Potatoes: Buying, Chitting, Planting, Earthing Up; Harvesting.

gillian62

What is the time difference between early maincrop and late maincrop?

Sally_A

About 12 weeks, earlies can be picked end June, whilst main crop should be harvested and used/stored September time.

gillian62

So should I be planting the early maincrop weeks earlier than the late maincrop? Or do the late maincrop just take longer to mature?

annie123

main crop take longer but also can be planted a bit later too.

one of the many on line tatty guides
http://www.vegetable-garden-guide.com/how-to-grow-potatoes.html

Eventually you will get to know your own garden soil/temperatures/timing and will know when to plant each type that works best for you.
I have planted early and main crop at the same time and several weeks apart and this year I have more to go in over the next 2 weeks.

Catwoman103

I buy seed potatoes but also plant out the supermarket spuds that have sprout on me. Not as good a crop as those from actual seed potatoes but good nevertheless.

sparrer

My side path looks like a forest :eek: the greenery in the tubs has grown, and grown, and grown...it's now about 3 1/2 feet tall and still growing/spreading in all directions! Goodness knows what I'm going to do with it when I eventually harvest the potatoes as my garden's far too small for a compost bin - does anyone know if it can be fed to chickens, in small quantities of course?

Sally_A

I don't keep chooks so don't really know, but I wouldn't risk it as the potato flowers can turn into fruits which are poisonous to humans.

Spuds are related to deadly nightshade and tomatoes (and loads more). It was a brave person that first tasted a tomato in my opinion.

sparrer

Thanks for your reply Sally, you've voiced what I was thinking. Not getting the chooks til the end of June and don't think I'll feed potato greenery to them, I want to keep them for a while! I'll just have to put it in sacks and take to the recycling centre bit by bit

annie123

sparrer, try freecycle to get rid of it.
I asked a few years ago when I got my second compost bin, I just don't produce enough waste to fill 2 in the summer. I got offered all sorts of things including potato greens, and 30' of lettuce gone to seed.
I'd have it off you like a shot if I was closer

Lotus-eater

sparrer wrote: »

My side path looks like a forest :eek: the greenery in the tubs has grown, and grown, and grown...it's now about 3 1/2 feet tall and still growing/spreading in all directions! Goodness knows what I'm going to do with it when I eventually harvest the potatoes as my garden's far too small for a compost bin - does anyone know if it can be fed to chickens, in small quantities of course?

NO! They won't eat it anyway, all tomato and potato greenery is poisonous.