Potatoes Made Easy

[tattieman]

One quick one, I've got some 1st & 2nd earlies and maincrop ordered with you tattieman. I I guess I should chit them immediately I get them (end of Feb) and then plant them all at the same time and then I'll have a succession of crops through the year?

Yes put them out to chit and they will start to grow little chits and then just pop them in when the time comes. I wil look out for your order at the end of this month Yes plant them all at the same time and they will all mature at different stages.

[Irie Jan]

We are blessed by the gods to have you here Tattieman! This will be my first time ever trying to grow potatoes! I have some charlotte for my earlies and Desiree for a maincrop! I got them around early/mid January. I'm going to give some to a friend. I only want to try a few and see how I go!

After reading this thread I suppose I had better let them chit then. I was until about a week ago keeping them in my downstairs cloakroom it is quite cold in there, as near the front of house no heating in there, the seeds started to sprout so put them in the fridge. Lots of the questions I had have been answered on here already! Thanks so much!

[tattieman]

We are blessed by the gods to have you here Tattieman! This will be my first time ever trying to grow potatoes! I have some charlotte for my earlies and Desiree for a maincrop! I got them around early/mid January. I'm going to give some to a friend. I only want to try a few and see how I go!

After reading this thread I suppose I had better let them chit then. I was until about a week ago keeping them in my downstairs cloakroom it is quite cold in there, as near the front of house no heating in there, the seeds started to sprout so put them in the fridge. Lots of the questions I had have been answered on here already! Thanks so much!

Glad I can help you

[tattieman]

Just a few pictures to show you that my method works

[tattieman]

Here are the ones that I started off inside the greenhouse in polypots and are now planted in a trench so that the roots can come out of the holes in the bottom of the bag to get more nutrients from the soil.

[tattieman]

Here are the ones I am growing in compost bags that contain well rotted farm yard manure and are topped up with compost.

[Al Green]

Planting potatoes in the summer

I'm pretty new to growing potatoes and thought i'd missed the boat this year but got some late potatoes. I chose the Maris Peer as they seem to have good disease resistance.

What kind of crop can I expect if I plant them in the late summer? Is there anything I need to look out for that's different with a later crop?

[jacob marley]

AI green plant your Maris Peer now you will still get a good crop providing that the ground is fertile enough and Maris Peer is a second early by the way..jacob

[zoescrims]

Wow Tattieman how impressive is that!!! i'm sooo jealous and in dire need of your help!!

my tatties leaves are turning yellow and limp, i read somewhere i think they are lacking nutrients of some kind, can you recommend what as I only used cheap asda compost,nothing else?

many thanks!

zoe

[tattieman]

Zoe you should buy some foliar feed such as maxicrop and spray it onto the haulms and that should boost them. Give it a try and see if that helps.

[zoescrims]

Thanks !!! just had to google haulms, i've been calling them stalks.

is maxicrop like a fertilzer if not should i use that too 'cos i'd really hate to have no spuds at the end of all this..thanks

[broadway]

Cheers Tattieman,

Good reading in prep for this years crop, think I will go down the polypot route as well as using some tyres I have.

[smallblueplanet]

Just received Alan Roman's newsletter - this is what he says about chitting:

“Chitting” is no longer regarded as essential. It is a hangover from mid Victorian times when all varieties were late maincrops requiring a long growing season. Modern varieties have a shorter “biological clock” and if they are started early they finish early with loss of potential yield. Better to keep them cool with the smallest possible bud and plant into warm soil. It is always possible to bring on a small number of earlies for earliest possible crop by chitting in a warm room.

[glasgowdan]

Just got hold of an array of seed tatties. Also got the newsletter above re: chitting, but I'll happily continue to chit mine for now, some of them are hard to see what way up they should be, so if anything chitting will help there!

[ashamomodablam]

chitting potatoes

hi could anyone tell me when the best time is to start chitting