Non-growing potatoes

[dexterdoglancashire]

Any advice everyone? I bought some seed potatoes in October and planted them on my lottie, in a hope of a Christmas bonus of tatties. Not even one shoot out of the ground? What did I do wrong? I planted them exactly the same as the normal ones (I got four sacks full!!!) and the ones from the same batch that I planted in buckets are growing fine. Thanks for the advice. Dexterdog

[Peter]

Dexter, you should have planted them inside a greenhouse, frostfree variety of greenhouse. Slightest frost and the plant above ground will have died.
Also I believe you have to get special seed potatoes for this type of out of season harvest or they won't grow in the first place.
Not tried it myself mind.

[Flummery]

I still think October is late for planting Christmas spuds. Even in a greenhouse the temperature is lower and the daylight hours are certainly shorter than they would like. I think August is best for this. It gives the potatoes a good 10 weeks of growing in conditions they like (or at least don't mind) and if you can keep them in a frost free or at least fairly sheltered (unheated greenhouse for e.g.) place afterwards you can tip them out on Christmas day with glee!

[Cutecumber]

I planted in August, in the greenhouse, and even this was very poor. Very spindly growth, fungal problems etc etc.

That's the second time I have tried, and I don't think I'll do it again.

Personally, I think much of the advice written about getting a very late new potato crop is at best over-optimistic and at worst just used to help the seed producers shift some expensive stock!

I mean, call me cynical, but...

[Flummery]

I've done it twice - one a HUGE success, once a summer like we've just had - blighty. However, the second time, I got a cropping from the spuds the following summer - they began to sprout again so I left them to it. Not a total waste of time.

[Two_Sheds]

Dexter, you should have planted them inside a greenhouse, frostfree variety of greenhouse. Slightest frost and the plant above ground will have died

I planted mine in August - and we still haven't had a frost yet.
No sign of any shoots at all. I can only think the cold wet summer did for 'em.

[MissGreen]

The best thing to do is probably, as already mentioned, to leave them in the ground and harvest them next spring or summer. That way they won't be a total waste.

By the way, new potatoes for christmas must definately be a british thing I like my christmas potatoes to be big and a little mealy so they can soak up a lot of gravy yum!

[Peter]

I planted mine in August - and we still haven't had a frost yet......

1/4" of ice in troughs at midday today.

[andrewo]

The best way to get the going in the greenhouse is to put them in a hotbed, add maure, plenty of it but then put a foot of compost on top and then put in the spuds, earth up and then cover with fleece at night. You should get a good crop.

[moggssue]

I planted maris peer in big containers in Sept and they romped away! Grew much faster than my spring plantings, and were really healthy until nasty mr frost got them this weekend. I will try again next year, but with proper frost protection.

[Barbara'nTom]

I planted some back in August outside and they grew fine for about 10 weeks. Usually little danger of frost here - south-west and in a city. But I did fleece them up a few weeks back. Sadly when I came to look at them last weekend they were all dying of blight and then we had had a frost -3 degrees in the unheated greenhouse which has finished them off.. So have done what I did in the summer - cut the growth off the tops. Have dug some and although they are small and only a few per plant they are quite tasty. However, the same problem as my summer potatoes which is most are holey from being eaten by slugs.

So unlikely to have any for Christmas and if I grow any next year they will be in a large bucket in the greenhouse.