what potatoes can I plant?

[chrissie the chippy]

I'm in the proccess of clearing my 18 rod plot

I'm thinking of using about a 1/4 of it for potatoes for this year, I want to make the most of the ground, but don't want to overwelm myself with too many varieties of veg

I want to be able to plant some potatoes that will crop around November/ December time.

Any advice on what and how to plant them? (i.e spacing of plants, protection, manure etc)

I'm completely new to this, so any advice, however simple you may think it is, will be very useful

Thank you,

Chrissie

[nick the grief]

Your a bit late really Chrissie. Your best bet would have been something like Desiree as that will stand in the ground till October time but by November we will be having rain & frosts/cold weather which will see most tatties off ( or the slugs will murder them.

You could buy some late cropping spuds that are designed for Xmas but they are more expensive than normal seed spuds and you'll need to protect it with either a good thatch of straw or Fleeceotherwise you'll suffer as mentioned above.

You could plant a load ov winter greens ( Cabbage, Cauli's Brussels) as these will cover the ground and smother the weeds and the roots will help break the soil up.

The other alternative is to cover it all with black plastic and grow stuff in tubs & use these to hold the plastic down, allthough there is still time to clear enough to grow some summer crops.

Any way welcome to the Vine and I hope this helps

[chrissie the chippy]

Thank you Nick.


I thought I may have missed the boat! I read somewhere about the potatoes that crop for christmas, would you reccomend a variety?

I live in Hampshire, I don't know how much of a differnce that would make to what I could grow regarding tatties


I'll definately be growing some winter crops, can't wait to tuck into them when it gets chilly (suppose I'll have to sorce and succesfully grow them first! )

Thanks again

[nick the grief]

Chrismas Varieties are limited to what they sell - bit obvious really

Charlotte
Maris Peer
Carlingford

are 3 that spring to mind. If you grow in tubs you can use some from the supermarket but use the comost somewhere else just incase thay have any pests as they won't be certified seed tatts.

Not much experience with the last but the first two I grow most years.

As to sources, most seed houses sell them T&M, Suttons, Dobies etc

[Earthbabe]

Chrissie I planted my desirees out on 20th June last year and got a good crop so if you can find some seed you may get away with it. They stand well, store well and are very versatile. Plus your own taste miles better than the ones you can get from the supermarket.

[chrissie the chippy]

Thank you


I'd never really thought about what potatoes I was buying before terrible really.Hoping having an allotment and growing our own will enable my daughter to understand and appriciate it a lot better than I did

I'll think i'll have a look around for some ready to sow. Thank you for the sources.

Thank you for all your help, Fingers crossed I can eat my own spuds for christmas dinner