New potatoes for christmas?

FROSTYFRECKLE

Hi Diva,

My Christmas tatties are all in, bought them from Victoriana Nursery online. Do not know what type of tatties but this is the info I received with them.

"Plant from mid June until 10th of August, no later otherwise the potatoes will be very small". I planted some of mine later than 10th of August, if I remember correctly you are in Devon(?) so you will have longer days than me.

"Plant in open ground 18" x 15" apart in a conventional way (in a trench sprouting side up, then mound the soil over the top). You can also plant in grow bags, 4 sets to grow in a bag is fine." I have planted mine in pots.

"There is no need to earth up the shoots, simply let the ramble as if they were the "wild" occurring form of potato. Do not over-water or allow to dry out. Ensure a position that gets maximum daylight."

"Around the third week of September leaves will start to yellow." I only have one leaf in my 13 pots of tatties :eek:

"Leave the potatoes in the compost/bag/pot until you are ready to use."

"Your potatoes from open ground should be lifted by third week of October and immediately re-buried in either coarse sand or soil in a frost free position until you are ready to use them".

Hope this info helps.

Tabby_Kitten_2

I'm planning on growing winter tatties too, we have a polytennel so was going to grow them in there in sacks.
I haven't planted them yet but do have them chitting. Last year I tried growing them for christmas but they went in very late and nothing happened until this year

Money_saving_Diva_2

Hi all and thank you for the input!!

The only instructions my OH could remember was that they didn't need chitting like summer potatoes but that the ones he had already had little chits growing anyway, so all the advice had been very helpful, thank you!

Ephemera - Thank you for the info re blight.. if rain affects blight we are sure to get some. I have looked at the linnk thank you, lots of useful info there!

Frosty Freckle - I have printed your suggestions out to show the OH once he is well enough to stand upright again! We have some potato sacks which we bought with our summer potatoes but when we chitted them we did something wrong and they all shrived up like lil picked walnuts so we lost them all before even planting them. :rotfl: But now at least the sacks will be useful!!

Tabby - Good luck with your crop too. We don't have a poly tunnel but I can't wait to finally grow some potatoes, I was so upset when the OH said the summer ones were no good!

So would it be a good idea to stagger the planting? We have such a huge bag of potatoes and there are only two of us?

Thank you again for all your help

Diva.x

Tabby_Kitten_2

Money_saving_Diva wrote: »

The only instructions my OH could remember was that they didn't need chitting like summer potatoes but that the ones he had already had little chits growing anyway,

I would have planted them anyway, the worst that could have happened was nothing, and if they were sprouting already then they were already growing.

Money_saving_Diva wrote: »

So would it be a good idea to stagger the planting? We have such a huge bag of potatoes and there are only two of us?

Depending on what type you have I wouldn't have thought it would hurt, the ones I planted for last Christmas came up this spring and cropped fine

mumoffour77

So am I too late to plant potatoes?I vould love to grow my own veg in planters.....but i havnt a clue when it comes to gardening!!I have a large garden that currently houses a 13ft trampoline but im carp at gardening!!

Ladygrim

Hi everyone.

Please cn you advise me which variety of paotato to plant out this time of year? Im so confused! I can find lots of varieties online, but not all of them say when best to plant out.

I have just got an allotment and need to get something into the ground asap.

Any and all help will be much appreciated.

Thankyou

LG

FROSTYFRECKLE

Oh b*m, just typed in a message and lost internet connection, so lost my message. Typical Internet connection from TalkTalk.

Anyway, just googled Christmas potatoes. The RHS website states you can plant tatties until early September. But best planted in containers as they can be moved to a frost-free area. The type is called Carlingford. Marshalls, Thomson & Morgan, Suttons etc are all sold out. Found some on ebay but seem expensive. Person selling them is called "Spud Stacker". Perhaps the local garden centre might be a good bet.

Slightly different subject. Has anyone grown Oca. Meant to taste like a new potato but with a slightly lemony flavour. Not part of tattie family so no blight etc. Needs long growing season, ready to harvest in Dec, perhaps an alternative to Christmas tattie.

Ladygrim

Thanks for that Frostyfreckle.

Just been to garden centre and no seed potatoes at all. Have picked up a few packets of seeds that can be planted this time of year.

Will order potatoes online and put seeds in whilst Im waiting!

LG

riskyinred

Ladygrim, if you find anywhere online to order potatoes from, could you please share? I've been googling like mad, but haven't been able to find anywhere.

Ladygrim

riskyinred wrote: »

Ladygrim, if you find anywhere online to order potatoes from, could you please share? I've been googling like mad, but haven't been able to find anywhere.

Will do - Ive been googling too!! LOL

LG