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  • #1

    Potatoes Made Easy

    Ok I am going to give a few pointers on potatoes for those who don't know or are just unsure.
    1. Once you have purchased your potatoes make sure they are allowed to breathe and not wrapped in plastic as this will cause your potatoes to sweat and rot.
    2.The ideal temperature to store potatoes at is about 4 degrees celcius and an ideal place to keep them is in the bottom drawer of your fridge.Protect from frost.
    3.you should start to chit your early potatoes 6 weeks before you want to plant them. To chit them simply place them in a tray or egg boxes near a window so that they get light and produce short thick sprouts. Ideal temp is 10degrees and again protect from frost.
    4.You may want to grow large spuds and one way is to remove some of the eyes of the potatoes with a sharp knife. Simply cut them out so that only 2/3 eyes remain.The potato will put all of its energy into these eyes and produce larger spuds but less of them.
    5.Always use certified seed potatoes as they are fully disease tested and guaranteed to grow as they are not treated with sprout supresent.

    That should do for now as my brain is fried
    Last edited by zazen999; 18-01-2010, 08:09 PM.
    Potato videos here.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    doesn't cutting bits out make the spud go rotten then??

    mine say plant in march, and they have already started sprouting, will it be ok to leave them out now ?? and plant the beginning of march, or should i do something to stop them and plant them the end of march, i got rocket early earlies, arran pilot,earlies, and desiree maincrop, don't want em all ready at the same time, and don't really want to plant em all the same time either lol

    oh and roosters but they don't say when to plant
    Last edited by lynda66; 20-01-2009, 01:40 AM.

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    • #3
      Oh Tattieman! Well done, and good advice, but now you'll have a string of questions/problems that never even occurred to you!

      You never realised it was so complicated
      All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Two_Sheds View Post
        Oh Tattieman! Well done, and good advice, but now you'll have a string of questions/problems that never even occurred to you!

        You never realised it was so complicated
        Your not wrong there Two Sheds and here's the first of those questions. Every year the village holds a potato growing competition in order to raise money for charity. Each person buys one seed potato and plants it. The idea being to get the biggest yield form one seed potato. My question is: if I obtained a good sized seed potato with plenty of eyes could it be cut in half, theoretically giving me two seed potatoes and a (perhaps) greater yield?
        Last edited by snuffer; 20-01-2009, 09:26 AM. Reason: punctuation
        It is the doom of man, that they forget.

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        • #5
          More eyes: more spuds, but smaller
          Less eyes: bigger spuds, but fewer of them
          All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by lynda66 View Post
            doesn't cutting bits out make the spud go rotten then??

            mine say plant in march, and they have already started sprouting, will it be ok to leave them out now ?? and plant the beginning of march, or should i do something to stop them and plant them the end of march, i got rocket early earlies, arran pilot,earlies, and desiree maincrop, don't want em all ready at the same time, and don't really want to plant em all the same time either lol
            oh and roosters but they don't say when to plant
            Ok Lynda it should be finr to let you earlies chit now for planting in March.
            You should now use step 3 of my instructions. Rooster is a maincrop and should be planted at the same time as your earlies as they will take longer to mature. You only need to cut the tiny eye out of the potato and they shouldnt rot if planted straight away.

            Originally posted by Two_Sheds View Post
            Oh Tattieman! Well done, and good advice, but now you'll have a string of questions/problems that never even occurred to you!

            You never realised it was so complicated
            It is ok I am more than happy to help.

            Originally posted by snuffer View Post
            Your not wrong there Two Sheds and here's the first of those questions. Every year the village holds a potato growing competition in order to raise money for charity. Each person buys one seed potato and plants it. The idea being to get the biggest yield form one seed potato. My question is: if I obtained a good sized seed potato with plenty of eyes could it be cut in half, theoretically giving me two seed potatoes and a (perhaps) greater yield?
            You could cut the potato into 2 or 3 good size pieces if there were enough eyes on it.There is a video on youtube of an American doing it with step by step instructions. I have read that using a system of one potato in a 6x6 foot area will give you massive crops. The site was advertising 1 tonne of potatoes off 6 seed potatoes. It was either Pentland Crown or Squire they were using.
            Plenty of water and nutrition is the key to large spuds but it must be constant or they will have growth spurts and crack.
            I hope that makes sense as I have had no sleep due to lambing.
            Potato videos here.

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            • #7
              Thanks Tattieman that's really helpful, you're a star!
              Imagination is everything, it is a preview of what is to become.

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              • #8
                ok tattie ta, so basically every spare space in the house shall now be taken up with sprouting spuds ..... guess it saves me buying houseplants then ......

                i have another question regarding fertilizer ...... (last year i just bunged em in a hole and dug spuds up when they died lol) ...... what's the best fertilizer, when, how much, and how often .....
                Last edited by lynda66; 20-01-2009, 01:46 PM.

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                • #9
                  ooh i received my spuds today from tattieman, so excited, just informed OH that every wardrobe top will be covered in chitting spuds.

                  lynda I normally manure my land or tubs and then plant, i made a stupid mistake last year by listening to someone who told me to put chicken manure in with the spud, it just rotted the seed as it rained a lot.,
                  Dont worry about tomorrow, live for today

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                  • #10
                    hmmmmm might be a slight issue with manure, as i can't get any ...... i'll avoid chicken poo then ta xx

                    never thought of the top of the wardrobe ...... better find somewhere else to put my books for 6 weeks
                    Last edited by lynda66; 20-01-2009, 02:53 PM.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by lynda66 View Post
                      hmmmmm might be a slight issue with manure, as i can't get any ......
                      I've never used manure in my life, just well-rotted compost. I get loads of spuds
                      All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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                      • #12
                        compost isn't quite ready yet, but should be lovely in another month or 2 ....... fingers crossed for hundreds of spuds this year

                        what about feeding??

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                        • #13
                          Fertilizer:

                          Apply 135g/sq.m (4oz per sq.yd) to the soil before planting and gently work into the soil.

                          For container growing add at a rate of 140g/sq.m (4oz/sq.yd) Equivelent pot size is 30cm (12in) diameter pot - 10g. 38cm (15in) diameter pot - 15g. 50cm(20in) diameter pot - 30g.

                          For 40litre grower bags we would recommend adding 45g.
                          Potato videos here.

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                          • #14
                            thanks tattie, what type of fertilizer is best?? please

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                            • #15
                              You had best go along to a local garden centre and have a look. Vitax do a good range and have a special potato one but so do other companies. I couldn't say what fertilizer is the best without trying them all first.
                              Potato videos here.

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