harvesting potatoes?

beccatt

A couple of months ago I noticed some of the potatoes I'd chucked in the compost bin had grown into plants, so I transferred them to an old rubbish bin filled with soil and now the plants are really big. When should I dig them up?

twink

you should see some of the leaves going yellow or wilting a bit if they are ready

misgrace

Thats right, when they go yellow, and start looking in a sorry state then they are ready, I harvested some too early the other week,the leaves were yellow, so I thought it would be okay, but they were tiny little things.
I have left the other ones, and the leaves are dropping off and wilting, and I got one just to check, and they are beauties.:D

Jolaaled

beccatt wrote:

A couple of months ago I noticed some of the potatoes I'd chucked in the compost bin had grown into plants, so I transferred them to an old rubbish bin filled with soil and now the plants are really big. When should I dig them up?

My plants started to wilt about 2 weeks ago..so i dug them up over this last weekend and they seemed a good size..although not a huge crop.

twink

my potatoes werent as good as last years, think it must have been the dry weather so its worth trying again next year

Lord_Gardener

Yes, even our dustbin crop was down this year - hose pipe ban! - but they taste great!

Rhino666

Had some superb potatoes this year - picasso were the pick of a good bunch. It's a little dodgy leaving them in the ground at this time of year as the wire worm get into them and blight can be a problem too. I would gently move a bit of soil to check the size of the top potato but small ones taste good too :-)

Debt_Free_Chick

twink wrote:

my potatoes werent as good as last years, think it must have been the dry weather so its worth trying again next year

Potatoes need gallons of water and it's essential that you water them during dry periods.

Debt_Free_Chick

Although pots can be harvested once the haulms start to yellow, it's not essential to do so. Provided you have slug & frost protection, you can simply leave them in the ground.

Once the haulms die off, they are unlikely to increase much in size, but they can be "stored" where they've grown - until there's a hard frost expected. In which case, lift them before the frost.

twink

thats right dfc i can remember potatoes being stored in a clamp, they were covered with straw then earth, when i had everyone at home it was cheaper to buy a bag of dirty carrots and store them in peat and sand