Apparently today is the day...

[eskymo]

I planted my Pentland Javlin spuds in two compost bags exactly thirteen weeks ago today...does that mean I dig them up now?

Both bags have got good growth and all the plants are flowering. I'm not sure whether I wait until the flowers have died down, or do I pinch out the flowers.

Should I wait a little longer or get in there and open up one of the bags?

[poultrychat]

I think I'd have a nosey and see how big there are first without actually digging them up

[leona]

my god people wait til the time is up? ive been digging at mine for ages looking at theyr progress!

[eskymo]

I will check later and let you know what I've got!

[Alice]

I've managed to resist that temptation Leona, but their time is up on Saturday and they're getting it then. There's a limit to how much patience a woman can have!

[eskymo]

Well I'm truly disappointed. I got my gardening gloves on and started poking around in one of my comost bags planted up with potatoes and couldn't find anything, so I dug deeper and deeper and still found nothing...so I thought I must have planted duds [4 of them!] and emptied the bag out to get a saucer full of tiny little spuds...I WAITED THIRTEEN WEEKS FOR THAT!

See attached pic of my disappointing crop - not so eager to earth up the other bag now as that will no doubt be the same...what have I done wrong? Did I not water them enough? Did I earth them up too much? Is there anything I can do to get a better crop out of the other bag which was planted at the same time?

Some suggestions please...

[poultrychat]

I can't help you with how to get a better crop eskymo but just wanted to say how sorry I am that it has turned out so disappointing for you

[smallblueplanet]

Well the quantity may be disappointing, but what do they taste like?

View it as an experiment, leave the other bag for longer and compare yields. Have you tried checking what others think of P Javelin in pots? Maybe another type might have been better?

[eskymo]

I'm going to leave the other bag for several more weeks and see if that's better. I've noticed that my neighbour has pinched the flowers off his potatoes - is that something I should do?

I've also got some desiree in pots and bags to uplift later on in the year, so hopefully I will get something from that.

p.s. - not tasted them yet!

[dwrudd]

Hi there,

I tried P. Javlins last year in containers and they were one of my best crops,

I tend not to follow the 13 week rule as too many variables in weather, soil etc can make the whole thing a disappointment.

My old feller told me to wait until the flowers drop and as the leaves start to yellow, up they come. It has not let me down yet.

Good luck on bags number two, I wait with interest the result.

Darren

[Alice]

Oh Eskymo, what a disappointment Can only suggest that maybe you should have left them a bit longer. Mine should be ready by saturday and I was impatient to see the results but in light of you experience I think I will take the advice of DWRudd and leave them a bit longer. My Charlotte in the dustbin are flowering but the ones in the buckets have not flowered but do have the start of little flower buds - so maybe they do need to wait a bit. More patience required

[SueA]

I think maybe you were just a little too eager Eskymo & they might have got bigger if you left them in a bit longer & kept watering them. I usually wait until the foliage is starting to die off before lifting mine & always root around in the container a bit beforehand to make sure I can feel a few reasonable sized spuds before I pull them out. I think you always tend to get fewer & smaller potatoes in bags & containers though & am always amazed when I see people on Gardeners' World etc. tipping out pounds of lovely big spuds from their containers (maybe they cheat sometimes?)

[eskymo]

I know I was a little eager, but I was convinced I had nothing at all and that's what made me tip out the bag completely. I'm going to do as you suggest and wait until the foliage had died down.

What do the flowers do/indicate on a potato plant - does it need to be pollinated to produce spuds? I wonder why my neighbour has pinched his off. Maybe I should wait until the flowers have died.

I'm not too bothered about this small crop as I've got more to come and hopefully they will yeild more spuds.

[Alice]

Hello Eskymo, no the flowers don't need to be polinated. Your neighbour has probably pinched them off as there is a school of thought that says the flowers are a useless waste of the plants energy and removing them allows more energy to go to the production of potatoes. However, commercial growers don't remove the flowers and get good crops so I think it is a matter of your own preference or experience in your own conditions. I have one tub flowering and have left the flowers. I have other tubs just coming into flower so I think I will remove the flowers from one and see if there is any difference. I've decided to leave them all until the stems start to die down as at that point the plants are at full maturity and can't do any more. I'll post the results with pics and let you see - whether good, bad or rotten. It's an experiment for me. If it's good I'll continue to do it, and if it's not well nothing lost, I still have the compost, and I won't do it again. At the moment i'm very optimistic as the plants look great.

[Lesley Jay]

Eskymo I always wait until the leaves have died before my OH digs up the potatoes and be sure to water well - not over water though! Eat them as soon as you harvest them. I am sure they taste far better.