Tatties in June??

[Snadger]

Ok, just theorising here!

We plant earlies in March and April fo ra crop in June/July
We plant maincrop in April/May for a crop, depending on variety from September/October
We plant early tatties in July for a crop at Christmas

Why can't we plant tatties in June for a crop 'whenever they are ready' before christmas???

If so, do we use earlies or maincrop??

Any of you knowledeable grapes tried it and what was the result?

[Pilsbury]

Im going to be putting some into compost bags so they can be put into a frost free place later in the year for new potatoes for christmas dinner this year, i can see no reason it wont work....

[pigletwillie]

I think "blight" cometh in August or September Snadger before any useable tubers are formed from a June planting.

You could always try one of the "Sarpo" blight resistant varieties though as a trial.

[Alice]

I understand your question Snadger and in a way you're right. You can plant potatoes in any month you like as long as you have 13 frost free weeks for earlies and 18 weeks for maincrop. But Piglet has told you about blight. Can't help there, we don't have it in Scotland. I'm still planting Charlotte now.

[Paulottie]

A few points I was mulling over Snadger.

Have you got seed spuds left? This year's won't sprout.
Blight is a problem later in the year.
So is space!
There are maincrop varieties that have a waxy salad spud texture: Rattes and Pinkfir apple.
I'm just longing for a baked spud or a roasty come autumn. And a new spud in May...Just the rhythm of things.
There is no rule book
I planted some left over Swifts in Mid- May last year and had a good crop from them.

[Snadger]

A few points I was mulling over Snadger.

Have you got seed spuds left? This year's won't sprout.
Blight is a problem later in the year.
So is space!
There are maincrop varieties that have a waxy salad spud texture: Rattes and Pinkfir apple.
I'm just longing for a baked spud or a roasty come autumn. And a new spud in May...Just the rhythm of things.
There is no rule book
I planted some left over Swifts in Mid- May last year and had a good crop from them.

The deed is done! I've planted three rows of Pink Fir Apple that were my own well sprouted spuds from last year.
Should be an interesting experiment as PFA are my favourites and are a late (make that super late!) maincrop spud!

PS If I hadn't used them they were going on the compost heap anyway!

[shirlthegirl43]

I still have golden wonder and edzell blue to plant. I kept them back in the hope that I would get spuds either late this year or early next. I planted some spuds in october last year and they were growing well but had to take their chances outdoors when my plastic greenhouse blew down - I had no problems with blight - I suppose they were planted too late for that to be a problem but they did get frozen about 3 weeks before they would have been ready to harvest

Hope you are lucky Snadger

[Two_Sheds]

PinkFir Apple is fabulous. We were still digging them up in December, and I've just dug up my first from this year's sowings (Mar/April)

[Snadger]

PinkFir Apple is fabulous. We were still digging them up in December, and I've just dug up my first from this year's sowings (Mar/April)

I bet they look like newborn mice!

[rustylady]

I bet they look like newborn mice!

Yeah, but with little bumps all over the place. Good job I don't usually peel potatoes - it would be a nightmare trying to peel PFA.

[nick the grief]

the year before last thats what I did snadger as I had a trapped nerve in my back and it took me till June to be able to get the ground sorted LOL

[sewer rat]

When I was at Agricultural College, we had a lecturer who specialised in potatoes - nicknamed Tattie Bill - and he said that the science boffins reckoned that the latest date for planting tatties up our way (college was in Aberdeen) was June 20th.

[Snadger]

When I was at Agricultural College, we had a lecturer who specialised in potatoes - nicknamed Tattie Bill - and he said that the science boffins reckoned that the latest date for planting tatties up our way (college was in Aberdeen) was June 20th.

Spot on then.....no prob!

[Paulottie]

Same as Twosheds, I have dug up PFAs in December before too and they lasted remarkably well in the ground with less slug damage than other varieties. I am trying some called Anya. They are apparently similar to Rattes(a white fir apple style I often eat in France) but a second early and less knobbly. Dug a few tiddlers up and wasn't that impressed but I'll give em a fair go and report back.

The earlies Ive grown are called Juliette and they are the best i've tried- a salad type and heavy yield. I would recommend them to all for next year.