Potatoes - where to start? (Merged Thread)

katskorner

Once the flowers go over then you can dig up a plant and see how they look - they should be ready by then. The longer you leave them, the bigger they get, but don't leave past July really for earlies unless you want to risk blight attack that maincrops potatoes are susceptible to.

Debt_Free_Chick

In general, first earlies should be ready approx 9/10 weeks after they were planted - whether or not they've flowered. The flowering test is usually pretty accurate, but with the weird weather we've had (we had June in April and April in May, if you see what I mean!) I'd gently scrape back/down the soil and have a peek at one plant.

HTH

Debt_Free_Chick

The flowering test is not always reliable and can be affected by the weather - although in general, the pots should be ready when the flowers are fully open. Many people wait for the haulms (stems) to keel over, which happens after flowering.

First earlies are generally ready 9/10 weeks after planting but may take 12 weeks.

Charlotte are classed are actually Second Earlies so - assuming you planted both at the same time - I'd leave them for a couple of weeks more than the Sharpe's Express.

Agree with Biggles - gently lift one plant (of the type that's flowering) and have a peek - or simply scrape away/down some of the soil. If you need to put them back in, try to keep the potatoes attached to the root system (which is why I prefer scraping the soil away to lifting the plant).

The Sharpe's a long, oval with white skins (you'll need to rub some soil off) whilst the Charlotte are long, oval with yellow skins. HTH with identification.

HTH

smk77

I've had a bit of a disaster with my earlies this year. I planted them in March and followed the instructions. There is still no sign of activity from any of them! Not even shoots! I decided to excavate the end of a row and couldn't even find the potato seed! I did extremely well last year with my potatoes so just don't understand what's happened. The rest of my vegetables are doing reasonably well.

Oh well, always next year! I will definitely be buying the same make I bought last year though.

kippers

As a general guide:-

Earlies = when they have flowers

Maincrop = when flowers have died

csnann

smk77 wrote: »

I've had a bit of a disaster with my earlies this year. I planted them in March and followed the instructions. There is still no sign of activity from any of them! Not even shoots! I decided to excavate the end of a row and couldn't even find the potato seed! I did extremely well last year with my potatoes so just don't understand what's happened. The rest of my vegetables are doing reasonably well.

Oh well, always next year! I will definitely be buying the same make I bought last year though.

If you had a cold March the seed potatoes may have rotted away - this happened to a couple of mine and my rows now have a gaps in them!

penniesforme

katskorner wrote: »

Once the flowers go over then you can dig up a plant and see how they look - they should be ready by then. The longer you leave them, the bigger they get, but don't leave past July really for earlies unless you want to risk blight attack that maincrops potatoes are susceptible to.

i know this is possibly a stupid question, but what is a blight attack?

also, is it too late to plant potatoes now? i have just got rid of some nettles in the garden, any suggestion on what to plant?

madhouseof4

These are my earlies that I planted about mid march



And this is what I dug up earlier!



The skin isn't quite set, so is easy to wipe away, but I can't wait to see what they taste like :drool:

donnalou

My earlies(swift) are huge but have not flowered. I planted them begining of March.

I know I read somewhere that not all potatoes flower is this true?

Donna

Kay_Peel

Same here Donnalou.

I'm expecting mine to flower between 9 and 12 weeks after planting. For me, that's another 10 days at the earliest.

My late potatoes won't flower until they've been planted for 20 weeks. That's September!

Saint Bob Flowerdew says that if you want to have big spuds, then remove the flowers, compost them and leave the plant in the ground/pot for another couple of weeks.

k.