Does anyone know much about spuds?!

lisa26_2

Hi guys and gals! I planted two potato bagswith pink fir apple seed potatoes in april, probably about the 10th-15th ish. They now have LOADS of really tall lush foliage and the flowers are just starting to open. I've been reading up and whilst some advice for spuds in general is to harvest once they flower, the specific advise for pink fir apples suggest they won't be ready yet despite the flowering. Apparently they should be harvested in sept-oct after 18-20 weeks of growing. As they're floweiring now will they last till then?

Thanks

orchidpepper

I planted those last year and I waited till the foliage died down then dug them up. They looked FANTASTIC! all knobby and unusual, really big too!

kdanks

I agree with gayle21. The advice to dig when they have flowered is fairly common, and maybe it's OK for some varieties, but I've always had the best results when I've waited for the foliage to wilt back quite a bit, as long as the weather isn't really wet - then slugs can be a problem if you leave them in too long, but probably not an issue for you with potato bags.

kdanks

valk_scot

PFA are maincrop potatoes. The advice to only start harvesting when in flower is only for first earlies and even then, it's advice only for impatient growers as you can leave first earlies in to get bigger right up to the point the foliage starts to go over. You've got weeks of growing time left in these PFA...if you harvested now they'd be the size of cocktail gherkins.

lisa26_2

Fab! Thanks for the advice, I'll be patient then...deffo worth waiting for a decent crop!