15.

Optimisticpair

It's difficult to give any answers it all depends on you, your soil, sun, frost..lack of it, watering, the taste you like and which store stocks what. I got mine at Wilkin_sons to put in pots. About 14 weeks and 1lb potatoes per seed potatoe possibly?

valk_scot

In my experience one early seed potato gives enough new potatoes for a couple of portions if you dig them as soon as they get to be a reasonable size. If you leave them an extra couple of weeks after this they'll feed four. IF you water them and the soil is fertile. But TBH this is a "how long is a piece of string? questions. There are just too many variables.

Kimonokawaii

Purple Spider, it's my first time too!

I've gone for Charlotte sald potatoes as first earlies0 and Pentland Javelin for second earlies. I started chitting them this weekend and will be planting them all out straight in my raised bed early March. I'm advised by the packets that the Charlottes will take 12-14 weeks to harvest and the Pentland Javeline will take 14-20 weeks. I should have a spread of spuds rather than all at once then. I do plan on storing them but I haven't looked into that in much depth yet.

valk_scot

Just remember if you plant out in early March that the growing shoots of potato plants are extremely frost sensitive. You must earth them up very regularly to protect against frost damage and a bit of fleece laid over them on very cold nights will help too. Remember that most gardening books and packet instructions are aimed at the south of England...if you live in the north, add on at least another week or two if you live in Lowland Scotland like me. I won't be putting my earlies in till the very end of March and it will be May at least before the danger of a late frost goes past.

Kimonokawaii

Thanks Valk_scot. I am in the north west of England so I'll aim for mid-late March then! There's so much to learn